Bespoke Dining Chairs

Good Afternoon!

I’m going to incorporate blogging as time permits to gain an insight into my world of furniture making. I am putting the final upholstering touches on the last chairs on this commission for a client who wanted a set of four chairs they had seen in a department store catalog. As a veteran furniture maker, I can create any piece the client desires and more notably, with the minor details that suit the client’s needs based on the dimensions of the projects, spacing inside or outside of the client’s home or yacht and material preferences. Furthermore, I make each piece with concern for all applications in usage of the furniture piece; more specifically, the comforts in that of the actual chair. Visually, a chair might look incredible but, once you sit in it, you might find it causes slight back or leg strain due to the design. This is exactly what I encountered when I took a look at the picture of the chair the client contacted me about. 

The chair had an extended lower side which, corralled the legs to position themselves permanently forward without any flexibility to lazily drop off the side. Another issue with the catalog design was the back was similar to a toboggan where the shoulders were brought forward and proved very uncomfortable. Thusly, after configuring the design like that of the original catalog, I cut it down and back to the design you see above and on my website. A second testing of the new corrections resulted in the results I was looking for and made my client truly happy. It is this attention to detail which, results in a satisfied client and referrals. 

On top of the actual design, creating a shaped back for this chair presented a new opportunity in it of itself. I constructed a jig for the chair and bent the wood without the use of water. You can see more of this on my Instagram. After not knowing whether it would work or not, a first attempt yielded the results I was looking for. It is this dynamic which, first piqued my interests in furniture making as I loved problem solving. Now, creating the jig was difficult work and although an experiment, was a chance that proved successful. Sometimes these things don’t work and you have to approach the situation from another angle but, with a foundation in the craft of furniture one shouldn’t have much trouble executing the procedures. Fortunately for me, I studied with an apprenticeship in an Irish program called, FAS and furthered my education with a City and Guilds Certification in Furniture Making. It is this foundation which, has given me the ability to succeed in life with the necessary tools to create anything. 

-G.H. 25/3/16