Some friends commissioned me to make them a coffee table. They just bought a lovely new house, and really need something in front of the sofa. I asked them about the furniture they already had - did they want me to follow any particular style? They decided they wanted something "sort of traditional but contemporary, but not too contemporary". Or something along those lines.

I showed them a bunch of pictures of tables that I downloaded from the web. Turned out the biggest issue was the leg shape: the wife wanted legs that had a face angling outward from the top to the bottom. The husband wanted legs that tapered downward on the inside face - Shaker style. They both agreed (when asked separately) that they hated the look of legs that tapered inward from the top to the bottom on the outside face of the leg.

So they argued for a while, and then sent me a picture of a table that they liked the leg shape on: its legs tapered inward from the top to the bottom - on the outside face of the leg. The ones they both agreed they didn't like!

Hmmm...

The only table they'd shown me was something from Pottery Barn that I couldn't reproduce for the cost of buying it from Pottery Barn. But they did want a shelf of some sort beneath the table top to put magazines on.

Hmmm....

So I finally decided to let inspiration do its thing. I took the husband (who does not do woodworking at all) to some lumber yards to look at wood. After a lot of flipping and admiring of lumber, he decided that he loved curly maple. We bought a nice slab of 8/4 curly maple that I got resawed (thanks Eiji, who put me in touch with the company that did it) so I could do a bookmatched top. The slabs weren't quite wide enough, so I put a plank of figured cherry down the middle.

I had sketched out a table top with a gentle curve along the long edges - like my diningroom table (which they liked). I (don't tell them) didn't really like their choice of legs, so I decided that I would put a bit more of myself in the table. After all - I'm supposed to be the designer, right? (I know - I'd never stay in business if this were my job...)

I experimented quite a bit on Sketchup, and finally came up with a design I liked. I call it my "secret" table because when you look at it from the top, it's quite unassuming:





You can see that the table looks pretty much like the Sketchup model at the top of each picture. It just looks like a nice table top sitting on four legs.

The top came out nicely too:


I sanded to 2000 grit. Every time I went to a higher grit, more of the figure became visible. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

The secret is revealed once you sit down, and look at the table from the side:


The table top doesn't actually sit on the legs - it sits on the aprons, which arch up and away from the legs.


The underside of the apron and the stretcher are both arched as well, giving it a lightness and grace (I hope). I haven't finished the shelf lattice, as you can see. In the photos the table top is just resting on the leg frames, which are held together with scraps of wood and tape.

I really like how the table top floats over the table frame. I used the shape of the leg that they both agreed that they liked, but formed it into a more unique shape with the apron and stretchers. The fun thing is that you don't notice it until you look from the right angle.

I'm thinking I might do some side tables for them out of the leftover maple...

I'll post updates once I've made progress on the shelf lattice...

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I don't have as many Festools as Fred. Or Marcou's, or Brese's, or Lie-Nielsen's, or Lee Valley's, or Blue Spruce's, or Harold and Saxon's, or...

Wonderful!

I really like that floating idea Peter, keep this up and you'll have to quit your day job

If you want to keep sanding

Wood Finishing : MICRO-SURFACE FINISHING PRODUCTS, INC

Peter, I really love it - that floating top is delicious!
You have such nice vision and do beautiful work.

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Laurie
TS 55, RO 150, DTS 400, CT Mini, Pile o' Card Scrapers, Sextant, Abacus, Chocolate Temperer, 4 Candy Thermometers, Bench Cookies (Double Batch), 15 X-acto Knives, Leatherman Tool (Blue), Various Wire, 3 Fids, A Few Ideas Too Many, 287 Pencils, String

I like that quite well. The side view, there's the selling point.
I think you have to do what you described. Unless they're just adamant, hand you a set of plans and say this, and no deviations.
You're being asked the whole way, their desires are a little ambiguous, and somewhere there's the sense that, if it came out kind of like they maybe sort of envisioned that one night . . . but you got a little artistic - - don't you get the feeling maybe they want you to get a little inspired along the way??
I dunno. I think you did the right thing. Followed your gut.
I've never done that - followed my gut and deviated, and had the client not like the change. I guess there's always a first time.

Wow! If that microabrasive is good enough for a Stradivarius, it's good enough for me! Thanks for the link, Jay.

Thanks also Laurie and Randy. I'm really pleased that you like it. Sometimes I wonder about my design sense. I think I'm good, but apparently not everybody agrees. I'm glad you like where I'm going with this.

The poor clients have been waiting since November for this. It'll only take another week to do the joinery and finishing. But finding a week is seriously non-trivial...

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I don't have as many Festools as Fred. Or Marcou's, or Brese's, or Lie-Nielsen's, or Lee Valley's, or Blue Spruce's, or Harold and Saxon's, or...

Peter, I agree on all points. I hate you.

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John

1 Toolie, 2 XL Festool Polos

RW said it, they wanted you to make something new,
because the didn't really even know what they liked.

I'm sure they'll like this, it's super!

Clearly you understand where I was coming from, Randy. I decided that: they'd hired me not to reproduce Pottery Barn, but to put my own impremeture on a piece - make it personal and unique. So I went my own way.

My hope is that it'll make the rest of their furniture look dowdy, so they'll have to get me to make them a dining room table, chairs, side tables, etc. So, while I'm underpaid on this table, I'll gouge them with the rest of the pieces.


Did I mention that they're really wonderful friends?

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I don't have as many Festools as Fred. Or Marcou's, or Brese's, or Lie-Nielsen's, or Lee Valley's, or Blue Spruce's, or Harold and Saxon's, or...

Bloody hell that is pretty!!!!!! Very well done

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Ok, guys I'm German, so please bear with my spelling
www.ecofurniture.ca is my company, focused on sustainable and healthy furniture.


C-12, 2xCT-Mini, 2xETS125, TS55,OF1400, Domino,MFK 700, 2xMFT3, Kapex,MFT1080,Guide rails, Gecko,Sortainers, Systainers, Lots of Mirka and soon a CMS

Thanks John. No need to hate me - I'm pretty danged slow on this. Once your shop is set up, you'll be able to churn these out twice a day! I was wishing I'd had your (one of your) Marcou's for this. I would have loved to have smoothed the top with a plane rather than a sander. I'm embarrassed about the amount of curvature in the table top. Don't tell them - you don't notice it if nobody points it out...

Thanks also Michael. It was definitely my hope that they'll appreciate my inspiration (design). I decided that it was my role in life to give them more than they expected, and to try to make the rest of their furniture look pale in comparison. I'm hoping it'll keep me in business for a while...

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I don't have as many Festools as Fred. Or Marcou's, or Brese's, or Lie-Nielsen's, or Lee Valley's, or Blue Spruce's, or Harold and Saxon's, or...