We love designing and creating bespoke furniture for our clients. Our most recent project was to create a desk for a client whose home we renovated a few years ago. Like so many of us, she needed a more functional desk in her home office.
We tried to find a ready-made piece that meshed with her home, which features Biedermeier furniture. That proved nearly impossible, as the few pieces we spied were generally in Europe and would take an age to be shipped, or they otherwise didn’t fit her needs because they were too small or didn’t have any storage spaces. Hence, another wonderful opportunity to collaborate with my furniture artisan, Boyd Allen of Boallen Furniture.
Our inspiration was an antique Italian desk that was a cross between the Biedermeier and Art Deco styles. As you can imagine, there are many steps involved to go from concept to creating the gorgeous end result.
After conversations with my client to determine her ideal desk, I created a sketch and provided dimensions and photos to give Boyd a start. He then created a full-scale drawing to make sure we had the proportions correct.
Once that was established, the construction on the various components began. Boyd and I consulted with each other several times to make sure we were both happy with the way the concept was coming to fruition. For example, we talked about several possible types of veneers and veneer patterns we might choose. Boyd is a perfectionist, so making sure the veneer patterns worked perfectly with our proportions was of the utmost concern.
Creating drawer space that could hold files was critical for our client. To maintain the proportions of the desk, we had to figure out how to “hide” a portion of the drawers within the legs. If you look closely at the photos, you can see a “notch” in each of the inner legs for the drawers.
We carefully selected the final stain we used, so that the desk had the typical Beidermeier coloring to coordinate with the existing furniture in the home.
After seven weeks of work, you can see the artist, Boyd, behind his gorgeous creation, in its place in my client’s office. This is a masterpiece that, most importantly, makes our client happy to “go to work” every day!
