There are pieces of furniture in your home that get plenty of kudos for the work they do. We’re thinking the couch, we’re thinking the bed, we’re thinking the very handy chairs at your kitchen island. But you know who might just be the unsung hero of your interior space? The humble stool-slash-sidetable. And here’s why…

1. It’s so versatile. Is it a stool? Is it a sidetable? Is it a pouffe? Is it a dumping ground for all your dirty clothes and unread magazines? Answer: It can be all four. No shade to Madonna or anything, but we reckon the stool-slash-sidetable is the queen of reinvention.

2. It’s small, so even the most squishy studio can make space for one. And because it does, like, four different jobs (see point 1) it’s worth the valuable floor real estate. It can even negate the need for a coffee table (#sorrynotsorry, coffee table).

3. It can be a feature… or not so much. Need something that will really make a statement? Step aside for the fluffy sheepskin footstool! (Can we get an “ooh! ahh!”?) But if your living quarters already have a lot going on – don’t worry, the stool-slash-sidetable will happily step out of the spotlight. Just opt for a sleek Scandi style or wood-and-wire number.

4. It hardly requires any maintenance. It doesn’t need to be made every day (ahem, bed), it doesn’t need to have it’s fabric specially cleaned or throw pillows arranged (we’re looking at you, couch) – it just sits there, being the modest foot-resting, spare-seating, amazing piece of furniture that it is. And, for that, we’d like to give it a high ten.