This much blogged about desk, called homework, is often applauded for it’s monastic qualities. Certainly it is minimal and functional, but what fascinates me about this and the rest of Nika Zupanc’s work is the F word that is rarely mentioned around minimal and functional, It is “Feminine”.

The fabric folios fanning out, the little brass handle and crossing hinges all contribute to give it the air of a jewellery box. This €6000 bijou would certainly give doing homework a precious ritualised feel. I say blow the school fees on this baby to celebrate going back to school.

The London riots reminded me of this bedside table called Zombie. Made of cherry and steel it transforms into a shield and club, designed by the London designer James McAdam . Apparently 50% of Londoners have an object near them when they sleep for eventual self defence. This will do the trick.

The Granite table top of the Vitale table is to die for, or at least to go by the KBK Carrelet d’Or show-room five times when it’s more than likely to be closed, just on the off chance of catching a glimpse of it, (that’s Mondays for you). Nevertheless it was never a wasted trip since the show-room is beside one of my favourite places, “Le Moniteur”, the architectural bookshop .

The table-top appears to be so impossibly thin, that it turns out in reality, to be a trick of the eye. The thinness is implied by the centimetre deep visible edge of the stone table-top that extends just beyond the frame. The rest of the stone table-top behind the frame is much thicker. This impressive three meter long sheet of stone is heated granite, a special treatment to toughen it up and to prevent it from shattering.

The large dining table has a metal structure with a thin oak veneer. This makes the table’s frame, (like the stone), appear to be made of impossibly thin pieces of timber. This oak veneer comes in a variety of stains. All the tables have a wide choice of stone, from a nearly black textured granite to a smooth white marble. As it is natural stone all the character of irregular inclusions and marks are intact. You can also choose the dimensions that you wish and the coffee table has a round version. I’m sure it would be possible to negotiate changes of shape, KBK enjoy trying things out.

For the level of quality of design, manufacture and materials the prices are excellent, Easily costing only two thirds of what I would guess each price to be.

Kiki Ęca Silva, her husband Arie Pos and their daughter Emma live on a Quinta (a small Portuguese farm), in Cete, Northern Portugal. In the 1950′s Kiki’s grandfather ordered some slate from Valongo (a slate mining area in northern Portugal), to build a new water tank. It was only after delivery that they realized that a slate water tank would be far too heavy for the rafters. So three of these great slabs were used to make garden tables instead. The slate was placed on simple steel frames and each leg was placed on a stone, in some cases attached to it. Time has remodeled each table a little differently, rustier legs or less shattered edges, depending on where it stands and how it’s used.

A few years ago they wanted a larger table for group gatherings that was less weather worn and brittle than the existing tables. So Kiki’s brother Luis Ęca Silva, an architect, designed a new 250x100cm slate table. The oil treated slate table-top is supported by steel angle profiles. They form square arches along each edge, stopping just short of the corners .The corners also have an angle profile, which join the arched profiles on each side, creating a beautiful composite leg.(good thing there’s a photo!)

The stripe bordered blue tablecloth is a delightful complementary echo of the table legs. I also love that a potting table figures right along side the new dinner table. The colours and textures of this new table have a similar garden camouflage feel to the old tables. Even the metal is painted in the same shade of green, but without the rust spots.Thankfully these camouflage qualities evaporate when the cakes come out to bloom!