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Art Deco style bed.

Project by Alan posted 589 days ago 1166 views 7 times favorited 20 comments Add to Favorites Watch

This was definitely one of the more challenging projects I’ve done. It was a commission. The client had seen an Art Deco bed (an original from the late 20’s) on a web site and wanted something similar. I took a few elements from the original and worked them into my design- sort of a basic DNA thing.
All the curved veneered elements were vacuum pressed over forms. The tops of the nightstands were shaped using 1/4” MDF patterns and a pattern cutting bit. The curved top of the headboard is solid maple. I found a bowed board at the lumberyard (imagine that!) and clamped it for several weeks on a form to make the bowing more pronounced. It’s a shallow bend, so lots of clamps and glue did the job. Wood’s pretty flexible, after all.
The nightstands and attatched backs are connected to the headboard with bed hardware. The footboard houses a TV lift. That was one of the trickiest parts of the whole thing. Getting the lift to fit right and have access to it with a removable cover took a while to figure out. Needless to say, when it all worked okay, I was much releived.
Installation took several hours because of all the parts involved. Fortunately. the bed itself fit inside the frame the way it was supposed to.
All in all, a very satisfying but nervewracking project. Lots of flop sweat going on.
You can see more photos of the bed on my website- alancarterstudio.com. Click on Portfolio, then Bedroom Furniture, then Custom Deco Bed.

-- Alan Carter, www.alancarterstudio.com


20 comments so far

View Jimboe's profile

Jimboe

81 posts in 646 days


posted 589 days ago

Wow …beautiful …love the view too

View trifern's profile

trifern

7894 posts in 663 days


posted 589 days ago

Extremely cool.

-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.

View acanthuscarver's profile

acanthuscarver

157 posts in 608 days


posted 589 days ago

Another great project! I love the choice of figured veneers.

-- Chuck Bender, period furniture maker, www.acanthus.com

View GaryK's profile

GaryK

9533 posts in 884 days


posted 589 days ago

Great bed. The TV lift is great also.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

View Scott Bryan's profile

Scott Bryan

20707 posts in 718 days


posted 589 days ago

Alan,

This is a beautiful bed and I love the lift. The veneers are absolutely gorgeous.

I can well understand how challenging this project was. You certainly earned your commission on this one.

Thanks for the post. I really appreciated seeing this one.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

View DAN 's profile

DAN

6446 posts in 879 days


posted 589 days ago

another cool piece of work. makes me wants me to change-over to the deco style.

-- work from your heart and your spirit will live forever

View grovemadman's profile

grovemadman

558 posts in 668 days


posted 589 days ago

Mighty fine job, the hidden TV is pretty slick!

-- --Chuck

View cajunpen's profile

cajunpen

5968 posts in 962 days


posted 589 days ago

Great looking bed. I’m with everyone else with the TV lift. Bet they get up at first light each morning :-))

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

View Thos. Angle's profile

Thos. Angle

4013 posts in 858 days


posted 588 days ago

Great project. Well done and an exciting finish. I doubt I would want the TV with what appears to be a great landscape out the window. Excellent!!

-- Thos. Angle

View Mario's profile

Mario

882 posts in 947 days


posted 588 days ago

Great looking design. Beautiful look peice

Thanks for posting.

-- Hope Never fails

View unknownwoodworker's profile

unknownwoodworker

218 posts in 599 days


posted 588 days ago

W O W ! ! !

-- ??? My mistakes heat the house. It's very warm in here. ???

View motthunter's profile

motthunter

2079 posts in 695 days


posted 588 days ago

how cool. great sense of design

-- making sawdust....

View Douglas Bordner's profile

Douglas Bordner

3424 posts in 960 days


posted 588 days ago

You do some really high end work there. Great art.

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

View JasonK's profile

JasonK

49 posts in 691 days


posted 588 days ago

Alan,
This may well be one of the finest pieces of furniture I’ve seen on this site. Beautiful! I love your style of furniture.

-- Measure once; Cut Twice, Three Times, Four Times...

View odie's profile

odie

1602 posts in 736 days


posted 588 days ago

What a gorgeous piece of furniture … Nice Work !

-- Odie, Confucius say, "He who laughs at one's self is BUTT of joke". http://woodstermangotwood.blogspot.com/ (my funny blog)

View Chris Davis's profile

Chris Davis

556 posts in 878 days


posted 588 days ago

That is awsome. I’ve been looking for a reason to build a TV lift style cabinet. They are too expensive to do one form myself. Great work.

-- Watch live video from our shop. http://wwbeds.com/live.htm

View Alan 's profile

Alan

44 posts in 813 days


posted 588 days ago

Thanks, everyone. My ego just exploded! The TV lift mechanism is expensive. The cheapest one I could find was on Rockler’s website. I think Woodcraft carries them also. The one I used was around $1500.00 but some I saw on the web were $3-4000.00. It was an indulgence on the part of the clients. I had suggested it because I thought it would be a cool thing and they went for it. It seemed to me when it was all done, though, that the TV would be awfully close- maybe 6’ or so away. They liked it, though, so alls well…..

-- Alan Carter, www.alancarterstudio.com

View woodgrain411's profile

woodgrain411

139 posts in 749 days


posted 588 days ago

this is textbook master craftsmenship awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-- I love this site !

View Nick Solimine's profile

Nick Solimine

38 posts in 627 days


posted 512 days ago

All i can say is i am jealouse. I hope one day i can come close to this kind of craftsmanship

-- Nick , North Carolina

View DanM's profile

DanM

88 posts in 605 days


posted 512 days ago

Looks like a piece from a 1930’s movie set. Simply stunning

Dan

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