Project Diary: Chest of 7 drawers
8/27/08
In a couple short months I will be getting married to a very beautiful woman named Kayleigh. To celebrate the event I am going to design and build a new set of furniture for our bedroom. It will eventually include several pieces; two chests of drawers, headboard, mirror, etc. I hope to develop a few design details that I can carry throughout the entire collection. When looking at any of the famous furniture makers they always have signature details that they use in their pieces (ex Greene and Greene used cloud lifts and ebony pegs, Maloof uses sculpted joinery, etc). My first piece will be a 7 drawer chest...
Step one is the design phase. I like furniture made by many different designers from many different periods in history. My favorite has to be the furniture of Charles and Henry Greene (AKA Greene and Greene). I enjoy their simple, timeless, bold designs. I also have a great respect for Japanese style joinery because it is both decorative and strong. With all that in mind I will begin my design. To help with the overall design and proportions I will be drawing a full-scale rendering on ¼” MDF. I know that I want the finished product to be ~60” wide by ~33 high by ~18” deep. These dimensions are pretty standard for a dresser, I wouldn’t mind making it a little bigger but I am keeping both cost and mobility in mind. With that, it’s off to drawing board.
Please check back often. I will be adding more posts and I will include pictures as well as how-tos along the way.