PLINT COFFEE TABLE Cecilie Manz’s pared-down coffee table is designed for easy, tool-free assembly. Offered in oak and two species of slow-growth pine, it’s made from components that are EU Ecolabel– and FSC-certified. TAKT taktcph.com
A dramatically pared-down coffee table illustrates a trend toward furnishings with few parts and natural materials. Called Plint, it takes its frugal form from a collaboration between award-winning designer Cecilie Manz and TAKT, a one-year-old Danish manufacturer that makes quality flat-pack furnishings in sustainable and transparent ways.
Three of Plint’s four parts (a wood surface and two side planks) are preassembled with leather hinges, which enables inexpensive shipping and no-tools-required assembly. The ingredients, wood and leather, are as green as they are restrained; planks are Forest Stewardship Council–certified (FSC) oak or pine, EU Ecolabel–certified, and intentionally machined as a kit of replaceable parts to extend the product’s life. Even the hinged seams are carefully considered: They’re supplied by a Swedish tannery called Tärnsjö Garveri, which distinguishes itself by using a chrome-free, vegetable-based tanning process.
But simplicity is the table’s chief virtue. “A small plinth is a type of furniture I often return to,” Manz says, “as it’s highly functional and self-explanatory to use.” It’s a model of basic versatility and craftsmanship, which a growing number of product designers seem to be following.
MODEL 8
This table collection by Indiana-based designer Jonathan Nesci is a study in materials: steel work surfaces and legs of extruded aluminum. Versteel offers the combination with a square, circular, or rectangular top in four sizes and heights and five monochrome finishes to add a bold note of color in commercial interiors. VERSTEEL versteel.com
Courtesy Versteel
MODEL 8
This table collection by Indiana-based designer Jonathan Nesci is a study in materials: steel work surfaces and legs of extruded aluminum. Versteel offers the combination with a square, circular, or rectangular top in four sizes and heights and five monochrome finishes to add a bold note of color in commercial interiors. VERSTEEL versteel.com
COBRA TABLE Corral, Allsteel’s newest manufacturing partner, developed a lightweight laptop table that puts a fresh spin on molded plywood. The durable Eames-era staple provides a surface and storage in one continuous form. ALLSTEEL allsteeloffice.com
Courtesy Allsteel
COBRA TABLE Corral, Allsteel’s newest manufacturing partner, developed a lightweight laptop table that puts a fresh spin on molded plywood. The durable Eames-era staple provides a surface and storage in one continuous form. ALLSTEEL allsteeloffice.com
MARTHA ROCKER
Designed to showcase the crafts of upholstery and woodworking, this rocker features a rich mix of leather, fabric, and FSC-certified ash. Expanding his Martha line of seating, Italian designer Roberto Lazzeroni contrasts these finishes with a modern shell of molded polyurethane. POLTRONAU FRAU poltronaufrau.com
Courtesy Poltrona Frau
MARTHA ROCKER
Designed to showcase the crafts of upholstery and woodworking, this rocker features a rich mix of leather, fabric, and FSC-certified ash. Expanding his Martha line of seating, Italian designer Roberto Lazzeroni contrasts these finishes with a modern shell of molded polyurethane. POLTRONAU FRAU poltronaufrau.com
THE ESSENTIAL SOFA Recycled velvet upholstery, CertiPUR-certified foam cushions, and a frame of FSC-certified wood distinguish the Essential Sofa, the debut offering from new sustainable and women-owned furniture company Sabai. SABAI sabai.design
Courtesy Sabai
THE ESSENTIAL SOFA Recycled velvet upholstery, CertiPUR-certified foam cushions, and a frame of FSC-certified wood distinguish the Essential Sofa, the debut offering from new sustainable and women-owned furniture company Sabai. SABAI sabai.design
OJAI DAYBED
Labor-intensive tufted upholstery emphasizes the chunky handcrafted frame of this daybed, offered in white oak or American walnut in ten natural finishes. The new form extends Lawson-Fenning’s LF Collection of beds, seating, tables, and cabinets, which are all made in Los Angeles. LAWSON-FENNING lawsonfenning.com
Courtesy Lawson-Fenning
OJAI DAYBED
Labor-intensive tufted upholstery emphasizes the chunky handcrafted frame of this daybed, offered in white oak or American walnut in ten natural finishes. The new form extends Lawson-Fenning’s LF Collection of beds, seating, tables, and cabinets, which are all made in Los Angeles. LAWSON-FENNING lawsonfenning.com
PEERS COLLECTION
The Swedish design studio Front created two wood coffee tables for Gebrüder Thonet Vienna that feature the contoured tops
and bentwood legs popularized in Michael Thonet’s original Viennese café chair. The new bentwood tables are made in Italy.
GEBRÜDER THONET
gebruederthonetvienna.com
Courtesy Gebrüder Thonet
PEERS COLLECTION
The Swedish design studio Front created two wood coffee tables for Gebrüder Thonet Vienna that feature the contoured tops
and bentwood legs popularized in Michael Thonet’s original Viennese café chair. The new bentwood tables are made in Italy.
GEBRÜDER THONET
gebruederthonetvienna.com
DELA GUEST CHAIR
A plywood back adds warmth to this tubular steel chair, one of three guest chair styles in the Dela seating collection. The streamlined frame showcases near-seamless welding. It’s also recyclable with a VOC-free powder coat finish. STYLEX SEATING stylexseating.com
Courtesy Stylex Seating
DELA GUEST CHAIR
A plywood back adds warmth to this tubular steel chair, one of three guest chair styles in the Dela seating collection. The streamlined frame showcases near-seamless welding. It’s also recyclable with a VOC-free powder coat finish. STYLEX SEATING stylexseating.com
MESH OUTDOOR RUG
Barcelona-based nanimarquina has teamed up with a contract furniture company to develop a collection of rugs for commercial settings. Handwoven in India using slow production techniques, the rugs feature traditional dhurrie construction, but with 100 percent recycled PET.
COALESSEcoalesse.com
Courtesy Coalesse
MESH OUTDOOR RUG
Barcelona-based nanimarquina has teamed up with a contract furniture company to develop a collection of rugs for commercial settings. Handwoven in India using slow production techniques, the rugs feature traditional dhurrie construction, but with 100 percent recycled PET.
COALESSEcoalesse.com
