After the donation of a set of old kitchen furniture from a former client, which consisted of an oval extending one leaf table and a set of six matching chairs. I placed them in storage, thinking i’d find a use for them at some point in the future or find them a loving new home.
Well that time had arrived.
I’ve always had an interest Mid century, G-plan and general Scandinavian styling and design. Having family in that part of the world has always helped too. I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice to create something in a similar styling, but put my own stamp on it in the process.
After researching inspirational images on the internet, i eventually sketched a design down on paper and the project finally grew legs, so to speak.
Next it was time to raid the wood store, to see if i had any suitable materials for the project in hand. Of course, eventually i stumbled across the chairs that had been donated from a previous project.
I really liked the curved backs of the ladder back chairs and wanted to use them as the legs for my Scandinavian style desk. So the first thing to do was to remove the upholstery and disassemble the frames of the chairs to see what usable materials i could make use of. This was made very easy for me as they were simply butterfly bolted together and easily came apart, leaving me with a very interesting pile of usable materials.
Next, before i started hacking the wooden lengths to bits, i wanted to see how the chairs looked in their raw wooden state. I discovered if i reattached the front legs of alternate chairs, i would have a lovely matching foot stool. Another possible re-purposed product had appeared out of nowhere.
But that wasn’t my original plan, so back to the G-plan style desk project.
After playing around with the materials, i eventually stumbled across a unique design. If i turned the short front legs of the chair upside down and reattach them. Combining two chairs end to end made an almost gravity defying framework for the desk it’self. A simple but effective design, all i needed now was a nicely finished matching table top to add to the frame. This would turn out Not be as simple an idea as i first expected.
My original idea for the table top, was to attach together a load of wooden bed spring panels. Sure enough i managed to build a simple table top from the pieces, but i just didn’t look the way i expected. Not complimentary to the chair frame work colouring to start with, so now it was time to find something more suitable.
I decided to go out to one of my suppliers to see what inspiration i could find. Sure enough i stumbled across something i thought would be perfect. An old partitioned shelf which i think came from an old map chest, just about the perfect depth and length. Although, when i got it home and married it up with the chair made frame work, I still had reservations about the overall styling. Back to the drawing board with this one.
It’s at times like this i find it necessary to take a step back and ask the advice of my creative family and friends. A fresh pair of eyes always helps!
Sure enough, with a few creative critiques, referring back to my original inspirational images and a bit more rooting around in my wood store, i found the perfect pieces from an old christian cell bed. Nicely aged with curved corners, slightly overlapping the chair frame. I eventually found the perfect table top. That was a good day!
