The Jouch
$4,280
Three-seat sofa · 41 pairs · Kiln-dried ash frame
Living
The Joffee Table
Not upholstered. Woven.
$2,190
Made to order in runs of forty.
Every other piece we make wraps denim around a form. The Joffee Table is the form. Twenty-six pairs are cut into four-inch strips and hand-woven in a plain over-under across a steel frame, then compressed under load for nine days until the weave locks. The surface you set a cup on is doing structural work.
Development
Nine days, discovered by accident
The first woven top was pressed overnight, which seemed generous, and it went slack in eleven weeks. The second was pressed for three days and went slack in seven months. We were working our way up in increments when a press was left loaded over a long weekend and a staff holiday, and the top that came out nine days later has never moved. We have since established that the curve flattens hard at around eight days. We press for nine because that is the number we actually have evidence for.
- 9 Days under load
- 0 Adhesive, anywhere in the piece
- 3 mm Total settle, year one
Why it holds
A woven denim panel has no rigidity when it is loose and a great deal once it is tight. The nine days under load are not curing — nothing is curing, there is no adhesive in this piece — they are the strips finding their final tension against one another. When the frame comes off the press the weave has become a single surface.
The consequence is that a Joffee Table cannot be re-tensioned at home, and a strip cannot be replaced in isolation. If one fails we take the whole top back and re-weave it, which we do at no charge for the first ten years and at cost thereafter.
In the crate
- Blackened steel sled base, levelling feet fitted
- A stitched log card recording each donor garment
- Ten years of complimentary re-weaving
- Two felt-backed brass trays, for anything wet
- A glass top. Owners who want one have misunderstood the piece.
- Any surface on which a ring will not eventually appear.
Ownership
Care
- Use the brass trays for anything wet. Denim wicks.
- Vacuum the weave monthly with a brush head, following the strips.
- Never sit on it. The rating is 180 lb. distributed, not a person.
- Blot spills immediately and do not rub across the weave.
Questions we are asked
Before you commit
Can I put a drink directly on it?
You can, once. Denim wicks, and a ring on a woven top is permanent in a way it is not on a flat panel. Every Joffee Table ships with two brass trays for exactly this reason.
Does the weave sag over time?
It settles roughly three millimetres in the first year and then stops. Beyond that, sag indicates a failed strip, which is a re-weave, which is covered.
Can I sit on it?
No. It is rated to 180 lb. distributed across the full top, which is a stack of books and a tray, not a person on one edge.
Is it loud when you set something down?
No. This is the quietest surface in the house by a considerable margin, and it is the detail owners mention most often once they have lived with it, usually with some surprise that it was worth mentioning.
Pairs with
The rest of the room
The Jottoman
$980
Round pouf · 14 pairs · Waistbands intact
The Jarpet
$92 / sq. ft.
Wall-to-wall flooring · Hand-laid tiles · Jute backing