The Story of the Cascade Table
The Story of the Cascade Table
There is a particular kind of beauty that makes you stop and look twice. With the Cascade Table, it might be the way the wood appears to melt over the edges, the contrast between the heavy timber and the gold-finished metal, or the unusual shape that makes the whole piece feel almost like something you could pour. But the finished table is only the part of the story you get to see.
Behind its appearance are months of working through an idea, selecting materials, carving thick timber by hand and figuring out how separate elements could come together as one coherent piece. Released after approximately three to four months of development and production, the Cascade Table offers a closer look at what goes into making Nigerian furniture that is as considered in its execution as it is in its design.
It Started With an Idea
It Started With an Idea
The Cascade Table began with a client’s request for something that captured the appearance of melting chocolate. It was an unusual brief, but a compelling one. Chocolate has a certain fluidity to it, the way it drips and settles into a shape that feels natural rather than perfectly controlled. Translating that quality into a solid piece of furniture would require a different kind of thinking.
The challenge was to create that sense of movement using a material that is anything but fluid. Wood is solid, and the thickness of the timber meant that the desired form could not simply be produced by assembling a few straightforward components. The effect had to be carved into the material itself.
That is where the real work began: taking an idea that looked effortless in the imagination and finding a way to make it tangible.
Working With the Material
The Cascade Table brings walnut, cedar and metal together, each contributing to the finished piece. The timber gives the table its substantial presence, while the metal base introduces a contrasting element that completes the design.
Working with thick wood requires careful consideration of both form and proportion. The table’s distinctive cascading edge was hand-carved separately, allowing the desired drip-like effect to be shaped before it was joined to the finished tabletop. Rather than treating the detail as an afterthought, the process made it a considered part of the overall design.
This is one of the things that makes working with solid wood interesting. The material has its own weight, structure and character, and the person working with it has to understand how to bring the intended form out of it. The final appearance might suggest something soft and fluid, but achieving that effect requires patience and control.
The Details Beneath the Surface
The Details Beneath the Surface
The tabletop is only one part of the story. Beneath it sits a central spherical wooden support, shaped from solid timber through careful cutting and carving. Its rounded form introduces another geometric element into the design, giving the table a distinctive foundation without competing with the movement of the top.
The metal base brings a different quality to the piece. Made from aluminium and spray-finished in gold to meet the client’s preference, it adds a refined contrast to the natural character of the wood. The combination was intentional: the materials needed to work together visually while still allowing each to contribute something of its own.
These decisions may seem straightforward when viewed in the finished piece, but they are what help the design feel complete. The materials, shapes and finishes have to make sense together, not just individually.
When the Work Takes Time
When the Work Takes Time
The Cascade Table took approximately three to four months to bring to completion, with a fair amount of back-and-forth along the way. That time was part of the process of working towards the intended result, ensuring that the details and overall execution came together as they should.
Its weight presented another practical consideration. The timber is exceptionally thick, making the table too heavy to move easily as a complete piece. Final assembly therefore had to take place at the client’s location. This was not simply about getting the table through a door; it was about recognising the practical demands of the design and planning around them.
There is an important distinction between a piece that looks simple and one that is simple to make. The Cascade Table’s finished form feels cohesive, but getting there required separate components to be shaped, finished and brought together with care.
What Does Made Nigerian, Made Beautiful Really Mean?
What Does Made Nigerian, Made Beautiful Really Mean?
It is easy to look at a finished piece of furniture and judge it by what is immediately visible: its shape, its finish, the way it looks in a room. Those things matter, of course. But they do not tell the whole story.
For FOLM, making beautiful furniture locally means taking the design, materials and execution seriously. It means working through the difficult parts rather than settling for an approximation of the original idea. It means understanding that the quality of a piece depends not only on the materials selected, but also on the attention given to how they are shaped, joined and finished.
The Cascade Table is one example of what that commitment can look like. Its distinctive form was developed from a client’s idea, shaped through hand carving and brought together using timber and metal. The process took time because the intended result demanded it.
And that is the point. Beautiful furniture does not become beautiful simply because it is made from expensive materials or given an unusual shape. The materials matter, but so do the decisions made around them, the skill involved in the work and the willingness to keep refining a piece until its execution does justice to the idea.
The Work Behind What We See
The Work Behind What We See
Once the Cascade Table is in a room, the months of work become much less obvious. You see the cascading edge, the weight of the wood, the spherical support and the gold-finished metal. You see a completed piece, not the separate stages that brought it there.
Perhaps that is what good craftsmanship does. It allows the work to settle quietly into the finished object, so the person living with it can appreciate the design without having to think about everything that happened behind it.
The Cascade Table is a reminder that locally made furniture can be ambitious in its design, deliberate in its material choices and thoughtful in its execution. The beauty is in what you see, but it is also in everything that had to happen before you could see it.
Available for Pre-Order
Available for Pre-Order
Experience the Cascade Table, a masterpiece of fluid design. Inspired by melting chocolate, its carved drip top and rounded base redefine modern elegance.
Image Material
- Top Wood and Finish: Akoriko/ Walnut Wood, Matte Lacquer
- Bottom Wood and Finish: Cedar Wood, Matte Lacquer
- Metal Finish: Gold Paint
NGN3,500,000.00
Top Wood and Finish
5+
Base Wood and Finish
5+
Metal Finish