Step chair

Not to be confused with chair step.

A step chair, also called a ladder chair, a library chair, a convertible chair or a Franklin chair, is a piece of furniture which folds to become either a chair or a small set of steps or stairs. Building one (usually in the diagonal-side-cut style) is a popular DIY project.^[1][2][3]

Composite photo of a step chair, of the common diagonal-side-cut type. The chair is shown facing in the same direction, once folded into a chair, and once folded into a set of steps, such that the top of the chair back touches the floor.

It is sometimes claimed that these chairs were designed by Benjamin Franklin.^{[citation needed]} Franklin himself preferred to sit in a step chair he designed for his own library. This chair folded in a slightly different way from the common diagonal-side-cut step chair; the seat flips up, resting against the reclined back of the chair, and forming three steps; one formerly hidden under and parallel to the seat, and two attached vertically along the seat's front edge and midline.^[4]

A variant form has a third position, in which the back of the chair becomes an ironing-board.^[5] This design was common in the 1700s, but was revived in the 1990s.^[6] It has been described as suitable for small apartments. Its design is sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson, and thus called a Jefferson chair.^[7] This type is also known as three-in-one chair, bachelor chair, or onit chair.^[8][9]

A type of step chair in which the seat folds to form the top and side faces of an extra step, and a support slides in beneath it

See also

• Monks bench
• Metamorphic library steps