Ever since I bought the ol’ giant vintage burl root coffee table (and his two side table friends) there has been what I’m deeming a “mixed” response. Needless to say it’s almost been overwhelmingly negative. People just hate this type of table vehemently. Hate it enough to send me emails about how ugly it is, which I must say, takes a HUGE amount of hate since a lot of energy is spent just to comment, let alone locate my email address and then compose a few paragraphs of hate.
I know. It’s not for everyone. It is for some folks. It’s not the most elegant table in the world, but I just continue to LOVE it no matter what the world thinks. I’m not sure exactly why…maybe it’s the beefy weight, the gnarly sculptural mass of it compared to the more lofty and open mid century lines of the rest of the home. My particular coffee table still needs a new rectangular glass top. Like this:
I think a larger rectangular glass would modern it up a bit. I hate the curves happening right now. Also, how sad is it that Viva Terra no longer carries that chunky woven stool. I want a pair so effing bad right now.
I know there are folks out there that have these kind of tables, but I’m having a hell of a time finding images of burly beasts in actual living spaces. Oh my, I hate that green chair and pretty much everything happening in the photo with the zebra rug…except for the lamps.
Check out this amazing round burly version at A-Z West…and that killer Raugh Sofa, so dreamy.
When I was in Los Angeles I hit up HD Buttercup for a little work related research and saw a bajillion teak root, burl, and driftwood tables. All priced around $1,500 – $5,000 depending on size. Someone must be loving this stuff and paying a crap load for it…
This Metropolitan Home feature may be a little much for my particular palette, but how happy is that Boston fur monster? He loves Burl.
My crazy love of rough-hewn natural slab furniture may have it’s more sophisticated roots in a down right obsession with the work of George Nakashima (even though what I can afford to buy tends to be more along the lines of the free love wood working of the late 60′s hippy culture). Show me someone who hates Nakashima’s work. You can’t because he’s awesome. It’s a fact.
Pretty much I would put as much rough-hewn, raw edge, giant gnarly slabs of wood everywhere and anywhere I can. And I’m probably going to. Eventually.
Yeah. I’d even throw some giant teak root benches and chairs around if I had the cash. I’ve been on the lookout for years, but that stuff is expensive and hard to find – a lethal combo.
I might as well keep an eye out for this $55K Meteor Table made by Christa. It’s rooty and made of shiny bronze? My two favorite things combined into one ultra expensive mess.
92 Comments
How funny, of all the things you own, thats the one thing I absolutely could NOT get into. I wondered what ‘everyone else’ thought of it, but i recall most of the comments were positive so I figured it was just me.
Eh, Ive seen some pictures that have warmed me up enough to admire them from afar and I do think yours will look better with the rectangular top. Id kill myself on those corners, though.
Some folks like it, I was just surprised by the derision and the emails. It is a hotly contested item!
I’m pro burl. Love a piece of gnarly wood with a glass top. The rectangle top would look excellent. x
Small burl pieces like stools are easier to find.. Traditional cottage style here
These are not burl, but made from whole slices of oak trunks, and completely wonderful (as is rest of Piet Hein Eek’s work, especially the demolition wood furniture..) : http://www.pietheineek.nl/nl/collectie/eiken/art.nr.2302
I’m neutral Burl. While I do think it looks nice in your own home I wouldn’t use it in my own space. It adds a nice personality to your home. Go with it!
i’m pro burl. I love it and i love it in your home. i would also love to see a rectangle top on it.
I don’t like it… but I love that you do.
God, we don’t all want to have homogenous taste, do we?
And in any case your house looks better than mine… so you’d win any design argument if you were my partner.
I love it too!
Greatings from Sweden – keep it up!
Bea
I like the Burl in your space. Burl kinda scares me a bit though and I think the word itself is really ugly and comical. “Hey guys, I don’t feel so well…I think i’m gonna burl!” “Damn burl, you are some sexy!” It looks like it would weigh 8000 pounds and if I accidentally stubbed my toe on it my foot would shatter and explode.
The burl is sexy and some people can’t take it.
The bronze one at the bottom= to die for!
Pro burl, pro-live edge and passionately/violently pro burl/bronze….all things I’m trying to incorporate in my 70′s shack. I know a place selling the benches here for $150…but they are for decoration only…they were too shallow, and I was ready to buy….
