About The Project

This is one of a pair of sofas. The sofas are designed to be placed facing each other in the middle of the room, so the back must be as attractive as the front and sides. The sweeping top arches evoke the grace of a woman's shoulders.

The sofas are made from tiger maple. Tiger maple is a highly sought-after, figured lumber known for its dramatic, shimmering stripes that run perpendicular to the wood grain, often called curly or flame maple. It is primarily sourced from soft red maple. In addition to furniture, it is used for violin backs and guitar bodies, thus leading to another common name, fiddleback maple.

The figure is a fluke of nature, not a particular species of tree. For unknown reasons the woodgrain grows in waves and curls instead of straight, analogous to curly versus straight hair in people. The shimmer occurs because the grain cells grow at varying angles to each other, thus causing the light rays to reflect at varying angles. In the right circumstances this can lead to an iridescent 3D effect.

The sofas were first mocked full size using construction lumber. The legs, arms and back arches of the actual sofas were formed using a variety of hand tools.

Because the backs of the sofas are seen, I didn’t want any exposed piping or fasteners. An approach was used which involved hidden upholstery tack strips and the ability to fasten on the top rail after the upholstering was completed.