A friend of ours told recently us about the furniture that the folks at the graphic design studio, Oat, made for their studio in Somerville. We loved the idea, and when we went to check it out we had a great time visiting and hearing how they made it. Rory, Oat's founder, took plumbing pipes and joined them, making creative desks and a simple coffee table that wouldn't be too hard to customize yourself. More details and photos after the jump
Rory connected inexpensive black pipes from Home Depot in an simply designed desk and coffee table. We loved the thin-diameter pipes he used which made the pieces look elegant, and their well thought-out design. The desktops are reclaimed walnut which add to their rough industrial look. He and Jen, Oat's co-founder and creative director, had the pipes cut to length and then screwed them together themselves. This would be a great look for desk in a home office, or a coffee table customized to a odd-sized space.
Oat is a talented, small graphic design studio whose clients include Wagamama, Porches Inn, Harvard Graduate School of Design and MTV. Their work is forward-thinking and original, as we could tell from their fun and unique office. While we were hanging out talking to Rory, Jen and Sara, we also noticed and became enamored with their cool tumbleweed of white picket fence, a sculpture given to them by friend and artist Lauren Was, who is a graduate of RISD and based in NYC.
Rory said that the approximate cost of the desk with all of the fittings and pipe was less than $80. This didn't include the tabletop. You can find reclaimed lumber for that at a lumber yard.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
i love this idea.
view elisa's profile
This is a well made piece, not cheap looking like a lot of pipe-made funriture. Nice !
view Daniel Poitiers's profile
beautiful and honest materials
view LoriSF's profile
i love it!
view boston_kyle's profile
fabulous idea; love the pieces
view formosagirl's profile
I have a coffee table and side table with plumping pipe legs. If you plan to make these, just remember the whole righty/tighty and lefty/loosey can cause you to rethink your design a few times. errgh!
view saltylibrarian's profile
*swoon* i'm in love.
view rebecca_f's profile
How efficient! I absolutely love it.
view anabelle's profile
I remember back in the day (early 70s) as a kid I helped a hippie type older cousin make a dining table using pipe, plumbing connectors and a wood top, carefully following instructions that were printed in some old time womens mag like Redbook or something. Seemed like the coolest thing when you're 12. Now not so much, but I guess its all relative - what once was old is new again.
view beddybee's profile
Holy crap, I absolutely love this. Reminds me of the pipe railings on older houses.
view michpc's profile
I like this.....industrial and earthy!!
view homelady's profile
I hate the piped furniture look. thumbs down
view Amazake's profile
We've done the same thing with our dining table and coffee table.
dining table
http://www.flickr.com/photos/extramundane/8348170/
coffee table
http://www.flickr.com/photos/extramundane/295710182/
I'm not sure how they cut the pipes to size and fitted them together (glue??) because these types of pipes are meant to screw together. This detail can make it a little difficult to get lengths just right.
I love how they've use curvy pieces. Looks great!
view ace's profile
Absolutely gorgeous. This is a brilliant execution of an excellent idea. I'd like to see chairs, light fixtures, etc like this, as well!!!!
view medusa12120's profile
And if planned carefully, those pipe could hide ugly cords for office gear. Great pieces!
view moptop's profile
has the feel in silhouette of a chinese alter table...
view michael9246's profile
TODD OLDHAM did his entire showroom and store in soho with plumbers pipe. he also did a TODD TIME show on mtv showing how to do it. he is the original plumber's pipe furniture crafter extraordinaire.
view harrydog's profile
Not quite the same but have you ever seen PVC pipes made into furniture? You could spray pain them to give them an industrial look. It would be a whole lot cheaper.
view gallupgirrl's profile
"pain them" paint them. Opps.
view gallupgirrl's profile
I know this is a few months old, but I just had to comment. First of all... I LOVE this. Second, to Ace, who wondered how they did this (Glue?) they screwed them together. I don't know about Home Depot, but I know at Lowes they will cut the pipe to the lenghth you want & re-thread the end of it so that it will still screw together. So, you just plan wisely and have all your measurements before you go to the store. Voila.
view Liz's Mom's profile
if anyone's still reading comments on this post... i've been thinking about doing the same thing for a while since i love the look of piping and we need a desk to fit in an oddly sized space, but just wondering how you attach the top to the pipe?
view emilykristin's profile
@emilykristin You can attach the pipe to the table top using a floor flange. The flange sizes match the pipe sizes that are available.
I love this table design idea. It is so steam punk. My husband and I have been wanting to build something like this for a long time. I have now seen the inspiration I needed to get myself started. Thank you for sharing the great pics.
view hoopsydaisy's profile