SYD – Fine Furniture/Design

Tag: contemporary

  • Christmas Jewelry Box

    Christmas Jewelry Box

    jbox5

    A good friend of mine approached me to make a jewelry box for his wife as a Christmas present. Before this commission, she was using a large plastic fishing tackle box to house her jewelry box. It was time for her to get a legitimate box she could call a jewelry box.  She loves jewelry and has a lot of it so that was the main focus- creating an elegant box large enough to house her jewelry, but doesn’t look clunky. I went for rippled English sycamore because a light wood make the whole thing feel lighter and I believe a jewelry box looks better in light wood. The rippled English sycamore gives enough figure and patterns to make the box beautiful without being too dramatic.

    [singlepic id=211 w= h= float=center]

    The necklaces take up the most space, so we went for as much necklace storage as possible. There are two doors on the sides that hinge open to hold necklaces. On the door there are hooks and a small shelf so that hanging necklaces don’t keep the door from closing. There is also a lift up top made of Sapele that opens to reveal a compartment for earrings, rings, and small jewelry. When the lift up top is closed, it locks the side necklace doors so it’s easier to move around if need be.

    [singlepic id=208 w= h= float=center]

    There are 9 drawers- 3 long one and 6 mini ones, all with dividers in them. The drawers are made out of solid hard maple with splines in the corners to make it strong, as well as add a touch of decorative element. The dividers fit into the drawers using a birds mouth joinery, which make it possible to add dividers to thin wood without having to compromise the strength of the wood. I put in a green suede liner on the bottom to keep the jewelry from getting scratched up.

    [singlepic id=209 w= h= float=center]

    The style of this jewely box is definately modern/contemporary, but I hope the added details injects some warmth to the design. I believe it will only get better with age and become more joy to use the longer she uses it. The rippled sycamore is finished using Renaissance wax, a wax developed by British art conservationist.

    [singlepic id=210 w= h= float=center]

  • Stefanie Desk

    Stefanie Desk

    stephdeskThis client approached me wanting to create a desk for her fiance as a surprise christmas present. She liked the Harmonson desk I created earlier, and she also showed me several photos of a contemporary and minimalist design she liked. I took the common link between the two and came up with this design.

    [singlepic id=117 w=320 h=240 float=center]

    This design is based off of the popular parson’s table. The minimal and clean look, I believe, is a timeless look. Where the legs meet the top, I decided to use a triple miter joinery. Most parson’s table made nowadays is mitered at the top, but the legs just butt up to the top, creating a weak joint. The triple miter, which was used extensively in chinese furniture, is a locking joinery. There are small tenons that lock into the mating surface, creating a joinery that is strong enough to stand even without glue- though glue is still used to make the joint even stronger.

    [singlepic id=118 w=320 h=240 float=center]

    The drawers are made from quartersawn white oak (which is stable and wear resistant) with hand cut dovetail joinery that ride on maple drawer guides (also wear resistant). I’m a big fan of drawers that slide against wood if it’s made and fitted well. It’s a subtle thing, but wood on wood drawers feel and sound better when used.

    [singlepic id=116 w=320 h=240 float=center]

    Other than the top and the drawers, the desk is made from Sipo Mahogany and Sapele panels . I used leather for the top because the client wanted the top to be made of another material and leather seemed very appropriate for this design. The leather helps to emphasize the frame work in the desk as well as making a nice writing surface. The dark tone of the leather will tie together nicely with the dark rubbed bronze of the handles manufactured by Linnea. (these photos don’t show the handles because I did not have the handles at the time of the photos. I will update with more photos when I take more photos.)