Burl for me is a ‘nice place but I wouldn’t live there’. A piece like that would never work in my home. Also I prefer things a little more ‘modular’ and by that I mean that I can pick them up and move them around all by myself.
But it looks fantastic in your space. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers they are just jealously trying to get you to sell it so they can snap it up to recreate the look.
I’m pro burl, It’s your home and you live there. I think people forget that part. Yes, A rectangle glass would look a little better…
I actually definitely hate it (not a fan of heavy wood in general), but I still love your house and I feel like you should absolutely decorate your house how you want it to be! After all, you’re the one living in it. I can’t believe there are people who care enough about YOUR house to send you an email about it. Wow. I mean, seriously.
Wow, who would have thought there were so many haters? I love it and I think it adds so much character/texture/visual stimulation to your designs. I do like the square top better, but wouldn’t have thought of it until you mentioned it. Keep rocking your burl!
Woman, are we psychically connected or something? Every time I see your coffee table I think, that needs a square piece of glass on top to sass it up bad. And also, just remember: love your haters.
hiya,
the burl is great. but i think the difference between yours and the others you’ve posted, if i may say, is that yours is very shiny. perhaps a good sanding down would bring it to the higher level that the rest of your home enjoys?
I’m shocked! Can’t believe that anyone who loves your blog doesn’t love the burl. It perfectly embodies all that’s best about mid-century design. CONTRAST. Massive organic texture paired with shiny transparent manufactured glass. Like cowhides + Knoll sofas, flokati and brass. The burl is your greatest score by far.
don’t worry about the negativity.
Haterz make you famous!
Nothing wrong with burl per se. I happen to love it. The table is such a “heavy” piece. It almost needs something as “heavy” to balance it out.
I love burl wood tables and have been on the lookout for one on Craigs but no luck. Don’t think ya’ll have a Southeastern Salvage in Cali but they carry a lot of those teak benches and slabs at ridiculous crackhead prices I’m getting a driftwood dinning table with glass for 250.
is it christa, or chista? i was just sourcing from CHISTA yesterday for a client… and for the record, i am PRO-BURL. burl on, brick house.
http://www.chista.net/MasterItems-Redesign.php?Cat2=8&Cat3=234
it’s CHISTA. meteor boom: http://www.chista.net/MasterItems-Redesign.php?Cat2=49&Cat3=302
Not a fan of the burl, but my feeling is you should always be surrounded with things that make you happy and if burl makes you happy, then burl it up!
I am not a fan of the burl, but Jiminy Crickets, why would someone take the time to email you and tell you they hate something in your house?
The best thing about your blog is that you keep changing stuff and moving it around and selling and switching and growing and discovering. If the burl is part of that process, I’m all for it.
I’m now in love with that Raugh Sofa, by the way, despite it perhaps being better in concept than in actual use (based on the description at the link…).
Hoorah for you for including in your home that which you love, regardless of others opinions. There is a tendency in blog-land to sacrifice personal taste over that which is “in vogue”. I agree with you and others that the burl adds fantastic CONTRAST to your home, however, my opinion of the burl should take a very far back seat to YOUR opinion. At the end of the the day this is what matters. In our quest for the perfect home we should be striving toward what makes US smile, not what will get a vote from other bloggers!
next time you guys are down here you will have to visit the mingei at balboa park, fine nakashima in their collection. free on select tuesdays…
I can’t get into the burl. Though, used sparingly it works in your place. To me, its just cluttery, but like any one off piece it can work without taking over.. Country kitchens, now there is something I could NEVER get into.. Way too much clutter.
I do like some post modern anti-good taste pieces, and Id put them in my place, as focal points, or a diversion from the danish, MCM and minimalism that make up the most of my furnishings/accessories.
I’m definitely pro burl. But I’m also pro money… so if you tire of said burl, you can always sell it and become an instant thousandaire. Blammo!
Personally, I don’t really like burl, but I do like the organic contrast that it provides in your house. I agree that a square top would heighten that effect. I really like the Chista tables that Kristina linked to, where the burl is cut into rectangular slabs. I also like driftwood tables, so I think that my issue with the burl may be how extreme it is. Still, it serves as a strong sculptural piece in your home, and I like that.
