My first Kickstarter journey with expandable Transformer Table 3.0

In this post, you'll find my honest Transformer Table review. Hopefully this answers some of the questions that you may be contemplating before making this investment.

A little back story on how we came about getting this table: my fiancé has backed a few Kickstarter projects now, and has been quite pleased with his purchases. This was my time to venture into a Kickstarter project, and it would be the most expensive one yet !

We backed the project early December, and opted for the TT 3.0 Dining set + free Coffee table in Siberian Birch. Even though we were one of the early bird backers, the wait for it was quite long. The table took almost 4-5 months to get to us. However, I have been told delays are normal and expected from Kickstarter projects. Our table, bench and coffee table have finally arrived and we are pleased with the functionality that the table and bench have to offer.

Delivery

TT reached out to us a week in advance to let us know that a tracking number will be sent out soon. The table arrived within 4 business days of receiving the call from TT. The delivery was fulfilled by a third party and all pieces arrived on a skid in 4 packages: (1) Table, (2) Bench, (3) Coffee Table and (4) extra table slats. Unboxing was a bit tedious, but the assembly was quick and easy. More packaging means less damage to the product, which we didn't mind.

Unboxing

Below are some unboxing pictures, but for the most part, the pieces were tightly packed, exposing very little surface. This is done to ensure table doesn’t get damaged in the transit.

Table (Packaging)

Bench (Packaging)

Coffee Table (Packaging)

Design & Look

Design and look of the product is good and feels quite comfortable. However, we have not yet had our first meal as a family on the table. Will need to see how the varnish and finish sticks through after cleaning and regular use.

Look:

The table has a modern look, with clean edges and a slick design. The Siberian birch finish has a dark grey tone, suitable for cool tone interiors.

Sturdy

The table has a sturdy design, with panels that lock in securely. The same are built in for the bench panels as well. We personally found the panel installation fairly easy to do. Do keep in mind, someone needs to slide underneath the table to lock in the panels, as they can be hard to see from the top or even at an angle. I tried locking them from an angle by sliding my hand underneath, and nope ! that didn't quite work. However, it snaps really well and is strong and robust.

Other Features

There are additional support features to ensure the table legs don't slide on the surface, which I appreciate. Could they have made it such, so as to match the the colour of the table? or made them black so that they don't stand out? Sure, but who am I to point that OCD detail ! Its not something that is visible once the setup is complete though.

Functionality

The real star of the show is the ball bearing mechanism, which works great with the table. The bench however, we did find a little difficult to work with, when pulling out. That may be due to the heaviness from the panels that are also stored within the bench.

Coffee Table

Let's talk about the free coffee table that came with the dining set. This acts as storage for the extra panels from the table. This is the only piece that requires some manual setup with screws that come with it. Personally, I was happy to receive this version and not the older coffee table, which was not very user friendly from a design perspective. The storage design of the 3.0 version allows you to store the extra panels as stacked slats of the coffee table. Here you see we had 2 left over panels that we have placed inside the coffee table, tucked in completely. Alternatively, you could slide out the panels on the sides, to use it for placing accent pieces, as they have shown on Kickstarter.

(Source: TT Kickstarter page)

Final Verdict

To wrap it up, all in all, we like this table and would recommend it. It’s a good piece of furniture. Its something we bought, knowing that it is more than just a formal dining table. It is comforting to know that I can use this table later, as a console table and use the bench as a smaller entry bench where people can sit and put their shoes on, or just tuck it away in a study room as a table and bench set up. It makes me feel like my money is being utilized well, even in the future, if you know what I mean. How I actually end up using it later is obviously something we'll find out eventually. Until then, I'd say it's a good purchase if you are out in the market for a hard wood table and don't have that Restoration Hardware bank account to shell out on home furnishing.

Toodles and thanks for sticking through this elaborate review.