Furniture Gallery

Office Suite

Constructed of African Mahogany trimmed with Balau this table was to be a mixing table for a recording studio.The plywood rear panel was requested by the client due to the weight of the compnents it was intended to support. Unfortunately rather than using African mahogany plywood he preferred to use oak with a stain.

The high shelves were sized specifically for component racks he’d purchased.

Note the shape of the asymmetrical tapered leg.

The table stood in the living room awaiting completion of the studio…

…but the studio project was terminated. The client wanted to keep the table, nevertheless and asked if it could be converted to a desk. The first thing to go was the rear panel and fortunately I was allowed to replace the oak on the sides of the legs with African Mahogany.

Next the high shelves were cut down and a middle one was added to support a monitor. The new design would provide space for paperwork to slide beneath the monitor keeping the surface of the desk free from clutter.

Spanning the angled front edge was a single drawer…

…accented with Green Tourmaline PrecisionStone inlays…

…and featuring a keyboard tray that pivots to provide the most comfortable position for resting the users forearms.

The desk was so well received that a second piece to match was requested – a bookcase that would incorporate the distinctive inverted pyramid shape of the desk.

Inverted pyramids may work fine for supporting desks but the shape might be considered somewhat less than ideal when serving as a column to support shelves! Clearly it was time to think well outside the box…

So the columns were made to go right through the middle of the shelves – but obviously that alone didn’t make them capable of supporting anything…

The trim however, did not pass through the shelves. Wedged between the shelves and fitted to the columns, it was the trim that did all the lifting. This design overcame one other significant obstacle as well. The entire unit was intended for a room that was down two flights of stairs and down a narrow hallway. There was no way it could arrive fully assembled…

…The fit of the wedged-in trim and panels, however, was such that no fasteners were required.

A total of 48 distinct pieces form a freestanding bookcase when assembled without nails, screws, dowels and etc. of any sort, that is rigid and stable enough to support some rather substantial pieces of African statuary and various heavy glass sculptures!

-Desk and bookcase together in their new home-

Something is missing however… There’s nowhere to sit.

Creating chairs that looked like that desk and bookcase that were nevertheless, chairs, wasn’t going to be easy.

Somehow the back and legs had to mimic the upside-down-pyramid look.

The contour of the seat supports were painstakingly shaped to match the seat of the clients favorite chair.

Desk chairs often have arm rests but these are rests stepped down in front to avoid interfering with the tilting keyboard tray. The rearward lean of the legs matched the angle of those on the desk.

Two more awaiting cushions although they’re deceivingly comfortable without

Done! …or perhaps not. That cabinet you can barely see off to the right simply won’t do. It will have to be replaced.

What we need must have feet and trim of Balau, tapered stiles framing asymmetrical doors,

nicely trimmed shelves,

an African mahogany top,

matching pulls…

and then to our suite,

we shall add number four! (That’s not where the monitoris supposed to go, by the way)

Much better – but there still never seemed to be enough room for all the sculptures. There remained no alternative but to add a display cabinet…

…like this one, for instance. The stiles and the shelves should remind you a lot of the bookcase – and the doors and pulls extend fromthe low cabinet. There is one substantial difference between the design of the two cabinets.

That is while the first one appears as if it is wider at the top than the bottom, it is just the shape of the stiles that creates that illusion. The display cabinet is actually wider at the top. The two degree taper adds over five inches overall.

I had to be careful when ordering the glass for the sides. Otherwise they’d have ended up a half inch short. Adding 2 degree angles to everything increases complexity exponentially!

So there you have it – how to go from mixing table to Office Suite in five easy steps!

solid bubinga pedestal (design by client)

mitered and hand cut dovetail joinery

65 gallon aquarium stand and cover in African Mahogany

vertical slats in solid walnut, solid wenge top and base

planter box in African mahogany with handcut dovetailed corners

dispay stand walnut plywood capped with solid wenge.

table top comprised of an intricate array of over 35 distinct species of hardwood

display table of walnut veneer and solid wenge top, shelves and base

the same table hidden – if you study the potograph carefully you should be able to spot it…

curved front counter to match the lighting soffit above

I realize it’s not a piece of furniture but it happens to be an old favorite of mine – 28 pieces all hand cut.

a pair of circular pedestals to complement the 3 tiered table

Some beautifully crafted pieces are the contibution by Guarino Furniture Designs LLC in a collaboration with Seclay.

Glen Guarino created his table and mirror frames with the specific intention of highlighting the aesthetic impact resulting from the addition of PrecisionStone Inlays to his designs.