Tag Archives: Table

Gorgeous gem-like coffee tables might make you feel like grabbing a soda

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It might not have been the original intention, but coffee tables have pretty much become more decorative than functional these days. Of course, they still serve as tables you put things on, including your coffee, but they are mostly designed to have more visual impact these days. It’s not unusual for this kind of table to have some eye-catching shape or color or both, acting as a center of attraction as well as a conversation starter. These glass-blown coffee tables are perfect examples of such furniture, capturing your visitors’ eyes, imaginations, and probably even appetites with their elegant forms, gem-like colors, and dynamic surfaces that may entice you to pour yourself a bubbly drink.

Designer: Yiannis Ghikas

A glass table might not be the most practical piece of furniture because of its fragility, especially if the entire table, including the legs, is made up of that material. Things get even more complicated if you’re attempting to make a sizable table out of a single piece of glass that is air-blown like traditional glass pieces. It’s that technical difficulty that makes the Soda coffee tables all the more impressive and mind-blowing, pretty much like a glass-blown art piece.

The production of such a masterpiece is no easy feat. It’s made upside-down, blown from a single glass volume, and shaped by no less than three master glassmakers. Complicating things further is that while the tabletop is a conventional circle, the stem is formed into three intersecting circles that resemble the petals of a flower. That unusual shape not only provides a beautiful form but also helps spread the weight around.

Unlike what you might expect from a glass table, the Soda coffee table isn’t completely smooth, at least not visually. The top has a hammered surface that seems to freeze ripples in time. It creates an impression of dynamism and almost literal vibrancy, almost like a colored drink that bubbles and ripples at the slightest movement. It reflects and refracts light in seemingly random and interesting ways as if the table is a gigantic drinking glass with soda trapped inside for eternity.

Soda is more than just an elegant coffee table. It’s also an exercise in pushing the envelope of a glass-blown design, especially when it comes to large proportions and complicated shapes. The result is a beautiful piece of furniture that’s no different from a piece of sculptural art that combines a play of light and colors that will surely make you the talk of the neighborhood.

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Standing table for collaboration unfolds into a picnic table for fun

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Different tables have different uses depending on their design. A dining table needs to be low enough to accommodate comfortable seating, while a standing table encourages more dynamic conversations with the lack of chairs. In most cases, you have to choose the right type of table for the right purpose, but there might be instances where you wish a single one could fulfill multiple functions instead. There might be a constraint on spaces, or you might prefer a more agile and adaptable environment. Whatever the reason might be, this ingenious transforming table offers those two functions in one, providing a high table for standing meetings and a picnic table for four for more informal gatherings.

Designer: Bert Masselus

Designing a foldable table with built-in seats isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Compared to a regular table with separate chairs, such a piece of furniture would need to tackle different areas of concern all at once. Not only does it need to actually fold and unfold properly, it also needs to be stable and comfortable. There’s also the matter of visual appeal, which is even harder to pull off when considering a table that changes forms depending on the situation.

That’s the kind of feat that the JoinTable accomplishes with aplomb. Sporting an industrial aesthetic with its powder-coated stainless steel and aluminum construction, the transforming table offers an environment that can quickly adapt to the owners’ needs. On the one hand, it functions as a standing table that creates an atmosphere conducive to quick discussions and meetings. On the other hand, it can also be a place for more relaxed conversations, with friends or families lounging over meals. You could, of course, also have only one side of the table opened with the two seats, leaving the other side free for wood, work, or other things.

JoinTable is deceptively simple, belying its nontrivial mechanism and difficult manufacturing. The top of the standing table opens up in the middle and folds backward to reveal benches that can seat two people on each side. Even in this opened form, the table retains a stable center of gravity. The folding mechanism is also rigid enough to hold the seats in place and keep them from completely folding backward after a certain point.

This transforming table design is meant to be used both indoors and outdoors, creating areas for collaboration and enjoyment without taking up too much space. There is, however, also a design that is practically limited for indoor use, or at least in places with plenty of walls. This “two-seater” configuration consists of only half the JoinTable attached to a wall, offering a temporary space for working or enjoying a sip of coffee or both, whether by your lonesome self or with a partner.

