Up-Cycled End Table

by

I have recently completed the construction of an up-cycled, mid century revival side table. The 1950's era of design is one of my favourites; light and airy with clean lines. Simple yet sophisticated and chic. Not too long ago I received a collection of old magazines from my Grandfather, most of which covered the 1951 Festival of Britain and the World's Fair of 1956. The freshness and excitement in the furniture pages inspired me to create a piece of my own. 

A key feature to my table is the circular hole in the surface, which acts as a pot plant holder. Bringing the outdoors indoors and taking inspiration from natural forms was a popular design ethic to budding designers in the age of bent plywood and teak. Including a home for 'Little Miss Petunia' was important when planing my tables functionality. I also wanted to create storage within the table, for magazines, remote controls etc. The table top is a neat box, open at the front and back, which allows users to preserve their latest copy of "Kinfolk" for later reading, or discretely house DVD's. 

My main focus when sourcing materials was keeping it 'green'. I wanted to recycle and up-cycle as much as I could. The top is made from sanded down floorboards, lovingly massaged in Danish oil, and the legs are re-sprayed robin day school chairs, which without my heroic efforts would have met their slow demise wasting away outside my local primary school. I also made circular feet from reclaimed acrylic.