SYD – Fine Furniture/Design

Tag: rosewood

  • Fuller Desk – Rosewood

    Fuller Desk – Rosewood

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    This client was referred to me from another client of mine that I had made a game table for. They are long time friends who enjoys playing board games with each other so I was happy to hear that my preferred method of marketing ‘word of mouth’ is still working.

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    This client wanted a nice desk for his home office that he could either use as a computer desk or to have a meeting at. He wanted something elegant that looks beautiful in the center of a room. His office is on the small side, so we needed to get the size just right. Too big and it would feel claustrophobic in the room. Too small, and it would look like a child’s desk and wouldn’t be too functional. To make sure we get this right, I made a plywood template to place in the room to make sure it was just right before we finalized the designs.

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    Because the desk is in the center of the room, I wanted my client to be able to freely walk around the desk and not risk kicking the legs of the desk as he walked by. For that reason, I brought the legs in from the corner and tied everything together with low rails. The rails taper up so its wider towards the center. The legs are just straight round since any turned detail would take away from the design instead of adding value. 

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    For the wood, we chose rosewood. Rosewood is a gorgeous wood that has a lot of depth and ages beautifully. The desk top is veneered (because its not a good idea to make a design like this in solid wood due to expansion and contraction) with the grain following from the top down to the sides. The front of the desk flows straight through the drawer front to create one cohesive look. The drawer knob is just a simple design made of bronze. 

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    There is a removable platform to elevate the computer monitor as well as a way to hide wiring. There is one leg that is hollow so a power cord could be snaked up to fuel a small electrical outlet so it’s easy to plug things in and out.

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  • FWC-18′ conference table

    FWC-18′ conference table

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    The good people of Far West Capital are so awesome that their business and staff just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I had made a 12′ conference table for them a few years ago, and they’ve already outgrown that one, so they commissioned me to make a 18′ conference table this time. They loved the traditional meets modern aesthetic of the last one, so we decided to design something that looks totally different from the last one, yet feels similar.

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    This was by far the biggest project I’ve had the opportunity to work on and logistics became the first and foremost in the design aspect. How can I make these parts in my shop and how can I break the pieces up so I can move it safely and easily? I decided that the top will be made from 3 parts and I wanted to make the top as light as possible since that has the biggest area. To support the top, there are thick and wide aprons that come apart and fit together with notches made in the wood. This gives stability to an otherwise flexible top. The aprons rest on pedestals that are angles and tapered in almost every direction. The taper came from trying to gain as much foot space as possible without sacrificing stability. One side of the pedestal is held in with clips so you can remove it to store and hide conference table equipment. At the feet there is a 1/4″ blackened plate steel that adds weight and distributes the footprint out so the top wont tip over.

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    The whole table is made from peruvian walnut veneered panels with solid wood edging. The removable center piece is made of spalted beech. Spalted is a figure in wood caused by fungal attack. The wood is left for fungus to attack, but then harvested before the wood rots completely and becomes unusable. It’s characteristics are black vein like lines with wood tones around it being different. I think the spalted beech was a nice compliment to the peruvian walnut and adds a little bit of country to the otherwise sophisticated elements.

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    To break up the large dark surface and to give a nod to traditional furniture we chose to inlay cross banding around the border. Cross banding is inlayed wood that is aligned so the grain is oriented side to side across the length. The outer cross banding is made from Bolivian rosewood and the inner cross banding that borders the spalted beech is Macassar Ebony. I feel the different tones in the woods give a nice transition to the different woods.

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    Sixteen people can sit all around the table easily and maybe a few more if people are willing to get close and cozy with each other. I think this design is a success because the real design elements are in the small details.