Lorraine Kelly
Cornilleau has arrived at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026 with the sort of ping-pong table that makes ordinary garden furniture look as though it has turned up in muddy shoes. Created with UK illustrator, author and pattern designer Clare Therese Gray, this one-of-one outdoor table tennis piece marks the French brand’s 80th anniversary by doing something quietly ambitious: treating play as design, not clutter.
A Ping-Pong Table With Petals, Poise And Purpose
There are outdoor games tables, and then there are outdoor games tables that appear to have wandered out of an artist’s studio and politely requested a place on the terrace.
Cornilleau, Europe’s leading outdoor table tennis brand, has partnered with Clare Therese Gray on a bespoke ping-pong table that reframes garden play as functional art. It is still, at heart, a table built for rallies, spins, misplaced backhands and the occasional family dispute over whether that clipped the edge.
But visually, this is a different creature altogether.
The piece brings Gray’s expressive botanical language together with Cornilleau’s precision-engineered outdoor furniture, turning one of the brand’s signature tables into a considered design object. Not a gimmick. Not a logo slapped on a surface. More a fully formed conversation between craftsmanship, landscape and leisure.
Inspired By The Flower Fields Of Northern France
Gray’s work is rooted in natural landscapes, with intricate botanical motifs, organic forms and layered narrative detail forming the backbone of her practice. For this table, her inspiration came from the flower fields of Northern France, where Cornilleau is based.
That geographical link matters. It gives the collaboration more weight than a decorative flourish. The artwork is not merely floral because flowers look pretty at Chelsea, although they generally do have a habit of helping. It is tied to place, heritage and the brand’s French identity.
The result is a table designed to sit comfortably in a contemporary garden, luxury terrace or design-led outdoor space — the sort of setting where a standard folding table might feel about as graceful as a bunker rake in a ballroom.
Around the piece, Clare commented, “The flower fields of Northern France are extraordinary in their colour, texture and natural composition, and I wanted to capture that richness and detail within the artwork. Cornilleau’s beautifully designed tables felt like the perfect canvas; their clean lines and sculptural quality allowed the floral elements to flow naturally across the surface.”
Why RHS Chelsea Flower Show Is The Right Stage
The collaboration has made its public debut this week at Chelsea Flower Show, where visitors can see the bespoke piece alongside a curated selection of Cornilleau’s outdoor and multi-functional games tables.
That is a sensible bit of stagecraft. Chelsea is not merely a parade of exquisite planting and expensive hats, though it has never exactly been shy of either. It has become a serious barometer for how people think about outdoor living: gardens as rooms, terraces as extensions of the home, furniture as permanent rather than seasonal, and leisure as something that should look as good as it feels.
In that context, Cornilleau is making a clear point. Outdoor table tennis does not have to be shoved into the corner, covered in a tarpaulin and apologised for when guests come round. It can belong in the design conversation.
“Chelsea Flower Show is a natural setting for Cornilleau, where outdoor design, craftsmanship and creativity come together,” says Darren Mason, UK Managing Director at Cornilleau. “Collaborating with Clare Therese Gray has allowed us to reinterpret one of our tables as a true design piece. Her storytelling approach and connection to nature align perfectly with our belief that outdoor games should be both functional and beautiful, seamlessly integrating into contemporary outdoor spaces.”
Outdoor Play, But Make It Beautiful
The broader story here is the changing role of the garden. Once upon a time, outdoor furniture mainly had to survive weather, children and the indignity of being dragged across paving stones. Now, the best pieces are expected to do all that while also looking composed enough for an interiors magazine.
Cornilleau’s Clare Therese Gray collaboration lands directly in that shift. It recognises that modern outdoor spaces are increasingly treated as living rooms without ceilings: places for eating, entertaining, exercising, recovering and occasionally pretending one’s table tennis forehand is not an active crime scene.
There is also a useful tension at play. Table tennis is democratic, energetic and faintly chaotic. Botanical illustration is intricate, deliberate and composed. Bring the two together well, and you avoid the trap of making sport feel sterile or design feel precious.
That is the clever bit. This table is decorative, yes, but not delicate in spirit. It still wants to be used. It just happens to look rather magnificent while waiting for someone to serve.
Cornilleau’s 80th Anniversary Gets A Design-Led Spin
For Cornilleau, the piece is more than an anniversary flourish. It signals a broader commitment to creative partnership and the idea that games tables can hold their own as design objects.
That matters in a market where outdoor living has become sharper, more discerning and more style-conscious. The consumer looking at garden furniture in 2026 is not simply asking whether something works. They are asking whether it earns its place.
This bespoke ping-pong table makes a persuasive case. It takes a familiar object and gives it narrative, craft and visual presence. It belongs to sport, certainly. But it also belongs to garden design, luxury lifestyle and contemporary outdoor culture.
And really, that is the appeal. Cornilleau has not tried to make table tennis grandiose. It has simply given it a better suit, a botanical pocket square, and the confidence to walk into Chelsea without looking remotely out of place.
