Selby Console Table

When Kelly Wearstler started her namesake business, in 1995, she worked alone out of her Los Angeles apartment. “Sixteen-hour days, seven days a week,” she recalls. “The studio has truly grown organically over the years.”

​​Wearstler’s work in the early 2000s was classified as the new Hollywood Regency — much to her dismay. It’s easy to understand her reaction. Although the glam quotient of her projects jibed with the style, her aesthetic was far more sophisticated than that of the many wannabe designers who were merely peddling Dorothy Draper and William Haines retreads.

Today, Wearstler presides over a behemoth, many-tentacled enterprise. One part is involved with residential interior design for such high-profile clients as Cameron Diaz, Gwen Stefani and Ben Stiller. There is also a team dedicated to hospitality design, including for projects like the recently opened Proper Hotels’ properties — developed by her husband, Brad Korzen’s Kor Group — in Austin and Santa Monica. Then, there are her ever-expanding product designs in a multitude of categories: In 2019, she added new carpets and runners to her collection with The Rug Company, collaborated with Georg Jensen on a tableware and centerpiece collection and partnered with Ann Sacks on a line of encaustic tiles and with Lee Jofa on a line of fabrics and wallcoverings. Each season sees fresh additions to Wearstler’s lighting lines, as well.

Wearstler is drawn to furniture that is boldly scaled and, often, graphically patterned, mixing such pieces with one-off creations by artist designers like Roland Mellan, Lindsey Adelman, Katie Stout, Misha Kahn, Entler Studios, Susan for Susan and Anton Alvarez.

“For me, it is the power of the line,” says Wearstler. “I think it goes back to my love for graphic design. There is so much strength and beauty in the simple line. Pair this with geometries and artisanal fabrication, beautiful materiality and you have exceptional pieces of furniture. In essence, furniture as sculpture.”

Of course, no matter how distinct in style, both the early and most recent work springs from the same impulse. Wearstler’s signature approach to interiors has been described as marching right up to “over the top” then taking a step back. In that sense, Wearstler is doing what she has always done, albeit in a more confident way, with bigger budgets, a larger proportion of important furnishings and art and more of her own designs. The Hollywood glamour that got her noticed decades ago toed the same elusive line of good taste that her blend of blue-chip pieces, Memphis Group furniture and challenging works by emerging artist-designers does today.

Find Kelly Wearstler furniture on 1stDibs.

Few pieces of furniture are celebrated for their functionality as much as their decorative attributes in the way that console tables are. While these furnishings are not as common in today’s interiors as their coffee-table and side-table counterparts, console tables are stylish home accents and have become more prevalent over the years.

The popularity of wood console tables took shape during the 17th and 18th centuries in French and Italian culture, and were exclusively featured in the palatial homes of the upper class. The era’s outwardly sculptural examples of these small structures were paired with mirrors or matching stools and had tabletops of marble. They were most often half-moon-shaped and stood on two scrolled giltwood legs, and because they weren’t wholly supported on their two legs rather than the traditional four, their flat-backed supports were intended to hug the wall behind them and were commonly joined by an ornate stretcher. The legs were affixed or bolted to the wall with architectural brackets called console brackets — hence, the name we know them by today — which gave the impression that they were freestanding furnishings. While console tables introduced a dose of drama in the foyer of any given aristocrat — an embodiment of Rococo-style furniture — the table actually occupied minimal floor space (an attractive feature in home furniture). As demand grew and console tables made their way to other countries, they gained recognition as versatile additions to any home.

Contemporary console tables comprise many different materials and are characterized today by varying shapes and design styles. It is typical to find them made of marble, walnut or oak and metal. While modern console tables commonly feature four legs, you can still find the two-legged variety, which is ideal for nestling behind the sofa. A narrow console table is a practical option if you need to save space — having outgrown their origins as purely ornamental, today’s console tables are home to treasured decorative objects, help fill empty foyers and, outfitted with drawers or a shelf, can provide a modest amount of storage as needed.

The rich collection of antique, new and vintage console tables on 1stDibs includes everything from 19th-century gems designed in the Empire style to unique rattan pieces and more.