In general, I find your taste to be inspiring. I am at the beginning of my design journey – I just moved into a house built in 1956 with a boyfriend whose design ideal is Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit hole. I don’t think these two things mix very well.
again i say, because of you i own burl. i love the texture that it adds. my mantra is clean and straight lines, but i think the burl is a good random ‘oooh interesting’ to shake up the collection.
i purchased mine off of craigslist for $100! the lady actually didnt understand the gem that she had and (#scoff) cut a piece off “because i kept tripping on it” so it could be separated into 2 baby tables. i slapped my old glass sqare top to it and voila! fabulous.
no hate. <3
Big ol’ typo on the chista. Even my phone is trying to correct it now. Whoops, it was late whehen I wrote this.
Burl is awesome. Even the neighbors think its weird, but I’m sticking behind it. Recently I’ve been feeling the need to shake some stuff up design wise. I want to introduce some wackier crap.
Jeez. I can’t even spell when right.
Count me as a burl-lover. I love the curvy glass on yours as well.
I’d hunt some down, but there is only so much my poor hubbins can stand.
When I was dating my first wasband, he made me the most awesome coffee table out of a huge chunk of old wood he found somewhere. It was chunky and knotted and thick and lovely.
In the 90s we ditched it somewhere and I’ve missed it ever since. Stupid decision!
Hey Morgan, it’s Rachelle! Nice site! I actually really like the table, maybe because I’m drawn towards natural, woodsy looking things.
Love your burl table. Okay, full disclosure, obsess over it constantly. I have a binder full of “dream house” photos and said binder includes four or five tear-outs of a table nearly identical to this. Also a big fan of the stump night stand. Leave the more refined occasional pieces to the haters, I’d take the burl any day.
It is weird that even people with taste, presumably those who read your blog, can still lack taste. I think that mixing the man made lines of modern design with the free forms of nature is one of the greatest pleasures in life. Let the haters hate.
lol haters gonna hate! i am pro burl! love it and i agree with you on the rectangle top for it. I think i would give it more of a modern feel to it.
the things you have done to that home are amazing and unique…keep inspiring (us) but be true to what you love.
I happen to like it when it’s done right. IMO, in some of the photos you posted – it isn’t but in your house it is. Haters be damned!
Two words:
Fried Chicken
Is this house porn or food porn?
FUCK THA HATAZ. But seriously, dude, the burl is great. Just buy a rectangular top and you’ll be golden.
YAY! Bring on the wackier crap Morgan! That makes me excited. And next time anyone says your burl is ugly then just send them my way and I’ll show them this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thevintagecabin/4079271076/in/set-72157622742786416/
BURL! BURL! BURL! BURL!
nevermind the haters.
the burl is amazing – and when you get to nabbing the rectangular top, it will be even better.
The burl is okay…. anything is better than the coffee table you switched it out for in your living room. I hope by now you put it back. (sorry, in bossy mood…how funny is that dog though?)
Your pictures (and styling) are the best.
That green chair makes my ‘rhoids flare more than leopard-print high heel shoe chairs from ghetto furniture stores. Oh, you KNOW what I’m talkin about!
I’m in the love it camp.
My dad has one and despite the fact that I’ve knocked my shin and toes on it repeatedly I still think it’s cool.
A rectangle top on yours would be amazing.
WTF are these anti-burly people talking about? The burl tables are kick bass! That’s burl+ass…
Please move it back to the den!
Love the burl table!
Although it is not my cup of tea. I think the burl tables look awesome in your house! Then again, I luv your house!
Screw the haters! I LOVE the tables!!!
Love your burl gurl!
I know everyone is entitled to their opinion about burly roots but it is in your home, it’s not like you’re making everyone else put one in their living room.
I agree that a rectangular top would look more modern, but either way I think it looks right at home.
interesting comments. it sounds like the organic, sexy “cluttery” aspect of burl is what the linear modernes are objecting to. perverts.
burl on, as one of your clever respondants has said. burl on.
I’m pro Milton. He was a true legend and a comic genius. We are talking about the same thing? Oh, the wood table with glass top…what’s not to like?
definitely pro-burl! it reminds me of a high school friend’s house whose parents were total hippies. adds a bit of kitch to balance out the more serious modern stuff.
I actually love that green chair (but not in green); its a Tom Dixon design for George Smith! I’ve got a tear sheet for it in my lust file.
Burl on girl…
pro burl! it’s a nice balance with everything else in the room…nice to mix things up a bit! well done!
