Happy Holidays from Classic Design!

We are taking a little time off to relax & recharge! Our office & workshop will be closed, and we reopen January 3, 2013. Happy Holidays! Cheers!

Upholstered Headboard & Bed Base

We recently finished two upholstered headboards and bed bases - the same style, but with different fabric (both beautiful velvets). The bed above was upholstered in a Nancy Corzine velvet called Primo in Ice. The feet were finished in a light, cerused walnut.

The second bed was upholstered in Linara Cardinal by Romo, and the feet were finished in a chocolate cerused oak.

I was just thinking that it's perfect to share the same piece two different ways ~ obviously, the options are endless! That's why we love specializing in custom furniture.

Small Leather Ottoman

As promised, this is the final piece we made to share the space with the bucket chair & large leather ottoman.  This smaller version is 24" in diameter and fabricated with Holly Hunt Stingray leather in Jellyfish (it's actually an embossed leather), and a polished chrome base. All three of these are really beautiful pieces.

Large Leather Ottoman

We made a few other pieces for the same client that we made the leather bucket chair for; this leather ottoman is one. These pieces were designed, and created, for a commercial retail establishment in Los Angeles.

This large ottoman is 48" in diameter and fabricated in a smooth Holly Hunt Silver Milano leather, with double top stitching. The base is polished chrome.

Stop by tomorrow...I'll be sharing another piece!

Custom Bucket Armchair

Today I'm sharing a custom armchair we just finished, a modern design with a bucket shape, we fabricated this piece with a leather exterior (Holly Hunt, Milano/Silver) and velvet interior (Castel, TeVega/Ardoise).

The base is stained black and it has a self-righting swivel.

Custom leather headboard & bed base

Today we finished a custom Eastern king headboard & bed base. The headboard features a wood frame in walnut with an inset leather panel and upholstered side rails at the base with a walnut toe kick.

The leather headboard is lightly tufted and has a beautifully classic tailored look. It is upholstered in Holly Hunt leather.

Vladimir Kagan inspired curved sofa

We just finished a custom sofa for a client, based on Vladimir Kagan's free form curved arm sofa. It is a substantial, and spectacular, piece. Upholstered in silver velvet, this piece just shimmers with sophistication.

We customized the sofa by making the arm a little higher all around, but especially on the curved side, as well as a dark wood base that follows the entire footprint of the sofa.

I'm picturing this piece with a few jewel tone pillows that will really pop, and imagining the perfect New Years' Eve cocktail party! Tis the season ~ Cheers!

Sofa inspired by Jean Royere

We recently finished & installed a sofa, styled after the work of French designer, Jean Royere, who was known for his bright colors & organic form. Although difficult to see in the photos, this piece has a soft curved shape, which is reproduced further in the end caps and round feet. It is upholstered in mohair.

Scenes from around the workshop...

Custom Mahogany Bed

Today we are sharing a king size bed we just finished; fabricated in mahogany with a padded leather headboard and box spring frame. 

The nightstands are free standing, but fit up against the headboard for a built-in look. The grain on this wood is simply amazing, and the natural stain brings out the color of the mahogany beautifully.

As is our practice, we also finished the interior of the drawers. Something that is so simple, but so many furniture makers fail to do, we feel it's a very important step in the finishing of a piece.

Jens Risom Lounge Chair: before & after

Jens Risom is a Danish American designer, born in Copenhagen, and one of the first designers to introduce Scandinavian design to the United States. He studied at the Copenhagen School of Industrial Arts & Design, where he was classmates with Hans Wegner (designer of the Papa Bear Chair, among others).

After teaming with Knoll in 1941, they launched the Hans Knoll Furniture Company with 15 pieces of the '600' line, designed by Risom. These pieces included armchairs, stools and lounge chairs made from cedar and surplus webbing, and which have become design classics in the years since.

After the war, he started his own design firm, Jens Risom Design, and his reputation continued to grow.  Luckily for us all, these pieces are still available and sold through Knoll. 

This is the armless lounge chair (it can also be purchased with arms), and the frame is maple with a clear finish. All the joints are mortise & tenon constructed. Here is the before photo:

And after we refreshed the frame & replaced the webbing:

Beautiful, comfortable & practical ~ exactly what modern classics should be!

How to care for your Herman Miller (Eames) Lounge Chair

After you have spent the money to restore your classic Eames chair to its' original condition, you will probably want to take care it so it can provide many more years of beauty, comfort and practicality. One of the most frequent questions we receive is how to take care of the leather, wood and metal on these chairs?

Clients are always asking which leather cleaning product or wood polish is the best. Our response? NONE. That's right. Do not use any leather or wood product on your Herman Miller Lounge Chair! Think of it this way; leather is a skin. When you put make up on your skin, you clog the pores. The same goes for the wood.

Our recommendation? Take a very soft, very old tee shirt and dampen it a bit. Use this to gently wipe the topical dirt and any grease on the chair and wood. The dampness will also provide the necessary occasional humidity to keep the leather soft and supple. If you want to use some basic polish for the metal, you can, but do so sparingly.

These are such gorgeous pieces of furniture. If you own an authentic Eames chair, consider yourself lucky, and taking care of it accordingly will ensure that it is a piece that can be enjoyed for generations. And, if your Eames chair needs restoration (as they all do eventually), well, you know where to find us!

P.S. If you need help determining if your Eames chair is real or a fake, take a look at this post.

Before & After: Barcelona Stool restoration

We just finished up the restoration of two Barcelona stools. These are such beautiful pieces, and we were so happy to be able to breathe new life into them. Here are a few before pictures...

We replaced the straps on the frame, fabricated new cushions and reupholstered the cushions exactly as they had originally been made (repairing a previous upholstery job that made the covers incorrectly), and we cleaned & polished the frames. The result are two stools that look brand new again.

Pierre Jeanneret inspired bench

We just finished this amazing bench, inspired by Pierre Jeanneret's classic & timeless design. This piece  is upholstered with a hair-on-hide in a deep blue (difficult to see in the photo above, better represented below) and the legs are stained dark.

Milo Baughman inspired bench

We just finished this chrome bench, inspired by the beautiful design of Milo Baughman, who was one of the leading modern furniture designers of the 20th century. Made with flat bar metal base and legs in polished stainless steel, the seat is upholstered in a boucle by Nobilis. Another example of simple, classic and timeless design.

Ribbon Chair

A recently recovered Ribbon Chair, designed by Pierre Paulin in 1966, is a beautiful example of fluid design and has been called one of the most comfortable chairs made.