I was 11 years old when I begged my dad to take me fishing. My dad is one of those guys who’s pretty good at just about everything. Surely, he was an expert angler. He was not. We stood on the shore of Lake Deforest in NY. I hooked a hundred worms, cast our lines a thousand times but didn’t catch a thing. The morning was not turning out as I had envisioned. A large log had fallen and split in two lengthwise. My dad and I sat down to eat our cold egg sandwiches.

I asked, “Which one’s the table?” He replied, “If you sit on a table, it’s a bench; If you eat on a bench, it’s a table. Your call.” When you’re 11 those little tidbits of wisdom stick with you.

It didn’t matter that we were going home with an empty cooler. It was one of the best days ever.

These bench/tables are made from solid maple. They are meticulously sanded, buttery soft to the touch and quite comfortable. They are easily stood up or knocked over to be used as two tables, two stools, or one of each. You can even butt them together to use as a coffee table. Aside from offering structural support, the steel represents my memory of that morning. While one looks like a fish hook the other, I am told, looks like a fish, however, that one was simply my foggy memory of the shape of the lake from my perspective on the shore.