Ping Pong

Boulder's active community doesn't just ski, hike and run. When a lower Chautauqua couple found us, they promptly left to brainstorm. Then, fully embracing BFA's fine-furniture-but-fun vibe, they brought us three challenges, in ascending levels of joy.

First was a nine-foot desk made from figured hardwood, with pedestals of storage, spanned by a single slab of prized curly Ambrosia Maple, with LiveEdge front and natural iridescence. Offcuts from the slab became artfully asymmetrical floating shelves on the wall above, and drawer cutouts kept the focus on the material, uninterrupted by handle hardware.

Next, an oval-shaped poker table would require unobstructed seating and a killer tabletop, too. Another wild slab was split lengthwise and painstakingly oriented to form an undulating "river", where a lower layer of black epoxy could conceal feet and upper clear layers would display the topography of contoured edges.

The pièce de résistance was a regulation-sized ping-pong table that would be indistinguishable from a large dining table at first glance. The clients brought net ideas and chose from multiple mesh and fastening options. We met to discuss the bounce and friction properties of solid Walnut and a natural oil finish. A skinny Walnut inlay with artful sapwood in the center of the table referrees, and four steel legs (just line segments from a certain angle) make a play for joy.