Hey there, Hemet Homeslice:
My dad retired to Sun City, my grandmother bought there in the 60′s, and even though I’m in Boston now I’m feeling the Inland Empire pull.
I LOVE the burl. And I LOVE that’s it’s shiny. So cool with the white walls. So there you go.
Some people just happen to have burl for brains. Your table is crazy, sessy, hot.
I’ll take my burl in bowl form, but I can appreciate what you like in it – I think it’s funny that someone actually wanted to MAKE SURE that you knew how much they hated your choice of furniture – surprised you didn’t get a phone call! haha.
Go burl! I’d totally have a burl table if I weren’t absolutely certain that my children would break the glass top the day anything like that entered my house.
haha…well, I think your burl table is okay…(I am so picky about burl that I do and don’t like) but I MISS the wood one you had in that spot before.
where did it go? I fell in love with that table when I first saw it in the living room tour section of your blog. I also like the little table with glass top and a bunch of spider-looking legs. I wish I had your talent of hunting down good mid century pieces. lol
either way, the burl is a good change for now, it gives the room/setting more weight, which I don’t think the previous did (I still love it more than the burl though!)
Love how pieces like these give such an organic and ornate edge that modern homes usually lack. All the hip amazing vendors at the Rose Bowl Flea market in Pasadena have ‘sold’ signs on their Burl/ drift wood by 8am…
I think it’s awesome. It didn’t even cross my mind that some people would hate it because to me it’s so obviously awesome. Ah well, to each his/her own.
I hope someone loves burl cuz I have a bunch of it that I’d love to sell to the people who make this furniture!!! Who cares if others hate it, its not their home. I love the rough driftwood pieces as long as they’re a special focal piece and not a houseful. I do personally prefer the lighter paler colored ones but that’s me. You’ve made them look fabulous in your home (well yeah rectangular glass would make all the difference). I love your blog, house, and all the goodies inside!
I like burl but I don’t think it looks good with your stuff.
Huh!
I had no idea people hated it. I think it’s a perfect counter to all the ultra-cleanliness (lines-wise) in your house.
F internet people who take time to hate on shit. F ‘em.
Love your home, love your site, and I love the burl—in theory and in small doses. My ish might be that there isn’t enough contrast with the rest of the beauts in your pad. For me, it ends up making everything else by association look much more dark and heavy. Also, I have this irrational fear that it is going to crash through your floors and suck your gorgeous house into a black hole. But fuck it. If you love it, screw me and the rest of the ambivalent-to-haterating.
So intriguing that you posted this because I too, at times, was not sure about your burled table. I am liking it much better in the living room! And honestly, a rectangle would definitely put me in the “pro burl” camp. Perhaps one reason is its density and lack of negative space? Usually burl is more appealing when portions are absent, creating more grace… that said this piece will work when juxtaposed with less heavy pieces, like your butterfly chairs. KEEP IT.
Love it. I also love the curvylove that you’ve got now. No rectangle, me thinks.
Hilarious! I just ordered a burly drift wood side table…. slightly fearful of the reactions after this post! didn’t know i was embarking on such a contentious piece! love your table!
I don’t like the burl. Please send me your email so I can tell you more about that.
Hi, rect. top wood be awesome. I am a nature girl and love all things natural but your table still, to me, looks like a giant poo!
I am not a fan of burl. But, my opinion is really irrelevant. It’s your house – fabulous by the way!
I think your burl requires more “space” around it – it is large and dominates the space. It will be even larger with a rectangular top. You have such an edited style, I find the burl noisy. What do think about changing the colour to more of a bleached out version or perhaps hot pink for whimsy? Would it look awesome outside with the butterflies?
I love it, and will love it more with a rectangular top. Thats a good call. I think its weird and ridiculous how personally some people take things on the Internet, and they get all huffy and puffy. I write a blog and every once in a while, some a.hole writes some uber hateful comment, as if my opinions and thoughts are a direct affront to their humanity. To them I say: suck it, and get a life! I’m sure you say the same.
You occasionally get stuff that I think ew but then when I see it settled into the brick house it’s brilliant, like the Captain and Dolphin girl. The burl needs it’s new top but hey come round to my house and see all the half-started projects and vintage finds that need fixing. Check out more of Tom Dixon though. That green chair is the only ugly thing he’s done in my opinion. I have his copper pendant light, the second most beautiful light in the world, after your copper pendant.