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Experimental + playful furniture collection made from plated steel looks like pieces of contorted paper clips

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Designer Leah Ring set up her interdisciplinary studio Another Human in 2017, and since then has been wooing residential homes in California with her unique, fresh, and sunny design pieces. She loves sculptural furniture and leaves no chance to create them. And a sculptural furniture collection that she recently designed for her studio is the Doodle. The Doodle is Ring’s latest collection that looks exactly as it sounds – a bunch of scrappy doodles brought to life. Each piece is one-of-a-kind – hauntingly similar to its predecessor, yet painstakingly unique as well.

Designer: Leah Ring for Another Human

If you look closely the furniture pieces look like contorted pieces of paper clips. It looks like the result of an idle day at work, where one does nothing except twist and play around with paper clips, creating unique contraptions that look like absurd bits of metal, rather than functional pieces of stationery. Ring’s intention behind every piece was to make it look like a blind contour drawing brought to life in three dimensions. Nickel-plated steel arching was hand-bent and welded together, around a cast resin  – resulting in an abstract-looking table and a pair of chairs that don’t look like they could stand by themselves, and yet they do! The cast-resin tabletop on the table looks gravity-defying.

Ring described the design process behind the Doodle collection as “free and exploratory”. And, indeed it does seem like it. The final pieces look like dynamic and quirky pieces of art, that you would find in an art show, than in a furniture store. But that’s exactly what makes this collection so unique! In a world where furniture has been shoved into a humdrum and mundane box, the Doodle Collection is Ring’s rebellion against boring and anticipated design languages. The pieces are quite different as compared to previous furniture designs launched by Another Human, which indicates Ring’s own expansion and experimentation as a designer.

The Doodle collection is definitely not for everyone, and you won’t see it in an office or restaurant. But for the brave-hearted furniture connoisseurs who love to experiment and add an element of fun to their homes, the Doodle designs would be an exciting addition to their living space.

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Modular table pivots to turn from work desk to dining table to social space

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The past years’ new work-from-home arrangements made people realize how limited their options are when it comes to setting up a dedicated working space. This problem, however, isn’t new to those occupying smaller places, like just renting a room or living in single-person households. More often than not, the same table they use for eating is one they’d use for doing other kinds of work or vice versa. It’s terribly easy to make that happen by keeping the table’s surface clean, but it doesn’t leave much room for flexibility, much less for aesthetics. This table design concept turns this multi-purpose setup into something like a puzzle game, where pieces fit into different places, depending on what you want to use the furniture for.

Designer: Hyun Ju Ko

Modular desks and expanding tables are nothing new, but they have become even more popular as people try to rethink their use of one of the most common pieces of furniture in homes. Ideally, you would have different places for work and eating, but that’s a luxury not everyone can afford when floor space is at a premium. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t have distinct modes using the same table, and the FTP design concept does exactly that by making you turn just one part to go from working to eating or maybe both.

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Short for “Finding Turn Point,” the FTP table looks like a regular rectangular piece of furniture, except for a half-circle that seems embedded in its top. That orange circle isn’t just visually distinct from the rest of the black table, it is actually a separate part that can be moved around and away from the rest of the table. Moving this shape around and changing its position becomes both a symbol and a ritual that can help your mind shift to a different kind of activity, whichever one you decide to associate with its position.

For example, you can use the table either as a desk or a dining table when the half-circle is flushed perfectly because you might want to have access to a whole and unbroken surface. Turn it to the left or right, and you can have something like an equivalent of a corner desk, where you can place different, unrelated materials on different sides. You can also pull out that part of the table and put it against any edge, extending the table’s reach for another person to join you at work or for meals.

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Of course, you aren’t exactly getting more table space, just moving things around to accommodate different activities and tools, from laptops to tableware. In the absence of separate tables for different purposes, the modular and shape-changing design can be a good cue to help your mind changes modes as well, setting up invisible yet palpable boundaries between work and personal life without losing precious floor space to another piece of furniture.

