KEITA and PECK are Co-Sponsoring the Colorado Street Bridge Party in Pasadena

A Message from PECK:

This year, PECK is honored to sponsor Pasadena Heritage’s 29th annual Bridge Party, a celebration of the iconic Colorado Street Bridge and a symbol of the city’s commitment to historic preservation and community identity.

At Keita, PECK’s furniture making enterprise, we believe that preservation is not just about protecting what was; it’s also about extending the life and meaning of our shared built and natural environment.

Pasadena’s Iconic Colorado Street Bridge

From fallen trees to future heirlooms:

At KEITA Design, we believe wood tells stories. Some grow slowly under Pasadena skies, shading homes and lining boulevards. Some fall after decades of drought, development, or storms. But even in loss, these trees still have something to say.

That’s where we come in.

As a handcrafted furniture enterprise, KEITA Design exists at the intersection of preservation and reimagination. We salvage fallen and removed trees from Pasadena, South Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, and even Bel Air, and transform them into custom-designed tables, benches, shelves, and sculptural pieces that carry the memory of place forward.

Fallen California Live Oak in Altadena

The Hannah Table- Sourced from the tree in the previous image

A Tree Falls, We Listen

Each tree we mill is tagged with its location and story. From a beloved Coast Live Oak street tree in South Pasadena to a swirling Eucalyptus from Johnston Lake, we mill, season, and shape the wood with care and intention—keeping it close to home and giving it a second life as a future heirloom.

These aren’t just beautiful objects, they’re part of a larger philosophy: reuse over waste, local over imported, and legacy over trend.

Just as CM PECK helped preserve Pasadena’s La Loma Bridge through advocacy and design, KEITA Design honors that same ethos, preserving our natural and cultural heritage, one tree (and one table) at a time.

Whether you're sitting at one of our tables or walking across a historic bridge, we want you to feel rooted in the story of this place.

Beauty from every bit: handmade olive wood earrings

At Keita, every piece of wood has a story — and can be transformed into something beautiful and meaningful.

Our collection of earrings celebrates this philosophy, turning hardwood from our larger projects into elegant, wearable art.

Our collection of Olive wood and Live Oak earrings are now available at My Zero Waste Store in Pasadena.

Olive trees are drought tolerant and slow growing due to their Mediterranean origins, creating the iconic expressive silhouette of the full olive tree, as well as the tight, curling grain patterns within its limbs.

We shaped these earrings to compliment the dramatic grain, and selected brass and gold-plated hardware to bring out the golden tones in the wood.

Our earrings of California Live Oak have a cooler tone which is complemented by silver and steel hardware.

These earrings are a natural extension of our furniture-making process. By upcycling these smaller pieces, we honor the material and invite our community to enjoy Keita’s craftsmanship in new, accessible ways.

We’re excited to grow this line in the future, and will continue to find beauty in every bit of wood.

Stay tuned for more updates as our earring collection expands!

A New Home for the Red Gum Eucalyptus Console Table

Acquisition 

Cheryl had an early look at the Eucalyptus Console Table while it was temporarily stored at her home. The piece captured her attention, and by the time it was officially released at Keita’s opening show in April, she was first in line to inquire. By the end of the month, the table had found its permanent home with Cheryl and Chris. 

Now positioned in the entry hallway of their home, the piece sits just beyond the glass front door. Pinks and oranges in the grain catch the natural light from the entryway as it invites guests into the earthy and modern interior. 

The Origin Story

This piece was harvested from a tree that blew down in Pasadena near Johnston lake in 2017. It air dried for several years and, as eucalyptus does, it warped and bowed. 

Chris and Eric had the idea for the design, and began milling. After some hand planing the plank revealed a dramatic knot pattern and grain warp that both inspired us and presented unique challenges.

An Innovative Approach to Flexibility and Structure

The method that we came up with blends precision woodworking and engineering. We made a series of cross-grain relief cuts on the underside of the slab, which allowed the wood to flex in a controlled way. That gave us the ability to carefully pull the top down to meet the frame, using embedded hardware to lock it to the stiffer rails that run against the underside of the piece, locking the top in place.

We then cut custom plugs from the eucalyptus and used them to conceal the hardware. These details maintain the organic look of the table, and serve as testimony to the transformation it underwent.

One of the unique features of this table is the large split at one end, stabilized with small "stitches" of native material. We chose to keep this feature open to the air as opposed to filling the void. Each detail in this piece represents an exploration in design and manufacturing techniques.

Honoring the Material

Our goal with this design is to preserve the character of the original slab—the checks, the knots, the flow of the grain—while creating a clean and elegant design that stands the test of time.

The result is a functional piece that feels alive: it has movement, depth, and presence. It reminds us that the most compelling design often comes from a dialogue: listening to the material and responding with our own intention.

Fleck's New Home

We are thrilled to share with you our most recently sold piece in it’s new home. Fleck was purchased at the Wine Wood and Wax event at the end of April, and has been settling in with John O’Keefe and Katie (the doodle) for about a month.

About the shoot:  It’s not often we get to work with professional models in the manufacturing biz, so having Katie pose for this editorial was a real treat! A big thank you to John for letting us set up in his home to let us get these great shots of the piece and the pooch.

About the piece: This bench was made by Chris and Eric using an edge cut from the trunk of a California Live Oak that fell in South Pasadena. As one of the earlier Keita pieces, it has rustic but effective joinery that features legs roughly mortised into the bottom of the table, with a built-up trapezoidal single runner beam along the bottom to stabilize the legs. The beam passes through the legs, which were crafted from the end cuts of the plank and is pinned in with wood wedges.

