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By: Lee Williams
The popularity of live edge furniture made from reclaimed wood slab lumber is on the rise in commercial office space design. And no wonder. Each piece of live edge furniture is a unique piece of art, made from a one-of-a-kind piece of wood expertly crafted to highlight the natural characteristics of the reclaimed wood slab, including its unique natural grain, knots, voids, and surface imperfections.
Natural wood is having more than a moment in the spotlight for the interior design styles of today’s commercial environments. With the entire world moving at the speed of tech, and the recent global health crisis redefining safe proximity and making people more self-contained, it seems that executives and professionals are meeting their need for natural interaction and the outdoors by setting design landmarks to remind themselves of their humanity. Within the creation/revival of these new and innovative ways to incorporate natural wood and other natural elements in corporate or professional workspace design, one genre is standing a head taller than the rest, and it seems to be making a lasting impression on the market. That genre is live edge.
The recycling movement known as “upcycling” might be feeding the live edge wood design trend. We have noticed the increasing application of rough-sawn barn doors used in modern commercial and residential interiors, and even creative developments in the way these doors are hung to give a custom flair.
This used to signify that purchasers wanted patrons to know how exclusive the door was- but now, that exclusivity can be multiplied by ordering a door made of a live edge slab, with (and sometimes without) epoxy resin.
Another possible explanation is a renewed fascination with wood and its properties as a material. After all, wood is a uniquely sustainable and environmentally-friendly material (when harvested responsibly) that connects us with the beauty of the outside world, while at the same time, reducing our carbon footprint. Indeed, wood seems to have caught the attention of architects and contractors in the modern and sustainable building space.
Our personal favorite reason for a move to natural elements is the health benefit human beings receive from having comfortable, naturally furnished spaces to work in. Our place of work/business is usually a high-stress environment for us, where we are expected to manage our emotions, regulate our functions, and compensate for our difficulties independently. Having items in your surrounding vicinity that ground you, and help you to focus on the natural process of thinking, deciding, doing, assessing, and improving becomes an important tool in your arsenal- sometimes as important as the tools you directly use to do your job.
The renaissance in live edge popularity is also fueled by the taste sensibilities of the Millennial generation. Not only do they love plants to be present in their interior design for the aforementioned reasons, but they are also busy rediscovering the great furniture designers of the mid-century modern design period. Charles and Ray Eames, famous for their bent plywood furniture creations, and George Nakashima, the Japanese-American master of live edge furniture design were two influential designers from the time period. Nakashima, especially, popularized the use of live edge and highlighted its presence as a staple in American design as far back as the Colonial period.
Nakashima’s live edge furniture designs highlight the natural features of reclaimed wood slabs by emphasizing the features that are usually hidden from view (by careful sawing at the lumberyard), such as natural bark surfaces, as well as internal voids caused by stresses, knots, etc.
Born in Spokane, Washington in 1905, Nakashima earned his Master’s in Architecture at MIT, then he traveled the world before moving Japan during the 1930s, where he worked for one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural collaborators in Tokyo. In his explorations of Japan, Nakashima was able to experience firsthand the Japanese design aesthetic known as wabi-sabi, which celebrates natural defects and variations in materials (in contrast to the prevailing Western design aesthetic that promotes uniformity and perfection.)
At Sovereign, we take personal interest in styles and aesthetics that celebrates anomalies in nature and human genius and creativity in finding ways to use and interact with our environment. We also admire Japanese architecture, for its genius use of space and simplicity. Naturally, we found ourselves falling in love with the design styles that incorporate these ideals, and the manifestation of these natural developments has become that our company specializes in a few wabi-sabi inspired aesthetics and elements.
The same wabi-sabi aesthetic influenced Nakashima's work as a wood sculptor and furniture maker throughout his career. By carefully selecting reclaimed wood slab pieces, Nakashima was able to make one-of-a-kind furniture pieces that are wildly collectible today. (If you are interested in an original Nakashima, check out listings on 1st Dibs, the high-end auction site for architects and designers. You’ll find prices can go up the high 5 figures for his live edge wood slabs table and bench designs.)
Given the rarity and cost of original Nakashima furniture, today’s architects and interior office designers looking to incorporate this design aesthetic into their office environments will commission a custom piece of furniture incorporating a reclaimed wood slab. Here are three of the top reasons our customers choose Sovereign to handcraft their live edge furniture projects.
Our custom designs make a bold statement about the exclusivity and echelon of the product or service you offer through the aesthetic of your space:
There’s no question about it. Specifying live edge furniture for the office sends a powerful message about your company and your brand. Live edge furniture is not cheap, it takes patience to acquire properly, and the difficulty of properly accomplishing application is not for the meek craftsman. It makes a powerful, engaging, eye-catching, memorable, and unique statement. If you want clientele to know that you mean business, that you can afford to be in the game you play, or that you are consistent and steadfast in your craft, choose live edge.
Live edge is absolutely on trend, to the point of being at the cutting edge:
Prevailing design trends make live edge furniture the right choice, thanks to its use of unique, one-of-a-kind recycled natural materials that incorporate popular mid-century modern design aesthetics and biophilic design elements. A lot of our clients are staging companies and executives or employees in artistic fields, where creativity and clever re-purposing are appreciated. You're also able to easily personalize or customize a live edge piece through pro decal application, laser engraving, CNC routing, or pyrography, which makes these furnishings a collective branding statement while maintaining functionality.
Style AND Sustainability:
Reclaimed wood slab tables, desks, countertops, and conference tables tell a story about your company’s commitment to sustainable business practices that are hard to ignore. If this is a statement that you want to make, live edge can either be the accent to make the statement for you in a modern and streamlined surrounding, or it can be a centerpiece within an aesthetic that screams "sustainable living" already. Sovereign Customs takes it very seriously to have the opportunity to spread an idea that protects and makes responsible use of what our environment gives freely to us. We know it to be a fact that some of our competitors in this space find their main source of supply by harvesting virgin trees in sensitive forests. We only work with local wood for live edge projects from local American trees that have fallen due to natural causes or been logged responsibly and according to the guidelines of environmental protection.
Live edge furniture design brings you closer to nature and makes you feel like a part of it. — Philip Mayes, Formaspace Wood Shop Foreman
As a full service manufacturer of custom furniture for the industrial and commercial furniture market, Sovereign has the requisite experience and expertise in making durable custom furniture for the office market. Our clients include large and small companies across the country.
Our thorough and personal ordering and quality manufacturing processes make it easy to commission hand-crafted furniture products that will last for years and years.
It’s also important to note that Sovereign has the capacity to scale your custom order as needed. We love to complete large orders for multi-faceted operations, especially in tech, law, finance, and manufacturing... but for an unlimited variety of industries.
We can help you select the ideal wood slab specimen for your live edge furniture project. In fact, we keep a steady inventory selection on hand that you can choose from. We can also search for a unique slab that meets your needs.
To make an informed selection, you’ll want to consider factors such as how the furniture will be used, e.g. whether it will be used as a table, desk, bench, or countertop, and the size required.
The choice of wood species is also important as it affects the overall aesthetics of the project.
Contact Sovereign Customs X Design today, and give as un idea of what we can build for your office or commercial space.
Mastodon: The Sovereign Way is a subsidiary content provider of Sovereign Customs X Design, INC. We post new blogs twice a week about our Makerspace, Creating Custom pieces, Sovereignty, Self-Sufficiency, Off-Grid Living, Hunting, Guns, Motors, and Martial Arts. Visit us at sovereigncustoms.com
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