A Desk as a Gift

Above: This photo was taken in my shop, right before delivery.

A very good client and friend came to me one day and said she had a very special project and needed my help. She wanted me to design and build a desk for her mother and wanted it kept a secret until it was done. Her mother was a writer, preferring pen and paper to computers. It was a birthday gift. She took me to her mother's house, collaborating with her father, pretending I was there to help her father with a project. 

The client/friend loves quality workmanship. My use of solid woods with a classical design element to them, along with our shared love of animals kindled a friendship. She had an extremely close relationship with her father and mother and wanted me to come up with a very special design.

The space for the desk was small. It was important for the desk to be comfortable and beautiful, as well as useful. I designed the desk as a wrap-around kidney shape to fit in the small space, building it out of figured mahogany with wenge details. The curved drawer fronts made the desk comfortable to sit at, easy to walk around, allowed plenty of depth for the drawers and plenty of writing space on top, as well as fitting perfectly in the small space I designed it for. Needless to say, her mother was ecstatic with her gift!