I grew up around power tools and inherited the ability to build things. Furniture is especially satisfying because it serves a purpose, and when it’s done well it adds beauty as well as function. My designs aren’t that fancy, but what I build is strong, and it’s built to last. Here are some examples of what I’ve done.
Desk for the news set in our television studio. The design was inspired by the anchor desk of WNBC-TV in New York. Our desk is built primarily from plywood and MDF. The sides and top are covered in cherry veneer; the face is painted MDF. The top is 1/2″ Lexan. The front trim is metal stock embedded in red oak trim. The LEDs beneath the top can change color. Inside the desk are power strips for the anchors to power their tablets or other devices.
Conference table, approximately 48″ wide by 190″ long, for the seminar room in our building. This was built in my garage from several sheets of plywood and some pieces of poplar trim. It was constructed in modules and assembled on site. There are six power stations on top of the table and an additional power strip at the presenter’s end. The top is hinged to allow access in case we ever have to replace the power ports. It is finished with General Finishes Georgian Cherry gel stain and clear polyurethane. This table was funded through a grant from the Newberry College Women’s League.
A friend who has a large collection of reptiles has had me construct some tables to hold her tanks. Here is one I built for her. This table was designed to fit over another piece of furniture. It was built from poplar, which was less costly and didn’t have any scents that might affect the reptiles. (I also like poplar because it’s an easy wood to work with.) The top boards not only sit atop a strong box frame, but there’s also a lengthwise beam along the middle. Remember what I said about how I build my stuff to be strong? The finish was trusty old General Finishes gel stain (do you get the feeling I like the stuff?) and polyurethane. Along the back is a long power strip to power tank apparatus.
A now-retired colleague wanted a small coffee table, just large enough to hold a few things, to match some existing furniture. Here’s the little table, constructed of red oak. If you’ve worked with red oak, you know it can be labor-intensive. But the result, I think, was happy. My friend was certainly happy with it, happy enough to commission a bookshelf the day I delivered this table. Fortunately, he was happy for the bookshelf to be built from painted pine.
Sometimes I build things for myself. A writer needs a desk, right? Several years ago I built a writing desk that fit over a filing cabinet I had. I’d since bought a computer for that desk and I needed some space for accessories and storage. And you never have enough shelf space for books and other things. So this is what I built. Each shelf is reinforced with double-width beams to hold the weight of everything – especially that poor middle shelf, having to hold the weight of that TK-76. There’s enough space on the lower shelf for when I add a second monitor at some point down the road. Just out of frame to the right is a swing-arm lamp, which comes in handy when I’m writing well into the evening..