Oak side tables

Choosing an oak side table

An oak side table is a small piece with a long life ahead of it, so the timber matters as much as the shape. Our oak comes from the hardwood forests of the Appalachian Mountains, where nutrient-rich soils, steady rainfall and the growing climate produce slow, even growth, tight rings and dense fibres. That’s the timber behind a simple aim: furniture made to last 100 years, worked by forestry partners who take only mature trees and leave the younger ones to grow.

Oak earns its place on a piece you’ll reach for every day. It’s strong enough to carry a lamp, a stack of books and the odd mug, and every plank has its own grain, colour and pattern, so no two tables look quite the same. The details below are there to bring that character out.

The oak details on our side tables

• Carved mouldings: the Henley’s mouldings were inspired by Belgian furniture that our co-founder John and creative founder Emma saw on their travels to Antwerp and Gent, and they give both its round and rectangular designs a carved, classic outline.
• Turned columns: the Edinburgh stands on ring-turned columns that finish on plinths, while the Thornbury’s sculptural turned column and the Chalford’s angular support take an Edwardian line.
• Moulded, recessed and lipped tops: among our round oak side tables, the Henley Round has a moulded top, the Thornbury and Chalford a recessed one, and the Northwich a lipped edge that suits its double life as a stool and an informal oak lamp table.
• Wire-brushed grain: the Edinburgh’s oak is wire-brushed to lift the grain, so you can feel the texture of the timber under your hand.
• Rattan against oak: the Frome sets a woven, honey-coloured rattan undershelf beneath spindled legs and rounded corners, a contemporary take on Regency design.
• Natural, Classic, Vintage or Darkened: the Henley comes in Classic Oak IsoGuard®, the Edinburgh in Vintage Oak IsoGuard® and the Northwich in Natural Oak IsoGuard®. The Thornbury and Chalford come in natural or darkened oak, and the Frome in brushed natural oak or Warm Black.

How our oak side tables are made

Turning and joinery do most of the work on a side table, because a small piece carries its weight on very little timber. A turned column is formed on a lathe, shaped by a cutting tool as the timber spins. The Thornbury, like the Thornbury plant stand alongside it, is held together with mortise-and-tenon joints, where a shaped tongue of oak sits tight in a matching socket. The Northwich’s legs are fixed with a partial lap joint, and on the Henley Rectangular the joinery is designed to allow for the oak’s natural movement.

The finish matters as much as the making. We created IsoGuard® to protect oak without masking its natural beauty: it soaks into the timber rather than sitting on top of it, so the surface repels water but still looks and feels like oak. The Larkhall drinks trolley shares the Edinburgh’s Vintage Oak IsoGuard® finish. Every design here carries our lifetime guarantee.