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This collection of sustainable tables was built from a sea plant and named after mythological Greek sea nymphs

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Tables are often underestimated when in reality they can add a whole depth of personality and character to your living space – whether it’s a great coffee table, a nifty side table, or a console that will hold your favorite souvenirs. But finding the right table can be a task. Luckily we came across a cool collection of tables called Oceanides. Designed by Alexia Mintsouli for UK studio Alexa Mint, Oceanides is a collection of tables made from sea plants and marble.

Designer: Alexia Mintsouli for Alexa Mint 

The innovative collection includes a square coffee table and two round side tables. One of the side tables features four legs, while the other features a solid base. Peloponnesian Tortora marble was used to craft the base and legs of the table, while the brown-colored tabletops were built using a sea plant that imparts the table with a natural pattern variation.”The top of the tables are from the sea plant Posidonia Oceanica, one of the oldest living organisms on Earth,” said Alex Mint. Until recently, the sea plant was disposed of as waste, but now it has a newfound purpose.

“In order to make living spaces greener, we are exploring the potential of natural materials in the creation of eco-friendly, modern furniture. We try to follow the ecological guidelines by using eco-friendly, local materials and collaborating with Greek craftsmen to eliminate the energy consumption that goes into transportation,” continued the brand. The Oceanides tables are heavily inspired by the sea breeze, and they were all designed with an aim to promote sustainability and earth preservation.

The eco-friendly tables are designed to be not only sustainable but luxurious as well, and they are driven by the brand’s love for all things sustainable. The local Greek craftsmen were involved in the process, hence giving the local economy a boost as well. The story behind the name ‘Oceanides’ is quite interesting as well. The name was inspired by the sea plant that was used to build the tables – Posidonia Oceanica. And according to Greek mythology, the Oceanides were mythological sea nymphs, daughters of the Titan Oceanus, the great primordial world-encircling river, and Tethys, a sea goddess.

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Coffee table concept adds a revolving handle to hold your glass or lamp

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Table space is often very precious, especially for smaller furniture that’s often a bit more decorative than functional. Coffee tables, for example, don’t have much space for a lot of stuff, limiting their use when it comes to work. You can place a laptop, maybe a notebook or two, and then suddenly find yourself out of a safe space for that coffee from which the table gets its name. It’s even worse when the table is a circle because there’s less surface area compared to a square tabletop. Of course, you should probably work at a desk or a larger table, but some public spaces prefer these round and more attractive designs. It doesn’t have to be an either-or situation, and this table design concept tries to make room for all the essentials without forgetting the most important thing of all: coffee.

Designer: Liza Chernova

Coffee tables are a bit of an amusing misnomer since their earliest known ancestors were made to hold tea cups rather than coffee. Today, the typical coffee tables are large and low pieces of furniture that occupy a central place in living rooms, and they’re meant to hold not only beverages of any kind but also books, remote controls, and even knickknacks. There are some coffee tables, however, that are literally what they’re called, tables with regular heights used for holding your favorite blend and maybe even working for a bit.

Things can get cramped easily with you have both drinks and work competing over a small area. It might even become precarious, as evidenced by so many anecdotes of spilled beverages over papers or, worse, laptops. This table design idea solves that problem by giving beverages a more special place that sort of puts them on a pedestal while also keeping your work safe.

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Named after Russian rotary dials, Vertushka puts a similar mechanism at the service of your coffee. An arm protrudes out of and over the table, creating a safe location to place a drink away from whatever else is on the table. Plus, it also frees up space for more of your stuff instead of forcing yourself to clear out an unobstructed space around your cup. That said, that’s not the only thing that this coffee table is able to do. That “handle” can revolve around the edge, giving you more freedom where to place your beverage.

That revolving handle is actually more than just a drink holder, though. The design also includes a multi-angle lamp to shed more light on what you’re working on without taking up precious table space. In theory, this could be expanded to support a modular system for anything you need to be at arm’s reach but doesn’t need to actually be on the table. Vertushka offers that flexibility without changing the coffee table’s minimalist design substantially, letting you keep your work safe while sipping your favorite beverage.

