An Oak Beam Coffee Table of the Finest Quality

When you invest in one of our oak beam coffee tables you will receive your own unique and carefully hand-built oak beam table that will last you a lifetime.

You can choose from our classic Arabica coffee table, which comes with an optional thick glass storage shelf. Or for something a little more contemporary the Amazonica is our floating coffee table, with the legs set back under the table to make it a striking centre-piece.

Both tables can be built to any size and shape to fit your room perfectly. Here’s a little about the two coffee tables and some examples of the different size and shapes that might be ideal for your home…

Here’s an insight into the what makes each of these two rustic oak coffee tables so special:

Introducing The Arabica Coffee Table…The Original Table for Life

The first table was a 3-beam coffee table built by my brother, business co-founder and boat restoration expert Richard Williamson in the spring of 2011.

Having searched for an oak coffee table for his living room and been completely uninspired by what he found, he decided to build his own.

His aim was to keep the design simple but to use thick oak beams, sanded back to reveal their natural beauty, to give it a real wow factor.

What he expected was a solid, practical table for everyday use but what he didn’t count on was the table transforming the entire the look and feel of his living room.

It was only a few days after it was finished, when we were sat looking at it and chatting about the huge impact it had on the room, when we decided to see if other people would love these chunky oak tables as much as we did.

This is when our business was born.

Naming our baby…

Being the first table built meant it was also the first to be given a name; something that would give it an identity and mean something to us.

Arabica was the name given to the first coffee plant originating in Africa over 3000 years ago when it was chewed as a stimulant, long before it became a drink.

Now Arabica beans are known for being the highest quality coffee bean and the plant from which coffee, as it is known today, originated so we thought it perfectly suited the coffee table from which our business was grown.

That first Arabica didn’t have a shelf to begin with, but we quickly decided that a thick glass shelf would transform it into a glass oak coffee table with a subtle modern feel.  An oak and glass coffee table meant that the table would fit just as well in room with either a traditional rustic style or more contemporary décor. This has indeed been proven in the wide variety of homes that the table now lives and nearly all of our Arabicas are glass and oak coffee tables.

In the first few oak and glass coffee tables that were produced, the shelf was positioned half way between the floor and table top but we soon learned that storage space was very important to our customers so we lowered the shelf to give a little more storage space and make it easier to reach things further under the table. The shelf itself sits freely in grooves cut into the legs so it can easily be slid out on either side of the table, which means vacuuming under the table and cleaning the shelf can be done easily without ever needing to lift out the whole shelf.

A Design to Perfectly Fit Your Space and Suit Your Exact Needs

No matter what size or shape of room you have, how high or low your seating or how much clutter you need to find a home for, the Arabica’s characteristic wide-spread solid base and rectangular table top design can be adapted to fit practically any space and suit your specific needs.

The tabletop can be made with any number of beams in width; our standard designs are 2, 3 or 4 beams wide and the table length can be anything up to 2.5m.

However, if you’re looking for something a little more special, maybe to suit some existing beams you have in your home, our unique floating joint system means we can build the Arabica from timbers of any size.

For storage and style, a 10mm thick toughened glass shelf is part of our standard oak glass coffee table design but, if you would prefer the original Arabica rustic oak coffee table, its inclusion is completely up to you.

Our Square Oak Coffee Table – The Floating Amazonica

The Arabica was designed as a simple rectangular-shaped oak coffee table, super-charged with huge hand-shaped oak beams to give it a striking natural style.

We wanted to make our oak coffee table square with a different style to the Arabica and I had sat at a breathtaking table whilst staying in Bali, Indonesia at a town called Ubud. We had sat around this huge table on cushions and it was the centre-piece to the entire room, creating a cozy social atmosphere in a way I had never experienced but will also never forget.

We decided our oak square coffee table would work in the same way, sitting close to the floor with the base hidden underneath to give the table top a floating appearance. At the time our Arabica table top beams just sat straight on top of the legs so we had to come up with a new structural support design to give our new table its floating table top. The cantilevered design used steel bars sitting on the base that the table top beams rested on and this free-moving joint design ended up being incorporated into all of our tables from then on.

