Steel yourself

California-based Thiessen Design (www.thiessendesign.com) uses stainless steel in a multitude of interesting items of furniture. The coldness of the steel in its coffee tables, cocktail tables (above right) and matching barstools is ameliorated with lighting. The coffee table, for instance, is inlaid with backlit white onyx stone (the light is dimmable). The hand-crafted, US-made pieces retail for more than US$10,000. Shipping to Hong Kong can be arranged.

Stainless steel is also a material of choice at Design MVW (www.design-mvw.com) in Shanghai, run by a French-Chinese husband and wife team. Based in the city's French concession, the company, which ships to Hong Kong, puts a sleek modern spin on abstract traditional shapes, as can be seen in its small pillar-shaped tables made from sculptural stainless steel.

German design house Schulte (www.schultedesign.de) has taken the use of steel to a new level. The company has come up with a stainless-steel-topped table that converts into an open fireplace, with no need for flues, chimneys, logs or charcoal. Called Fire Furniture, the table (right) comes in two sizes: 90cm by 90cm and 60cm by 120cm, both with a burner kit and, in the longer piece, a sliding cover. Fuelled by green energy (bioethanol), the piece is eco-friendly too. And because it doesn't require a permanent connection, it can be moved around the house. The sides are covered in smooth polished wood, a signature of the Schulte brand. Inquiries from Asia should be routed through KHL Marketing (www.khlgroup.com) in Singapore.

It's not just furniture being given the stainless-steel treatment. WOK Media (www.wokmedia. com), a design house based in London and Shanghai, debuted an innovative shelving system called Between the Lines at the Milan furniture fair recently. The piece consists of seven mirror-treated stainless-steel strips. These can be folded and unfolded, coiled and uncoiled in a myriad ways, creating loops that hold everything from name cards to books. The item can be placed on the surface of a desk or affixed to a wall. Ordering inquiries for international shipping should be sent via the website.