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This multipurpose + customizable table is the self-sufficient meeting island that modern offices need post-pandemic

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Since the transition from home offices to actual corporate offices has begun, it’s important to ensure that employees feel comfortable, safe, and motivated in their workplace. And adding the right furniture designs can greatly contribute to creating an office that is conducive to motivation and productivity. When it comes to picking the right office furniture, we’re usually focused on a great workdesk and an ergonomic chair. However, have you ever really paid attention to an excellent meeting or conference table? Well, Narbutas did and designed the Nova Wood Multipurpose table.

Designer: Narbutas

Narbutas has a preexisting collection of office furniture called the Nova Wood collection, and they recently added the Nova Wood Multipurpose table to it. The new multipurpose table has been specially designed for collaborations and informal meetings. In the words of Narbutas, the table is a “self-sufficient meeting island”, that creates a harmonious and comfortable space for casual and quick workplace interactions or meetings. The table has been equipped with a variety of accessories, that you can use to customize it.

The accessories include – power outlets, and attachments for display screens, writing boards, shelves, hooks, and even plant pots if you want to add a bit of green! The wide range of accessories allows the users to create a space that meets their requirements and works best for them. The meeting island is crafted by using the same solid wood ash, that was utilized to build the 2019’s Red Dot Award-winning Nova Wood meeting table. However, it has been additionally equipped with an A-frame and optional castor wheels for mobility.

“The answer is in our nature – for communication and socialization. The Nova Wood Multipurpose table promotes both informal meetings with a cup of coffee and creative meetings for discussing various projects,” said Simonas Savickas, workplace design specialist at Narbutas. The multipurpose table is an excellent platform for employees to engage and interact with their peers and seniors. Narbutas believes it is the perfect design for these times when people are questioning and wondering whether they should even return back to office post-pandemic. In such an age, this multipurpose meeting island serves as a versatile and customizable piece of furniture that fosters meaningful collaborations and interactions.

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This side and coffee tables have sustainability and simplicity ingrained in their DNA

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Once upon a time, buying a table involved troublesome and inconvenient shipping arrangements because the furniture either comes pre-assembled or didn’t have any way to disassemble it anyway. These days, however, it has become trendy to buy flat-packed furniture, especially if they come with minimalist designs. These are easier to transport, sometimes by the buyers themselves, and are possible to take apart store away when they’re no longer needed. The trade-off, however, is often the complexity and difficulty of assembling the things on your own. Fortunately, more creative furniture designers have come up with new ways to simplify that process, and these wooden tables demonstrate how an easier process doesn’t exactly make the furniture less stable.

Designer: Ivan Nuño

Thanks to the prevalence of minimalist designs and the popularity of stores like IKEA, it isn’t uncommon these days for many people to prefer tables and chairs that arrive at their doorsteps in pieces. Logistics like transportation and storage can be cheaper, and it’s also not that much work for those already used to putting things together themselves by hand. The latter, however, doesn’t cover the majority of buyers that need simpler steps to follow. Unfortunately, simplicity can sometimes also mean fragility, and some might find their tables loosening in critical areas.

To correct that problem, Studio Nuño designed a new type of joinery that it says reduces the assembly time down to just a few minutes while still maintaining structural strength to bear the weight of everyday use. You simply insert the legs into the slots beneath the tabletop, slide in a supporting piece, and screw that piece down with an Allen wrench. The legs come in three or four distinct pieces for the side table and coffee table, respectively, so there are no confusing angles or combinations to worry about.

Although not an inherent property of flat-pack design, many products that come in this form often have a pinch of sustainable design as well. Studio Nuño, however, takes it to a whole new level by making sure both the product and its packaging are environment-friendly. The wood for the tables, for example, is made from Baltic birch plywood coated with high-pressure laminate made from recycled materials, while the joinery uses recycled steel. The packaging is devoid of single-use plastic, using 100% recycled and biodegradable materials. It even uses eco-friendly tape to keep things together.

Studio Nuño’s tables don’t skimp on the aesthetics either, fully embracing a minimalist design that blends well with any theme you might have running in your home. Simple and sustainable, this coffee and side table pair offers a fresh look at how furniture doesn’t have to be complicated to be beautiful or sturdy. At the same time, its simple assembly also proves that you don’t have to sweat too much to have a sturdy and reliable table for your use, whatever that may be.

