Custom Café Furniture and Built-ins Designed with Ash Wood

Custom Furniture, Doors, Built-ins, Repurposing, Repair & Maintenance | OJIKI Workshop

This project features a range of custom furniture and built-ins created for a newly opened café in Shinagawa, Tokyo, including dining tables and chairs, a service counter, and various product display fixtures.

1. Café Furniture Designed Around Ash Wood

For this project, we created a complete range of custom furniture and fixtures for a newly opened café.

From the seating area and service counter to wall storage and product displays, each piece serves a very different purpose and has its own form. To create a sense of continuity throughout the space, we used ash wood as the primary material.

Ash is known for its distinctive grain and natural character. A lighter finish creates a warm, natural and welcoming appearance, while a darker finish can give the same wood a more sophisticated and subdued look.

For this café, we maintained wood as a common design element while varying the finishes according to each area and function. The seating area was kept bright and inviting, while the storage and display fixtures were given a slightly darker, more understated appearance.

One of the advantages of custom-made furniture is the ability to design individual pieces and built-ins with the overall atmosphere of the space in mind.

2. Tables and Chairs for the Seating Area

Simple wooden tables that highlight the natural beauty of the timber were placed along the windows. The light wood grain works beautifully with the natural light coming through the large windows, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere inside the café.

When designing café tables, appearance is only one consideration. Other important factors include:

・Comfort and ease of use for customers
・Enough space to pull chairs in and out
・Clear pathways for staff
・The balance between furniture size and seating capacity

By creating the furniture specifically for the café, we were able to adjust its dimensions and layout to make effective use of the available space.

As shown in the photo, several tables are arranged along the windows. Although each table is a separate piece, using the same type of wooden tabletop throughout gives the entire seating area a cohesive appearance.

3. A Service Counter at the Heart of the Café

One of the most prominent features of the café is the large custom service counter.

A substantial wooden top highlights the natural character of the material, with wood also incorporated into the front of the counter. Rather than constructing the entire piece from wood, however, we combined it with a contrasting material featuring a flowing curved form, creating a distinctive interplay between straight lines and curves.

Shelving is also incorporated into the front of the counter, providing space for displaying or storing items needed in the café.

A service counter is both the visual centerpiece of a café and an everyday workspace for staff. For this reason, commercial furniture needs to balance attractive design with practical functionality.

4. A Large Display Fixture for Storing and Showcasing Coffee Beans

One of the most eye-catching features in the café is the large wall-mounted storage and display fixture for coffee beans.

The unit consists of a series of narrow vertical compartments, each designed to hold coffee beans. Rather than serving simply as storage, the fixture turns the products themselves into part of the café’s interior design.

The tall vertical frames extend upward to follow the curves of the ceiling, giving the installation a strong architectural presence that makes it feel like an integral part of the space rather than a standalone piece of furniture.

A darker finish was chosen for this fixture, creating a more subdued atmosphere than the lighter wood used in the seating area. The darker tones also complement the colors and textures of the coffee beans, reinforcing the character of a specialty café.

With custom-made commercial fixtures, functions such as storage, product display, and interior design can all be incorporated into a single piece.

5. A Circular Display Shelf for Easy Product Viewing

We also created a circular display shelf for merchandise sold in the café.

The design features several circular shelves at different heights arranged around a single central support. Unlike a conventional rectangular shelving unit, its rounded form has no corners, allowing customers to view the displayed products easily from multiple directions.

Its shape also makes the unit feel less visually imposing when placed near the entrance, while allowing customers to walk around it naturally as they browse.

The café incorporates curves not only in this display unit but also in the ceiling, large fixtures, and other elements of the interior.

Adding a circular display shelf therefore creates a natural visual connection with the overall design of the café.

Main Custom Furniture and Fixtures Created for This Café

Conclusion

This project involved the custom design and production of furniture and commercial fixtures for a newly opened café in Shinagawa, Tokyo. We created a range of pieces for different purposes, including dining tables and chairs, a service counter, a coffee bean storage and display unit, and a circular merchandise display shelf.

A key aspect of the project was not to design each piece in isolation, but to create a cohesive interior by considering the materials, colors, forms, and finishes throughout the café, with ash wood serving as the main unifying material.

Commercial spaces can, of course, be furnished using ready-made products. However, custom-made furniture and fixtures can be particularly useful when standard products do not fit the available space, provide enough storage, present merchandise effectively, or complement the intended interior design.

At OJIKI Workshop, we create not only individual pieces such as tables and counters, but also custom shelving, product displays, large-scale fixtures, and built-in furniture designed specifically for the space and its intended use.

If you are looking for furniture that complements the atmosphere of your shop, cannot find ready-made pieces with the right dimensions or functionality, or would like to create a consistent design across multiple fixtures, please feel free to contact us. We can create custom furniture and fixtures tailored to the way your space is used and the design you want to achieve.

At OJIKI Workshop, we handle not only custom-made furniture and architectural woodwork, but also a wide range of repair and maintenance services, including restoration of high-gloss painted finishes on well-used furniture and the revival of antique furniture.
For detailed consultations and estimates, please feel free to contact us via our official LINE account, by phone, or through our inquiry form.

Phone: 046-204-5592 (Weekdays 9:00–18:00)

LINE: OJIKI Workshop Official Account

Email: Contact Page

《About OJIKI Workshop》
OJIKI Workshop manufactures and sells furniture, doors, and architectural woodwork made from solid natural wood.

In addition to selling our original products, we also provide custom-made furniture, remodeling, repair, and maintenance services for unused furniture, aged doors, and built-in woodwork that no longer suits modern lifestyles.
For remodeling, repair, and maintenance projects, we listen carefully to our clients’ requests regarding design, functionality, and usability before beginning production. This approach has earned us many words of appreciation from our customers.
We hope to meet the needs of customers who wish to use their wooden furniture and wooden architectural elements with care for many years to come.

⚫︎You want to repair and maintain beloved furniture or doors so you can continue using them for a long time.
⚫︎You want to remodel furniture that your family has used for many years so it better suits your current lifestyle.
⚫︎You want to order custom-made furniture or doors made from natural materials, with careful attention to both design and usability.
⚫︎You want to live in a healthier environment, both physically and mentally, by using natural materials in the furniture and doors of your home.
⚫︎You want to incorporate a relaxing environment with natural materials into your office.
⚫︎You want to create a shop that uses plenty of natural materials.
And more.

For consultations about furniture and architectural woodwork made from natural materials, please leave it to us at OJIKI Workshop.
We look forward to hearing from you.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
OJIKI Co., Ltd.
Wooden Furniture and Wooden Architectural Woodwork [Custom-Made, Remodeling, Repair]
Zama, Yamato, Sagamihara
5-49-16 Hibarigaoka, Zama City, Kanagawa 252-0003, Japan
Phone: 046-204-5592 (Weekdays 9:00–18:00)
Representative Director: Kenichi Okawa
Profile
Graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Tokai University
Graduated from Chippendale International School of Furniture in the United Kingdom
(Furniture making and antique furniture repair)
Trained for three years at Rengesou Motomachi Workshop
Based on the traditional production process of Yokohama furniture, which has continued for more than 100 years, he continues to explore new designs using materials such as iron, leather, and glass while engaging in woodworking every day.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