The table that underlines everything about how & why we make furniture

That's a big call. However, this table really does embody everything about why we started Slow Furniture. The foundation of what we do stands on the following: craftsmanship, sustainability, and lifestyle. But how does this table demonstrate these three messages?

Well, for a start the wood is as sustainably sourced as it gets. The customer, owns a woodland, which is where the trees were felled. They'd been sawn and left to air dry for 3 years before we laid eyes on them. The stack of wood was then picked over to find the straightest and best looking boards. These were from 3 species: beech, cherry and oak.

They were then left to settle in an indoor environment for a couple months before they were worked on.

Beech was chosen for the top as these were the straightest boards to work into a flat table top. We could see the boards had character through the roughness left from the saw mill, but little did we know before we started working it, that hidden underneath were beautiful ribbons running through the grain, known as spalting. Now things were getting exciting!

The cherry, used for the leg assemblies, was no less impactful. A delicate wood with its stunning golden lustre and colour. A dream to work with.

The brief from the customer was that they didn't want it to look farmhousey, and wanted it to be modern but timeless (sustainable design?) in style. An A-frame trestle design was decided upon, with its angular form, and interest was added with its unique joinery, such as the sliding dovetail that attaches the top.

However, we did want the message to be a clear reminder of where the wood originally came from - the customers own woodland. So to give this sense, oak was used for the stretcher with its live edge left on, just to bring it back into perspective again.

Making the piece really was a joy. Craftsmanship is another tenet of Slow Furniture, and we were really able to flex some joinery muscles here. From the mortice and tenons in the legs to the sliding dovetail which attaches the top to the leg assemblies (the dovetail joint provides a solid connection between the two parts but also allows the table top to endure seasonal movement).

All this done with hand tools probably for 80% of the time. It just shows what can be achieved with a few simple tools and some hard earned practice! Not only that but it's just so much fun working with these tools, slowing down, taking in the nature of wood and the noises of a sharp edge slicing through the grain. It really does encourage you to be right there, in the moment.

Watch the table being made

What we love most about this table though, is that it's going to be a table for a family, and will gather all the knocks and bumps that being in this situation involves. It's certainly strong enough to withstand this and we hope it will age gracefully and eventually be able to tell its own story.

If you'd like to talk about commissioning your own piece of lifetime furniture, please do get in touch.