Can someone say lava lamp? I hate to critique an effort at making furniture more fun and sustainable, but the end result of Treecycled Furniture’s ‘Expose’ series is eerie. Something about this furniture collection screams Star Wars sheets and glow-in-the-dark galaxy ceiling stickers. The idea to use rotten teak and to fill the naturally occurring wood cavities with LED lights is very creative and unusual, but the final product feels more life an encounter with ET than Steven Holl. When left unlit, the coffee table has an eerie quality that is mysterious and intriguing. The ghostly resin cracks accentuate the age of the reclaimed teak which is finished with a non-toxic Rubio Monocoat oil.

Expose. Designed by Treecycled Furniture.

Large plank wood furniture is coming into vogue as we look for a more honest expression of materials in furniture. Hudson Furniture does a great job of this with their wood slab beds, one of which is made of teak. Palo Samko has a reclaimed slab wood table along a similar vein as the ‘Expose’ coffee table, although the accentuation of reclaimed material is done with little pencil boxes instead of LED lights. Treecycled has exposed the natural aging of the reclaimed material in a modern and creative way, the aesthetic of which is not for everyone. Perhaps a more subtle, white light instead of a bright blue would help with the sci-fi quality.