Don Heston Studio Celebrates Unique Burls With New Furniture

Burls are usually a sign of distress within the tree, a deformation characterized by its knobbly appearance and beautiful undulating grain, radiating from the injured area. A touching example of the human urge to celebrate difference, many wood enthusiasts prize burls for their uniqueness. Each one is a world of knowledge on how our leafy comrades heal and think, new science being approved every day to substantiate networks of communication beneath us. London-based Don Heston Studio presents new furniture in this same vein – the Monkel Cabinet, the Oni Desk, the Fernie Side Table, and the Untitled Lamp – which incorporate whimsy and restraint in tandem to produce an approachable, fun collection.

The Monkel Cabinet features the distinctive amorphous texture, bubbling and bulging out of itself, within reason. Surrounding this energetic plane is a generous frame, highlighting the space filled as much as the space in between. This frame sits on highly polished, squat legs, tying the width and solidity of the body with the base elegantly. Each piece is adorned with a DHS OG Nugget, a dot of rough-hewn sparkle contrasting with the rolling waves of the cabinet face – a bit of bling for the front. To round out the design, the piece is finished in a rich Penny Chocolate brown hue that highlights the wood grain and raised facade.

The Oni Desk also features a DHS OG Nugget front and center, with a knobbly drawer that stands out from the super smooth, linear form that the rest of the desk embodies. The legs are fully rounded so just the very tips of the desk grace the floor. The legs also stand slightly outside the barrier of the traditional tabletop, landing symmetrically above the exact point of the corner. This detail is masterfully completed, adding to the quality of the piece, which is made of an African hardwood and finished just like the Monkel Cabinet.

The solid oak Fernie Side Table takes on an almost baseball bat precision, turned in a jaunty manner full of large fillets and acute angles. One solid piece, the natural grain is on full display here, taking the geometry of the table and allowing the light to make it shine, highlighting multiple angles and therefore achieving maximum diffusion.

The Untitled Lamp celebrates the intimate nature of growth, winding the light up the core of the tree to eventually arrive at a rounded, mid-century shade. The base and shade are the same deep Penny Chocolate brown, and the stem features gorgeous burls all up. Traveling around the lamp, one enjoys shifts of color and luminescence, beams of light highlighting unique growth patterns distinct to this one-of-a-kind piece.

Jay Heston is a multidisciplinary designer, and founder of Don Heston Studio, working primarily in jewelry, furniture, and bespoke installations for clients across the globe. A deep reverence for the natural world is reflected in his work, celebrating the organic irregularity of the materials he engages with. Considered, refined, and evocative, he takes specific features from the outside world usually filed and sanded down, and instead creates a pedestal for these distinctive forms.

To learn more about the new collection or Don Heston Studio, visit donheston.com.

Photography courtesy of Don Heston Studio.