Function be Damned! Live Edge Dining Tables
Author:Lindsey ShookImagine this: A dining room table with large cracks and uneven, jagged edges. It doesn’t sound great when you put it that way, does it? Yet thousands of Americans have succumbed to the look of the live edge dining table (including yours truly), and it’s a design trend that shows no sign of waning. People, it’s time to admit it: These tables are crazy pants.
I’m a double offender. Not only have I purchased one of these tables, I have repeatedly pitched and written about homes that contain them. In my defense, they are beautiful. But shortly after I bought one, I learned the truth: It’s simply not comfortable to eat with a twig nub poking you in the ribs.
Courtesy of Maven
You can see why the look swept the design world. Few materials are more naturally gorgeous than wood. But may I suggest that we limit the use of the live edge to coffee tables, headboards and other home accessories that do not require us to pull up chairs and unfurl a napkin? I have, sadly, been the person seated at the extreme curve of a live edge table, and I’m here to tell you that it felt like I had to look behind me to address the person to my right.
Matthew Millman
Another feature of the live edge table is deep cracks and crevices—I own one like this. Pretty to look at, but not fun to clean after a party. I have a child’s soft tootbrush that I use to remove food from cracks in my table. For weekly cleaning, we use a high pressure blast of air from a can.
Matthew Millman
Just when I think the trend is about to breathe its last, another San Francisco restaurant featuring live edge tables opens. I ask you, is it required by city code? If the Health Department knew what lurks in those cracks, they might ban them.
