BETHAN GRAY’S TERRIFIC TABLES

The British designer who has put an end to table ennui

These days, it’s rare to open a magazine without stumbling across one of Bethan Gray‘s creations. Winner the prestigious Best British Designer Award in 2013 and one of the rock stars of British design, she is everywhere. We love her designs for their use of unexpected materials and patterns that take boring objects to the next level.

Her tables are perhaps the perfect example. Too often, tables serve their function in bland shades of wood with four legs and predictable shapes. However, Gray’s tables, while sticking with traditional forms and function, have an element of surprise. Whether it be associating marble with wood or creating intricate patterns in leather and marble tabletops, we’ve yet to be bored.

Take her recently launched Stud. Drawing inspiration from the stud work found on Asian and Arabic doors, Stud is a handmade, leather-topped Side or Coffee table with decorative brass studs.

Her Brogue tables for G&T takes the brogue detailing most frequently found on shoes and applies it to a leather table top.

Gray also made a marble version of the Brogue table for Lapicida.

Also for Lapicida, the Herringbone table takes carrara and maquina marble to create a distinctive black and white zigzag pattern that is held aloft by a brass base. The designer selected alternating black and white stone as a reference to historical icons of European architecture, such as the Amalfi Cathedral.