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This outdoor furniture collection is made from recycled plastic but feels and looks like wood

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I wholeheartedly believe that stools deserve to be given way more credit than they get. Stools are often overlooked, maybe because they occupy minimum space, and aren’t really overbearing. But these traits are what make stools so great in my opinion! And a stool and table collection that recently grabbed my attention is Nardi’s Stack stool and Combo table. Designed by Raffaello Galiotto, Italian furniture brand Nardi launched a stool and table collection that features a linear design complemented by strips of wood.

Designer: Nardi

Crafted from 100 per cent recyclable regenerated polypropylene, the furniture collection has been designed to look like traditional timber furniture. Lightweight and sturdy, both the stool and table can be easily lifted, handled, and transported from one location to another. And the fact that it has the appearance of wooden furniture only adds to its list of pros! The furniture pieces are also completely weatherproof, making them excellent for outdoor use.

The stool comes in two variants – Mini and Maxi. Both of them are stackable, and occupy minimal space once they have been set aside and stored. The stools feature a unique spiral form, which allows them to interlock with one another, creating a rather minimum and compact footprint. “The spiral design is not a mere aesthetic whim, but the search for a shape that perfectly meets the need for rotational stacking, going beyond the classic design of the outer strip,” said Raffaello Galiotto.

The table is called Combo, and it features a sturdy round top supported by four narrow legs. You can opt for a taller table, which is called the Combo High. The Combo High has been equipped with an extension component, which allows it to be extended. It can be positioned on top of the legs. The tabletop has been crafted by Nardi in such a manner, that it maintains a perfect rigidness, that is unaffected by the passage of time, and exposure to elements such as wind and water.

“With a linear design and thick sections inspired by strips of wood, the Stack stool, and Combo table stand out for their sturdiness, safety, and ergonomics,” said Nardi.

The furniture pieces are available in the ‘Terra’ finish. The name has been coined due to the earthy brown and matte texture of the finish. Terra has a rather vintage-like effect to it, further defined by tonal streaks marked through the plastic. Unlike conventional stools and tables which have a rather smooth finish, the Nardi collection features a rough texture much like wood.

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This distinctive coffee table blends contrasting elements to give it a unique character

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Coffee tables today do more than just hold your coffee or your coffee table books. They have become both literal and figurative centers of a room, providing visual impact through their eye-catching appearances. Some coffee tables grab your attention with their exquisite shapes, while others prefer to do it through remarkable materials. This unique coffee table does both, creating a piece of furniture that could almost be described as sculptural art. What’s more noteworthy, however, is that it uses what seems to be opposing or contrasting materials, giving it a distinct personality that’s like a Yin and Yang of furniture design.

Designer: Donatas Žukauskas

There are some materials, both natural and man-made, that seem to be associated with certain emotions and concepts. Water, for example, can be calming and cleansing, while plastic is soft and pliable. Wood is warm and cozy, while stone, in its many forms, is cold and impersonal. These latter two might seem to stand on opposite ends, but they come together in a harmonious and even artistic way in this sculptural coffee table made of natural wood and a new concrete-like material.

The very shape of the table itself seems to convey this character of combining contrasting elements. The wide, irregularly-shaped wooden top is held up by three conical legs that end in very thin feet that seem to test fate. Its form has elements of both stability and irregularity as if challenging the mind to decide whether the table is steady or is ready to collapse on one end.

What makes this table even more interesting is that its concrete legs aren’t exactly made from actual concrete. Instead, it is a solid yet elastic mass that is actually closer to wood but was designed to look like concrete. It is made from paper mass, which is again the opposite of the rigidity of concrete, but mixed with various other materials to give it the desired texture, water resistance, and rigidity. Fusing this wet mass, which is poured into a mold, with the wood top proved to be a tricky task, but the result was well worth the trouble.

This sculptural coffee table of opposites is definitely a sight to behold in a room, and of course, it’s quite functional, too. So yes, you can place your favorite mug and books on top without fear of breaking down. Its special character, however, doesn’t stop at its aesthetics. Recycled materials were utilized in creating this table, making it a sustainable piece of furniture and sculptural art as well.

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