About The Project

These two mahogany occasional chairs are diminutively elegant and refined. They feature sweeping arms with complimenting curved back vertical stays. The chairs are used for casual seating in the customer’s living room.

There were two main design requirements in making the chairs. The first is that the customer is rather petite, therefore the chairs had to be scaled to her size. The second was a comfort requirement. The chairs needed to have some flexible give when sat in. This was achieved by articulating the joints between the vertical legs and the horizontal floor runners, much like an ankle joint. The joints pivot on brass pins. Adjustable tension rods control the amount of movement in the joint, and hence the degree of rock.

The customer contributed the majority of the design. She found photos of several chairs she liked, and we combined her favorite design elements. The bowtie detail on the top of the chairs was inspired by my living room cabinets project.

The chairs are upholstered in black authentic leather. The bottom cushions rest on webbing that runs between the frame sides. The back leather panels are padded, thus preventing the sitter’s back from pressing against the sweeping wooden uprights.