The Samara Work Table is a lifelong companion in creativity

British studio Feist Forest are putting joy, passion, purpose and story back into product design with its humble wooden table.

The Samara Work Table is no ordinary desk. It’s the final outcome of many hours of careful craftsmanship and fine tuning – a real labour of love. In a collaborative design process, the table passes through the hands of many skilled crafters, crossing counties before it lands up in someone's home, equipped with a small label indicating the name and location of the woodland from which the wood was sourced.

The table is produced by Feist Forest, a small UK-based collective of independent craftsmen including founder and designer Vicki Turner, furniture maker Ben Alger and woodturner Mike Wood. Split across Bedfordshire and Devon, each member of the team plays his or her part in crafting the table, and has a genuine attachment to each table and interest in who it will go on to inspire.

“We ask and hope that our customers stay in touch. We would love to know what they go on to make,” says Turner.

No detail is spared. The British Ash wood known for its grained character is supplied by Sutton Timber, a longstanding local trader specialising in responsibly sourced, homegrown wood. Once the table has been crafted, Turner hand finishes it with an organic stain and a protective wax coating, and then packages it with recycled card. The wooden latch brackets are laser-etched by Cornwall-based engraving company Cut By Beam.

Named after the winged fruits that carry the seeds of an Ash tree, The Samara Work Table is underscored by the collective’s love for simple products that have provenance, are considered and built to last. This philosophy is bolstered by a brief statement on Feist Forest’s website:

We make wooden work tables to bring independent minds, skills and positive ideas together. A wooden table with creativity and nature at its core. A table for the vagabonds, dreamers and makers who courageously make great ideas happen.