I love Tom Dixon, especially the copper pendant, but that chair is fugly and awkward.
love it all.
I like the burl… I think it is different and interesting. I’m not a fan of the curvy glass either…. but you’ll find the right top soon I’m sure… I would not like the burl coffee table with burl end tables though…
I think the Burl is so cool! I kind of like the curvy glass, but then, I like the rectangular glass also! I just think it is so interesting! I say “BLEH!” to all the haters!!
I love love love it. Kudos.
Just thinking that I love the burl table and cracking UP about people hating it! Enjoy!
I love your table, too. But it does remind me of this episode of Intervention that I saw years ago where the addict would get really hopped up on meth and then go hunt around the forest for hunks of burl. He thought it was going to make him really rich, and some day make up for all that money he was spending on drugs. Who knew a junkie could be so forward-thinking in the design world?
http://tv.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/arts/television/10inte.html
I have always liked your table. It is weighty, earthy and adds to your sparseness with its curves and changing color.
I am not a lover of all burls, but not a hater either. I would caution against over-burling in any design scheme, and I have always wondered the best way to keep them dusted. nothing ruins the aesthetics of a handsome burl like a 1/4 inch of dust in the hard to reach internal crevices, and unfortunately the only in the flesh burls I’ve seen resided in less than pristine hippie houses. I do covet a large cookie (forestry term) coffee table. A nice 4 ” thick roundish slice with possibly hairpin legs, a high polish on the top and live edge. So the line is fine and circumstantial.
You know, the table is not really my taste, but I would never even think to comment that way or, god, send you an email about it. It’s your house! I’m happy to comment if you ask for our opinions, but I always assume that so much falls to personal taste, and I think your style is great! I will never like every object in every house. It’s so strange that people are motivated to express every opinion they have…
* Hi! I obviously don’t have time to read the comments of the others… not that they would “influence me/change my mind” ANYWAY!!!
PERSONALLY, I love, and always HAVE loved, this type of thing, ever since I was young (n’ I’m OLD now!), & saw (and APPRECIATED the beauty of) a glass-topped table, w/ the “root” base, in a house owned by my parents’ friends in Carmel…
Several years ago I finally “GOT” my first piece, only to just recently have it “cut up” to make a mantel over the fireplace in our MBR… I MISS the table, but I basically “see” alot OF it, before turning off the lights n’ going to bed…. Ahhhhh yes, “sweet dreams”, indeed…
My husband n’ I also “discovered” some other incredible pieces (huge lamps, an unusual desk AND a FABULOUS, hand carved buffet in Mesquite wood) in TUBAC, AZ. Despite the shockingly high prices, they were, and ARE, worth it… to us! (IMHO, that’s what makes a house a home and “personal”) … Mixed in with the right overstuffed pieces, & a home with lots of glass and rock/stone makes these pieces just “WORK”, sooo naturally and soooo beautifully!!!
Soooo, I’m GLAD you are staying TRUE to your like/love/lust of these particular, rare beauties… I personallly find them ENCHANTING and yes, very “personal”… and I think we’re actually BLESSED to be able to APPRECIATE these!!!
Warm regards,
Linda in AZ *
bellesmom1234@comcast.net
another pro-burl girl here… i am excited you want to get wackier… i am pro wacky too. though i love all of the mcm it’s fun to add in some unexpected wacky elements too!
Hello,
I was just on the website modgblog.com and all of the owls in her son’s room reminded me of stuff you would like. You may want to check it out.
Love the burl and too and think back to all the burl stuff I used to see back in the day as a kid and only wish I could go back and get it now…
Have a great day!
It’s bizarre to me that people wouldn’t like it, but maybe they had a swinging 60′s or 70′s childhood and get flashbacks. I love that steaming hunk of nature. And I really feel it could be such a statement piece in any kind of room.
OMG! I love the coffee table!!! I’m trawling backwards through your posts – and just read the post where you made the teraniums and theres a photo of them on the coffee table, and my first though was along the lines of ‘wow! look how awesome that living room is… wow.. check out that coffee table – it pulls everything together!’
I love it. I get that it’s not everyones taste… because well.. nothing is. But I love it. I think it makes your living room.
Comment It Up!