RING RING: TELEPHONE TABLES ARE BACK

I have an affinity for tiny tables.  I could go on a lengthy diatribe about how much I love them. They are charming and diminutive, functional and fun. So it was with great excitement that I came upon Johnson 3 and their custom telephone tables at the Architectural Digest Home Show. I love a good discovery, and this was her first trade show. As I got to chatting with owner Eileen Johnson, it was such fun to hear her say, "I know exactly who you are and have been reading your blog for years!" That was music to my ears, and our mutual admiration conversation began. To think that she worked for Karl Springer as an artisan in his workshop and is making these wonderful telephone tables in exactly the same way he did all those years ago is just amazing.  She realized the resurgence in Springer admirers and since 2009 has been creating custom tables in her Upstate New York studio. The same attention to detail, surface material and craft goes into each handmade wood frame.  Her specialty is exotic skins, which are becoming more of a challenge to source, but she can create leather, fabric and parchment wrapped pieces as well. The petite tables she creates are custom, made to order pieces, so if there is a color skin or fabric you prefer, it can me used to create a special version that is all your own.

Photos courtesy of Johnson 3

The KB Occasional Table in natural snakeskin has cut corners with an inlaid solid border on the top

The same style in black with a Greek Key motif of inlaid natural skin on black snake

A wonderful overlapping pattern on a blush pink snakeskin ground

Red snakeskin with simple black border is a stunner

The KS Petite Telephone Table on casters is the style Springer was best known for. It is a little piece of art, so the surface area on all of her designs are lacquered to protect the surfaces.

In baby pink it is hard to not covet. I wanted to tuck this table under my arm and jump in a taxi, but I resisted the urge.

Nothing says chic quite like fire engine red snakeskin

Johnson also does this JMF Waterfall table with a bottom shelf and curved sides. It is a solid little table, great for using in areas where space is at a minimum. Covered in a fabric, it can be customized in skin, COM fabric or other material.