This very special bog oak coffee table was a bespoke commission for clients that wanted a statement coffee table in their lounge. They were looking for a large and attractive coffee table to fit in the middle of their three-sided sofa arrangement. Having seen a picture of my Autumn Leaf Coffee Table in walnut wood, they were keen to have something in a similar shape and style.
Why a Double Leaf Coffee Table?
To be really useful, any coffee table needs to be within reach of the seats that it’s intended to serve. This is quite difficult to achieve with one large table. If it’s large enough to be reached from all seats, then it’s likely to take up a lot of space and be awkward to get around. Having determined that a large sized leaf shape was required for the space between my clients’ sofas, I came up with the double leaf coffee table design as a very practical and attractive solution.
The two tables are shaped to fit together precisely when they are put side by side. In this way, they make a nice statement piece in the middle of the sofa area. Then, when needed at any of the seats, they can be split up and placed individually where they are of most use. The clients were very pleased with this design as it perfectly resolved their problem. Rather than having to choose between the beauty of a large and eye-catching table and the practicality of smaller tables, they have achieved all they wanted in this one table.
Bog Oak for a table?
There was some deliberation over the choice of wood for this table. Our initial thoughts had been to use walnut, as its rich brown colour would complement the existing interior decor. However, it wasn’t absolutely perfect for the job as there are other woods in the room, including oak, but no walnut. This is where the idea of bog oak came in. Bog oak also has a lovely dark rich colour and as it is a form of oak, it complements lighter ‘normal’ oak very well. It is a very unusual wood, dug up out of the bogs of East Anglia’s fens. Other bog oaks from this area have been carbon dated at around 3000-5000 years old and it is considered that all the bog oak from the fens would be of a similar age. This coffee table is therefore made of oak at least 3000 years old!
The colour of Bog Oak is variable, as it fades from very dark at the outer edge of the trunk to pale brown at the centre. This colour variation makes it particularly attractive in fine furniture, where it adds interest and makes every piece unique. Bog Oak is not easy to source as it is fairly rare, but having used it on a previous console table project I know that it is a wonderful wood which produces beautiful furniture and is worth waiting for.
My clients are delighted with their Bog Oak coffee table and it suits the size, style and colouring of their living room to a tee. I, in turn, am delighted that they chose to have Bog Oak as I love working with this rare and beautiful wood.
You can read more about Bog Oak (also known as Black Oak) in my blog item Bog Oak Furniture – find out all about it and on the Fenland Black Oak Project website. The Fenland Black Oak Project is all about the journey of one particularly huge bog oak tree trunk that is being made into a special table for the nation.