Oh, I love stuff like this! If you had said the words "beautiful burnt wood" to me 10 minutes ago, I probably would have said, "What in the world are you talking about?!". But now, after seeing this handmade, hand-burnt wooden sign, I am antsy to gather up any damaged wood I have on hand and burn it into beauty...
KITKA Design Toronto is the blog that accompanies the wonder-filled shop Mjölk. There is an online store, as well as a real-life store that needed a sandwich board out front. (I must say, I love hand-painted sandwich boards. Here in San Francisco, New Bohemia Signs does such great work.) Anyway, the Mjölk team bought and burned some wooden boards, sealed them with matte polyurethane ("This will keep the charcoal from rubbing off onto your hands"), added attractive copper hinges, and had the sign hand-painted with their name and logo. The whole process is detailed here along with the finished sign, though I would love to know more about the actual burning process. How...burned do you want it to get?
As I mentioned, I think this would be the perfect way to get new life out of wood that's been stained or otherwise compromised. It's as if the burning, instead of damaging the wood, helps you appreciate its essential woodness. I'd like to make burnt-wood shelves someday, or perhaps just one on which to display my favorite treasures. I could also see a burnt-wood-topped coffee table being very cool. What do you think?
(Images: KITKA Design Toronto)
8 Secret Spots to Hide Valuables at Home
The Live/Work Studio of Robert Siegel Handmade Ceramics
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Howard Butcher Bloc...
10 Easy Vacation Meals to Feed a Crowd
Recipe: Chopped Brown Rice Salad with Grapes and Pecans
I love the texture- looks like very nubby grain leather. I want to see more ideas of ways to use this and agree is could be a good way to reclaim wood (as long as it is well-sealed).
In Japan they used to burn the clapboard similar to the above mentioned technique to protect them from the elements and from burning. I read about it in Dwell magazine and just found the following link: http://pursuingwabi.com/2007/11/05/shou-sugi-ban/
It's a little gimmicky, but kind of cool. I wouldn't use it for a surface that gets abraded -- polyurethane won't hold the char together well enough for that, but for a table top you could cover it with a glass slab, and it could be the "back-splash" (so to speak) of shelves or shadow boxes.
I do think it complements a minimalist aesthetic best -- you have to really LOOK at a char surface to appreciate it's nuance, so much competing detail would obscure what makes it special.
It's a traditional Japanese technique. It's a shame when something that is an ancient tradition in one culture becomes a gimmick in ours, separated from it's history and treated as though some hipster came up with it by accident.
We did this recently with our chicken coop - we used 100% reclaimed wood (from a tear-down at work) and had some pallets that machinery came in on. We burned using a torch hooked up to a propane tank and realized that our wood wasn't going t do a deep char very easily. However, we love the effect as-is even more because the grain of the wood really pops. Someday I'll load more images but here's one:
http://pinterest.com/pin/134193263867035880/
I do have to say though, if you've ever been thru a house fire, the sight of this can really give you the shivers.
I venture to say that a few more cultures than just the Japanese do this as a craft/practice.
And thank goodness that societies don't go around reserving such arts for only traditional or "pure" applications.
We have a buffet/side board that was rescued from a house fire, and the front of it is beautifully buckled! I couldn't imagine it looking any more beautiful than it does "ruined" by the fire :)