A bed made of nails conjures mental images of extreme asceticism, medieval torture and cruel jokes, and normally it would be. Most of us picture the nails head-down with the sharp ends pointed up toward our bodies – not exactly what most people would consider a comfortable place to lie down. But what if we told you we discovered a shimmering metallic bed of nails that’s beautiful and comfortable?

This modern bench design made of nails inverts painful associations with a smooth, curved and rippled surface for comfortable seating and an extremely contemporary look that shifts and changes from each angle of view. Each individual nail is still visible and readily recognizable – they’re not even melted down to produce a solid surface. Yet, the overall effect is one of smooth surfaces, artistic ingenuity and a luxurious golden gleam.

To create the unusual modern bench, the underlying wood is cut, smoothed and scorched to fade it to the background while the nails on top are ground down to reveal their inner silver shine and stand out visually against the dark wooden surface below. The result is almost steampunk in nature.

Although technically intended as works of art and not necessarily functional furniture, it seems logical that designers could extend this approach to all kinds of ordinary household designs. With the nails spaced closely enough and sufficiently smoothed there is no reason not to make everyday furniture like this. Would you put it in your house?

It’s not actually clear whether the nails used for these unusual pieces were reclaimed or recycled, but it seems like there are plenty of bent and otherwise imperfect nails available in the world that simply can’t be used for their usual purpose. Still, it’s a cool idea for recycled furniture, showing off the potential of materials we might otherwise overlook.