The first of our square oak coffee tables was a huge 6 beam piece 1.3m square so when we came to name it we naturally looked for a name of something equally striking in appearance.

The Amazonica is a huge water lily native to the Amazon river basin and grows up to 3m in diameter. A plant that has such a distinct and stunning appearance worked perfectly for what we think of as the centre-piece of our Living Tables Collection.

That original large oak coffee table had a solid oak base made of 4 beams but, as the support bars for the table top only rested on the 2 outside base pieces, we adjusted the design so the base now just consists of 2 beams. That reduced the amount of oak in the table too making it lighter and more efficient in every way without compromising the table-top’s floating appearance.

We found that some people loved the square oak beam coffee table design but wanted the table at a more standard height, so we adapted the design to allow for a higher base and this is now a standard option with every Amazonica table.

The Amazonica comes as standard as a square 3, 4, 5 and 6 beam table but the floating style of the Amazonica also works for a rectangular table top by extending the beams. The base is still hidden away underneath so the table’s appearance is quite different from an Arabica.

In the same way as all of our tables, our unique floating joint means we can build the Amazonica from beams of any size. This can work particularly well in the Amazonica as its square shape lends itself perfectly to being the centre-piece of a room, so having it made from the same beams that have been used in the roof of an oak beam conversion (for example) can finish off the room perfectly.

The larger Amazonica’s with the higher base have space for a shelf hidden under the table, ideal for tidying away books, magazines and other living room items completely out of sight when they aren’t being used.

Hand-built from Start to Finish for Authentic Natural Quality

Each stage of the build process has one single purpose which is to make your finished table look as naturally beautiful as possible. This is done by firstly removing the grey weathered layer from each of our stock beams so we can choose the most similar beams to build your table from. This will ensure the oak table top will look as natural as if it came from the same tree.

Then the most stunning faces and edges of the beams are chosen for your table top and from then onwards we work carefully to reveal and smooth out the natural features and curves of the beams. The result is that your table is unlike any other and the table top beams will be contoured together to form a single flowing natural oak table.

Preserving the Beautiful Natural Look with a Stain Resistant Coating

To preserve the beautiful appearance and feel of the oak, your table will be protected in your choice of a durable Natural or Dark Oak finish. This hard wax oil finish has the durability to protect a solid oak floor so it protects the oak better from spills and stains than a conventional oil or wax finish. Your table will still have a completely natural look and feel but the durability of the finish means there will be no need to re-coat the table as often as an oil or wax.

A Unique Joint to Allow Natural Ageing of the Oak Beams

To ensure your table keeps its beautiful natural features as it ages, it will be built using our own free-moving joint to allow the oak to dry out naturally. We use no glue, screws, bolts or dowels which can make the table age unnaturally by constraining the oak’s natural drying in certain parts of the beam.

Adjustable Supports Keeping Your Table Solid as the Oak Ages

Our tables are designed to allow the oak to age naturally, which means the oak in your table will develop a beautiful character whilst maintaining all of its huge inherent strength. Cracks will open and new features will appear in the beams as they move and settle, taking around 12-18 months to dry and acclimatise to your home.

Its normal in an oak beam table for the top to become wobbly as the beams change shape, so we’ve added adjustable feet to each beam which means that your table top can remain rock solid for life.

This is another unique feature that makes these high quality oak beam tables that are designed to stay strong and solid for life.

Read What Our Clients Say

You can read the testimonials on this page from some of the clients who have experienced the value and lasting quality of this unique build process and personal aftercare service.

Get Our Price List Brochure & Receive Exclusive Special Offers

To offer you the best value, we review all of our prices each month as we add new products to the collection. So for immediate access to our current price list brochure, containing every table design and size, just fill in your details below and you’ll arrive on our price list page. You’ll then have exclusive access to our special offers that we send out by email. These are offers we don’t promote on the website so fill in the form below to see what’s on offer right now.

 

If any of our tables would be perfect for your room then just give us a call on 01752 936144 or go to our Contact Us page.

Many thanks,

John Williamson
Co-Founder