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It's just that little special something.

When you buy wood furniture, the material itself usually looks very little like the tree it came from. Once its bark has been stripped, and the wood cut and sanded down into strict linear forms, it loses some of that organic beauty. But some furniture makers leave a more natural touch in their woodworking—they use live-edge slabs to capture the irregular loveliness of a piece of wood.

In live-edge tables, the original gnarled shape of the edge of a tree beneath its bark is not sawed off, but carefully preserved for a raw look. These slabs are then used for furniture like tables and benches. We’ve rounded up 11 gorgeous examples of live-edge tables that you can buy today. You needn't have a hippy-dippy or bohemian style to enjoy them, as they look right at home in more traditional, modern, or even industrial rooms. Why not give one a try?

Made from acacia wood, this six-person dining table from AllModern rests on four hair-pin-like iron legs.

While many live-edge tables have metal legs, this narrow dining table by Kathy Kuo is all wood, continuing the power of the natural look. 

A rustic live-edge walnut slab sits on contemporary and glamorous brushed-gold legs in this dining table from Austin-based furniture store The Khazana.

This eight-person acacia dining table from Crate & Barrel is crafted from two slabs connected by butterfly joints, and we love how widely the legs swing out. It comes in two colors: natural and gray.

Live-edge slabs can be used for coffee tables, too, like this acacia piece sold by Overstock.

Anthropologie’s Nemus Dining Table comes in three sizes: 60 inches, 80 inches, and 108 inches. The white oak slabs are sourced from Burgundy, France.

This dining table from West Elm has an acacia slab with a warm walnut finish that rests upon an iron base with a nickel finish.

The lighter wood of this Target pick is especially raw-looking, making for a gorgeous juxtaposition against, say, ceramic plates. 

Make a bold statement with this chamcha-wood dining table from Williams-Sonoma, which has acrylic legs (though steel is also an option). 

Though acacia makes for a great live-edge table, we love that this piece sold by Wayfair is crafted from Sheesham, also known as Indian Rosewood.