Bedroom Suite Project
With lofty aspirations, but recognizing my very limited woodworking abilities and my fear of finishing, I embarked on a project to design and build a bedroom suite that would use the design language of the Greene’s and some valuable tips from the books mentioned above. The material is African mahogany solids; Khaya mahogany plywood’s and the splines and pegs are “ebonized” black walnut. The finish is water based aniline dye followed by an application of an original Greene & Greene concoction of linseed oil and artists oil paints mixed into a bilious green colour and rubbed into the pores of the wood, all followed by a few coats of satin polyurethane rubbed out to a low gloss and topped with wax. The result, I hope, will look like it is a hundred years old and provide protection for another hundred.
The Design
Similar sketches were then prepared for the other pieces including a dresser….
And a pair of night-stands (bed-side tables)….
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The design first took shape as sketches in my notebook which has ¼” square grid pattern pre-printed. For the bed I sketched out a half pattern for the headboard and, using most of the same dimensions (to simplify making) a shorter version for the footboard. This sketch was to a rough scale of 1 square of the notebook grid representing 2” x 2”. This allowed me to size up the rough dimensions and proportions which are very important at the early stage of design.
A tall chest which started as 5-drawer but I split the top one in half….
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For further details of each of these pieces, showing the step-by-step process of building, finishing and assembly, please visit the individual pages:
