Metal topped tables with driftwood feet

When I think of driftwood, I think of a hideous glass topped driftwood table that graced some of my friend’s homes where I grew up near the beach in California. This was before anyone spoke of green design, or of “eco” anything, when reclaimed just meant taking back what belonged to you in the first place. Driftwood is marine debris, tidewrack, the remains of trees washed up on to the shore of an ocean, river, or lake–the driftwood table from my childhood was green before its time.

Driftwood and lacquered aluminum top occasional tables

Spotted at the Paris Maison & Objet design show in Paris, The French company, Bleu Nature, has a line of driftwood furniture that I would be happy to place on my patio or terrace. They use the material simply and beautifully, a far cry from those tables of my youth.

This cool folding screen, made of found planks of wood, could divide an outdoor space into dining and seating areas or separate the kids form the grown-ups. I like the idea of combining it with something sleek, maybe metal, for contrast.

Located near Lille, in Northern France, Bleu Nature’s furniture is made principally of driftwood, but they also make use of pebbles, lacquered wood and metal, leather, and petrified wood.

New to their summer 2010 line is this acrylic glass table imbedded with weathered wood planks.