KAFFE

Location: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Program: Furniture Design Studio, Winter 2017
My Role: Design, Construction, Photography

A coffee table designed and constructed in a 7-week furniture studio taught by Zoe Mowat, focusing on the connection between two materials

joinery detail: a maple dowel resting in a routed channel on a beech wood tabletop

  • Challenge

    • Design and construct a furniture piece (table, stool, or bench) in 7 weeks

    • Highlight two materials and their connections

    • Create furniture piece true to personal brand

  • Process

    1. Material explorations through research and experimentation with wood, leather, and felt

    2. Initial design iterations through sketches and study models and full scale cardboard mockup

    3. Material purchase (Beech wood, vegetable tanned leather, maple dowels, danish soap flakes)

    4. Mill wood, cut components, and construct final furniture piece


      See my full process documentation ↗

  • Reflection

    • Having a working knowledge of construction techniques and constraints helps set my design up for success (additive over subtractive approach)

    • Measure five times, cut once

    • Design thinking happens at every stage of design and construction. Reimagining the design along the way is a beautiful experience

Beech coffee table with a leather sling and maple supports
Marker sketches of preliminary sling details and measurements
Pencil sketch of initial tabletop measurements
Marker sketch showing swatch of leather and "Leather qualities: natural quality, firm, thick, elegant, expensive. Integration: Seats, slings for books, covering for comfort without a lot of material or bulky feeling, table covering or draping over su
Early design sketches in pencil and marker. Middle sketch shows rounded table with 2 callouts: "area of magazines/books inset into the table, leather sling, turned legs"
Sketchbook page showing early designs of chairs, storage benches, integrating felt, wood and leather in marker and pen
Four early concept models made from paper, felt, cardboard, and small wood dowels showing various iterations of a table/bench
Closeup of hand-turned table legs with rounded edges
Leather sling draped from the table top to the support stringers of the base
Detail of hand-stitched veg-tanned leather wrapped around the dowel support
Maple dowel detail resting in a routed channel on the tabletop
Closeup of rough underside of leather sling folded over to show smooth top leather stitched neatly across
Detail of two stringer dowels connecting with the support leg shot from under the table
Shot from below, the rectangular opening within the tabletop has slightly rounded corners and eased edges
Leather sling when holding books creates a balanced tension on the two connection points, the tabletop and the stringer
1.5" rounded tabletop corners and legs protruding through and dowel legs sitting flush on the tabletop
Tabletop corner and edge closeup with the alternating edge grain of tabletop pieces which prevents warping
Supports die into the sides of the turned legs
Matte soap finish creates a subtle sheen on the tabletop where a mug of tea rests on a leather coaster
Books resting in the sling, slightly peeking out of the tabletop
Entire rectangular coffee table showing four 1.75" diameter turned beechwood legs, 0.75" intermediate maple dowel supports and leather slung from the tabletop to a short support with the tabletop, creating a cradle for books and magazines
Front edge of table offers glimpse of books inside the leather sling, "Simple matters" by erin boyle rests on top
Michelle sitting on a leather couch (with her partner and greyhound dog), resting her feet on the coffee table she designed