About The Project
This bedroom set consists of a matching queen size bed, dresser, armoire and two nightstands. A design theme in all the pieces is curved casework nestled within curved legs. On the dresser, armoire bottom, and nightstands the sides and front of the casework are gently concave. The cherry legs flair up and enfold the corners of the casework, which accents the upward visual lift of the design. The headboard and footboard of the bed are similarly concave, and are also enfolded by their legs. The casework and headboard and footboards are framed by the cherry legs, bottom rails, and tops on the dresser, armoire and nightstands and the caps on the headboard and footboard.
The caseworks and panels are veneered in figured sycamore. 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.
For this project I was able to source very wide veneer. For example the armoire doors are each veneered in a single piece of veneer. The doors bookmatch each other. Two consecutively cut veneer slices were opened and glued to the doors along matching edges, much like opening two opposing pages of a book. This results in the two doors creating a mirror image of each other.
As mentioned above, the casework sides and drawer fronts are concave. This was done by first building a convex form. Glue was applied to layers of thin wood, which were then pressed over the form. In essence this is how commercial plywood is made, the difference here being that the result was curved versus flat sheets.
The bed rails support cross slates, on which the mattress rests. The rails are meant to be seen, which is accomplished by tucking in the bedcovers alongside the mattress.