The legs were shaped to create a two-pronged contact with the ground, while preserving enough solid material at the top to secure the beam joint. 

John is loving how this piece fits into his space — we think the Fleck bench’s natural, rustic vibe complements the room’s decor perfectly. 

What’s Next: After two successful sales and an incredibly positive response from everyone who has visited in person, we're feeling excited about the future of our work. The support for our craft has been energizing, and we’re more motivated than ever. Stay tuned — we’ll be sharing details soon about the sale and new location of our Eucalyptus Console Table!

Wine, Wood, and Wax Recap

Two weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting our Wine, Wood & Wax event! Thank you to everyone that joined us in celebrating craftsmanship, creative expression, and community. We had a fantastic time sharing our work, talking shop with friends and colleagues, and enjoying the buzz of a space filled with people who truly appreciate handmade design.

A special thank you to our cohosts—Monopole by Wine Rx, Sibylline Records, and My Zero Waste Store—for helping to make the evening such a success. We’re also grateful to My Zero Waste Store for generously providing the space to showcase our furniture.

We’re excited to share that the event led to the sale of two pieces: our Eucalyptus Console Table and Fleck, a piece by Chris Peck and Eric Paul. Check back in soon for updates about these pieces in their new homes!

We loved being a part of the conversations about process, material, and form. On display were a variety of works including the Hannah Table, our Nesting Oak Coffee Tables, the Rhombus Nesting Tables, the Eucalyptus Media Cabinet, Chris’s Oak Dining Table, Diane’s Yin Yang table, our Five-Legged Coffee Table, and two in-progress pieces—a lamp study and a eucalyptus slab that will soon become a series of sculpted stools. You can find three of these on Display at My Zero Waste Store.

If you missed the event or want to revisit the work in person, we’d love to hear from you. You can reach us anytime through the contact page on our website. And of course, we hope to see you at the next one—stay tuned.

Gibbens Table Commission

Dennis Gibbens, local architect and designer came to us with a specific table design for us to fabricate for him. Dennis shared his vision of a sensually shaped and heavy legged coffee table for his living room inspired by Charlotte Perriand. We began this project with an image and a template for the tabletop shape provided by the client. We agreed to use our locally harvested stock of Aleppo Pine for the material. From there, Chris and Dennis collaborated with Bill Taylor and the Keita team to create the unique oblong edge profile of the piece. Julie Jackson a skilled wood turner and craftsman turned two of the legs for this project on her lathe at Surclewood.

The tabletop for this piece is made from four laminated and joined planks. As opposed to the hardwoods like oak and eucalyptus, the Aleppo felt almost buttery. The milling process was extremely satisfying.

Shaping the edge of this table was an exercise in geometry. Bill and fellow fabricator Jon Meador worked to determine the various radii and angle router bits needed for the task. After having done the math, the edge profiling was passed on to local artist and Keita manager Hannah Peck, who continued the work of shaping and sanding until Bill returned to do the final assembly and finish work.

After the elements were assembled, the supple nature of this lighter wood required a delicate hand in the finishing process. This piece is finished with a subtle stain that adds a browner tint to the yellow pine. To find the perfect stain and finish for the pine, Bill created several samples and iterations of the staining process including multiple sanding techniques, pre-stain finishes, and various application practices.

The table was delivered to its home this fall where it happily remains, sequestering carbon and serving as a lovely addition to the space of its now owner.

The Bennett Table

On a crisp Pasadena afternoon in December of 2022, a house caught fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but the material loss was total. Among the multitude of valuable items destroyed was a one-of-a-kind kitchen table. The original was crafted by the owner’s stepfather in 2010 from old growth southern yellow pine that had been reclaimed from a Civil War era warehouse in Louisville, Kentucky. Unlike modern yellow pine, old growth pine is exceptionally dense and strong. The unusual design featured a single leg inversely tapered from top to bottom, and was stabilized by a tension bolt, which ran down through the floor to the framing below.

Bennett table commission by Keita (from Pasadena Live Oak)

Suffice it to say, it was devastating for Jeff, an artist and engineer, to lose such a unique and personal piece. Right around this time, Keita was born, with a mission to transform a growing collection of air-dried urban lumber into beautiful furniture and art. In the spring of 2024, Jeff tasked Chris and the Keita team with the mission to recreate the table.

Jeff and Chris decided on California Live Oak harvested form South Pasadena as the material for the project because of its strength, density, and unique grain. We worked with the complex grain of our urban hardwoods, and as any wood worker will tell you: wood likes to move. Ours likes to dance. To uphold our mission of sustainable fabrication, we came up with joinery techniques to stabilize the piece and allow for wood movement. Jon, with his experience in wood working with reclaimed hardwoods, helped us understand the best ways to use our stock. Jessie developed the conical base joinery, and Chris turned the base on the lathe.

We love the story of this table. Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your story and this meaningful project with us.

Aleppo Pine Conference Table sold to Wesleyan University Engineering Department

As of the start of the 2024 fall semester, our Aleppo Pine conference table with plated Aluminum base became a fixture at the Wesleyan University College of Design and Engineering Studies. We are honored to have a group of engineers and designers pick our design as such an integral part of the faculty environment. A big thank you to Wesleyan’s engineer staff, and to our team here at Keita.

Once we received the order we did a test assembly to make sure everything was in working order, and milled the cross piece that holds the table top together into three parts for shipping. Then we constructed a crate that would safely hold all the parts for the cross country journey. When the crate arrived at it’s destination, the Wesleyan engineers assembled the table in the conference room.

Learn more about the conference table by going to our projects gallery.