Ceccotti Collezioni FURNITURE
17 October 2008
“The Appeal of Cabinetmaking”
One of the things I find interesting about the cabinetmakers I know—and as a member of the Pro Guild, I know a lot of them—is that a fair number of them would really prefer being furniture makers. The reason for that’s pretty simple, really. Just about all of us start in a garage somewhere and begin working our way up the ladder. Small projects don’t normally present much of a problem with that sort of setup. The worst you have to contend with, normally, is putting part of the finished project in the living room while the rest of it is completed, which is not too much of an inconvenience with a desk and chair, but try that with a whole kitchen! There are also a number of challenges that come with installing a kitchen itself: schlepping the cabinets up a flight of stairs, screwing them to the walls and so forth. And what if you screw into a pipe or an electrical wire? Furniture making, by way of contrast, always looks so straightforward. But there’s a problem with that too, and it’s at the top of this blog.
The reason so few of us get into furniture making is that it is difficult to build a reputation. More than that, I think, it is simply difficult to come up with something that is new and exciting, while still being functional. And that brings us back to the “problem” at the top of this blog I just mentioned. Or maybe I should be positive about this and describe it as a challenge.
It is a desk made by the Ceccotti Collezioni, but man, what a desk! What first caught my eye about this particular desk is the shape of it, followed at once by the utilitarian aspects of it which have been so seamlessly integrated into a sensuous design. The drawer pulls are nothing short of glorious, and the legs have a wonderful curve to them.
The problem with a center drawer is that you either have to get up from the desk to access the items in the back of the drawer, or relegate yourself to scrunching back in your chair and getting to a pen or pencil at the front of the drawer. The Ceccotti Collezioni has come with something altogether different, a work top that lifts up to reveal a segmented storage area. And the pens and pencils can be put in the compartments at the front of the desk. There’s plenty of drawer space, too, but because of the wonderful shape of the desk, it does not have the normal clunky look of a double pedestal desk. Finally, what they came up with here is more than a stylish shape for the desk itself. It’s a shape that works, because it makes it much easier to keep one’s paperwork within easy reach.
I guess there must be about a million ways to design a desk, most of them rather pedestrian, but every now and again, someone comes up with a design that just blows your socks off. And that’s the sort of design that sets the bar for the rest of us. Either start designing at that level or look for another line of work, which is what explains the appeal of cabinetmaking to a guy like me!
Joseph
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One Response to “Ceccotti Collezioni FURNITURE”
October 19th, 2008 at 6:53 PM
Hey Joy,
Love the desk. Tried to follow the link without success. Do you know where this came from?
Thanks
Phil