Mixing materials, particularly in unlikely combinations, is an appropriate interior-design trend for the Internet age. After all, many of the online tools favored by design-obsessed people _ Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram _ are inherently collagelike, allowing users to pull together a range of images, ideas and inspiration from various corners of the web and organize them in one place. Why not, then, boldly combine disparate elements when decorating the rooms of your home? Or, for a lesser commitment, go for a single, statement-making piece of furniture that does just that?
A new collection of coffee tables by Spanish artist and designer Jaime Hayon (www.hayonstudio.com) perfectly captures the mixed-materials trend. Each of these three "palette tables" marries laser-cut, satin-polished brass, polished marble and stained ash in blue, black or pale pink. Each one also features three differently shaped surfaces perched at various heights atop metal armature _ circles, elongated ovals, rounded rectangles, a hexagon and a painter's palette shape _ for a look that resembles Alexander Calder's kinetic sculptures, albeit in static versions.
Made for Nordic furniture company AndTradition, the collection of tables was a highlight of the International Contemporary Furniture Fair held in New York last May, and with good reason: They represent a tasteful merging of rustic and sleek elements for a vibe that's both contemporary and 1980s modern. It's that difficult-to-achieve, good kind of clashing.
AndTradition's Martin Kornbek Hansen puts it this way: "The polished marble brings a sense of nobility, while the oak adds earthiness. With each table offering three surfaces to choose from, it's a modern answer to our multitasking lives." For places to buy, visit www.andtradition.com.
