Thinking about buying Herman Miller products? Starting June 4th, 2010 and continuing through June 14th, 2010, all Herman Miller for The Home products including the work of Eames, Nelson, Noguchi and others are 15% off at many retailers.

Plan ahead and take advantage of this semi-annual sale. Some products are customizable and you can order free swatches at a retailer like SmartFurniture.com.

Also, if you register at Ebates.com and follow their link when shopping, you may be eligible for extra cash back – find out how here: I can’t guarantee cash back for all items, but it won’t hurt to try I am a member of Ebates since 2001 and earned $271.19 in cash back! For example, you get 3% cash back shopping at Design Within Reach using Ebates.

Aqua Sky Armchair with Eiffel Legs

The Eames molded plastic chairs were first introduced in 1948. They were the first industrially mass produced one-piece plastic chairs. Originally, the shells were made with fiberglass-infused plastic. Today’s Eames molded plastic chairs are manufactured with more environmentally friendly materials, 100% recyclable polypropylene. The chairs are even more environmentally friendly now that they are made in the United States to reduce their manufacturing carbon footprint.

Java Shell Chair with Dowel Legs

Charles and Ray Eames’ clean, simple, and enduring design have been loved by many since they were first introduced more than 60 years ago. Good design is timeless – The Eames molded plastic chairs perfectly fit in the category.

Available at:

Some people had asked me to post more detailed instructions, so here it is – I did my best. This is not a carpentry blog, so please forgive me if the instructions are somewhat vague…

Caution before you tackle this project:

• If you have a question, please feel free to contact me. However, I am not a professional furniture builder – I may not be able to answer questions that are too technical.
• I am not sure how strong this bed will be in the long run.
• If you don’t have basic carpentry skills, find someone who does to help you.
• I cannot be responsible if the bed doesn’t turn out right for you.

Instructions:

1. Build a support (bottom) frame – this part will not show once the bed is complete

a. Lay four (4) 2 x 6 pieces flat and attach (screw) them together with wood glue and four (4) metal braces.

b. Attach (screw) three (3) 2 x 4 pieces inside of the 2 x 6 frame with wood glue and five (5) metal braces for additional support.

c. Attach all eight (8) legs.

d. Attache two (2) L-shaped metal braces for a headboard. Attach while the bottom frame is still upside down. You will need to prop the bottom frame up to do this. Leave an enough space for the headboard to slide in (between the support frame and corner of the braces).

e. Flip the bottom frame once the glue is dry.

2. Attach (glue and screw) the top frame to the support (bottom) frame – the top frame is the visible part of the bed. The side and foot pieces overhangs by 2″ – be sure to screw where the mattress covers the screw holes. Use clamps!

3. Attach (glue and screw) slats to the support (bottom) frame.

4. Fill the screw holes with wood filler, sand and stain the top frame. Follow manufacturer’s instruction.

5. Headboard

a. I used iron-on oak veneer edge banding for edges. I then sanded and stained before attaching it to the body.

b. Attach the headboard. Be sure to use the short screws for the upper part of the L-shaped braces (so they don’t go through to the other side). Screw (with longer screws) into the support (bottom) frame as well.

6. Finished product.

Material List:
This material list is to make a queen size bed that measures 64” W x 82” L. You may need to make adjustments according to your needs and the size of your mattress.

You should be able to obtain all the materials locally except the hairpin legs. You will need to order the legs from hairpinlegs.com. These legs are made to order, so I recommend ordering them ahead of a time.

You will need a lot of different kind/size screws. I cannot remember exactly what kind/size of screws I used. All I can say is that you would want to use the strongest/longest screws possible for maximum support. If you are not sure what kind/size of screws you need, please consult with a store associate (good luck!) where you are purchasing your materials.

For the Support (bottom) Frame:
The support (bottom) frames measures 58” W x 79” L. The top frame will over hang the bottom frame by 2” on each side and foot of the bed.

* 2 – 79” 2 x 6
* 2 – 47” 2 x 6
* 1 – 68” 2 x 4
* 2 – 22″ 2 x 4
* 9 – 10” metal braces
* Screws to attach the metal braces
* 6 to 8 – 8” Hairpin legs (only four legs are visible from outside – I used four hairpin legs and four wooden legs, but I recommend using the same type of legs because it can be hard to match the height of the two different kind of legs)
* Screws to attach the hairpin legs
* 2 – 10” L-shaped metal braces to attach a headboard
* Screws to attach the L-shaped braces to the support frame

L Shape Brace

For the Top Frame:
* 1 – 64” 1 x 6 red oak board
* 2 – 76 ½” 1 x 6 red oak board
* 1 – 52 ½” 1 X 3 red oak board
* Screws

For the Slats:
* 11 – 52.5” 1 x 4 (you may need more/less 1 x 4s depending on your spacing between slats)
* Screws

For the Headboard:
* 1 – 22” x 64” Furniture grade oak plywood – I cut a notch on each side (bottom)
* Screws to attach the headboard to the L-shaped metal braces which are already attached to the support frame
* Iron-on oak veneer edge banding

Tools:
*Drill
*Saw
*Clamps
*Wood glue
*Tape measure
*Pencil
*Carpenter’s square
*Sanding block or paper (150 grit)
*Wood filler
*Safety glasses
*Wood stain of your choice and tools recommended for applying the stain

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Listing Pricing Information (as of February 2010):
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Items between $250 and $800 – $8
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For more information, visit Lushpad website.

Hairpin Legs by Ian Maclean

Ian is a fifth generation cabinet maker and metal fabricator. He uses his expert eye for detail, design, and style to create custom furniture pieces and hardware for his customers around the world. All of his products are handmade, using only the highest quality materials. Ian offers hairpin legs in many sizes to suit your needs. He also offers the hairpin legs with the third rod, which are stiffer than the traditional hairpin legs. If you need a table top to match the legs, he offers it as well! If you would want to give mid century modern flair to your DIY furniture, be sure to visit Ian’s website, hairpinlegs.com. You won’t be disappointed!

Her Side

My plan was to use the leftover oak plywood sheet from the bed project. When I bought the 4’ x 8’ sheet at a local hardware store, I had them cut into pieces. For legs, I used a set of vintage hairpin legs I already had. Each nightstand would have a storage space with a door and a separate storage area for books and/or knick-knacks. Surprisingly, building the nightstands was harder than building the bed. The measurements had to be super precise – unlike the bed, 1/16 of an inch difference made a difference! I measured twice, but still cut twice (if not more)… The hardest part was fitting and attaching the doors. No matter what I did, the doors were crooked. It was hard to evenly space the doors top and bottom without leaving too much/less gaps. I was so frustrated that I even thought of just gluing it onto the body.

His Side

We stained the body with the same color as the bed. We wanted the doors to be something different, so we bought a colored stain called “Mandarin Orange.” We thought the color would tie into the color of the wall application. The color of the doors didn’t really turn out as we wanted it to be though. It looks more red than orange… After attaching the knobs, the color didn’t bother me too much. I am happy that now I have a pair of matching nightstands that fit our needs – and they are one of a kind no one else has

My First Eames Fiberglass Chair

Now that I learned how to restore the Eames fiberglass shell chairs, I decided to tackle another project. I was going to restore one of the two orange arm shells I purchased online a few years ago. I have been using one with a rocker base and the other with an Eiffel base. After the purchase, I used a fiberglass cleaner designed for boats to clean and polish them. They were not as shiny as I wanted them to be, so I decided to try the restoration method I learned from a website called “chairfag.com” to restore the fiberglass back to its original luster. It’s a really good website that walks you through an arm shell shock mount removal and fiberglass restoration with a lot of pictures. If you are planning to restore your shell chair, you should definitely check it out.

Sanding the Chair

I set up a working area outside, since it requires a wet sanding. I pulled a garden hose and filled the bottom of my chair with water. Gearing up with a safety glasses, a mask and a pair of thick vinyl gloves, I started to sand the chair with a fine sanding block. With the garden hose, I wet the area as I sanded to prevent fiberglass dust from getting all over the place. There were some tiny paint spots on my chair I didn’t notice before. I got rid of them by sanding the chair as well.

Cleaning the Chair

Once I sanded the entire chair, I rinsed it with water and gave it a sponge bath with Oxyclean to remove the embedded dirt as much as possible. Then I let it air dry.

Applying Penetrol

The next step was to coat the chair with a product called “Penetrol” that I picked up at Home Depot. To do this, I moved the working area to my porch. The porch was a perfect spot as it was well ventilated and had a minimum effect from the wind and dust. Penetrol is an oil paint conditioner that is also used to restore fiberglass. I first applied the coat to the bottom of the chair and let it set for a few hours. I then attached the base, flipped the chair over and applied Penetrol to the rest of the chair.

Before

The chair is now shiny and looks much better than it was.

After

Disclaimer – this post is just to share my experience and not intended as a tutorial to restore your chair. If you are restoring your chair, I would recommend you research well before tackling your restoration project.

Modernica Case Study V-Leg Bed

I have an eleven-year-old dog named Cid with a back problem. He has a hard time jumping up on our bed – so I decided it was time to do something… Get a platform bed! I have always wanted a George Nelson Case Study Bed with hairpin legs (v-legs). Needless to say, the original piece is out of reach, but Modernica sells reproductions for around $1,500 (queen size). I think $1,500 is not a lot of money for a nice bed – the question is… Do I want to pay $1,500 for a bed? Not really – so I started to explore my options. I searched online to see if there were any other styles – yes, but nothing within my budget. Then I started to think all these platform beds were so simple that I could build one myself. I have never tackled building furniture, so let this be the first one!

Hairpin Legs

I researched many sources and decided to make a platform bed with slats. My original idea was to make a platform bed using a plan in Todd Oldham’s book called Handmade Modern. I could make the platform part according to the plan using four plywood pieces and attach some hairpin legs instead of the pipe legs in the book. Then, I read somewhere that putting a mattress on a solid surface prevents it from breathing, thus resulting in mold growth underneath the mattress. Yuk! I cannot let my dog (and us) sleep on the moldy mattress!

For the body, I would use some 2x6s and 2x4s (for the support frame), oak boards (for the top frame), and 1x4s (for slats). The headboard would be cut from a 4×8 furniture grade oak plywood sheet. I could then use the rest to build two nightstands. For legs, I would use four 8” stainless steel hairpin legs and four wooden legs. Four wooden legs would be attached inner part of the bed where you could not see.

DIY Case Study Style Bed Materials

I bought all the materials local except the hairpin legs. I made my reluctant husband help me build a Case Study style platform bed one weekend… He was fine with the old bed – but I convinced him that Cid could hurt his back worse trying to jump on the bed that was too high for him. After all, Cid was his precious angel, too.

Slats are going in...

First we put the support frame together – four pieces of 2x6s were attached together with wood glue and steel braces. Inside of the frame, we attached some 2x4s for additional support. Then we attached all the legs and flipped the frame over to attach the top frame. Since this would be the only visible part of the platform, we chose red oak boards. We then attached 11 slats that hold our mattress.

Finished Product

The headboard was cut from a 4×8 oak plywood sheet. The widest oak board available was 12 inches which was too narrow to attach to the support frame. Modenica Case Study Bed uses three L shaped braces to attach the headboard to the platform body. Instead of using the L shaped braces, I cut the plywood 22″ x 64″ with two notches on each side and attached it directly to the support frame. Then, we attached the two steel braces (behind the headboard) for additional support. We stained the top frame and headboard with “honey” colored stain.

Not too bad, huh?

We spent about $350 for the materials. We are pretty happy and proud with how it turned out. The bed feels pretty sturdy and the height is just right. The only regret is that when we are standing up, we cannot see the hairpin legs very well – but Cid no longer has problem getting up on the bed and that’s all that matters!

The Eames Lounger is a fine example. Originally produced in 1956 the Eames Lounge Chair is now considered one of the 20th century’s most significant furniture designs. In 1991, Herman Miller stopped using rosewood in the construction of the Eames Lounger, as it is a non-sustainable, endangered wood. Now the Eames Lounger is made using cherry and walnut from sustainably managed forests. Twenty-nine percent recyclable, the Eames Lounge Chair is made up of 24 percent recycled materials.

 
As a company, Herman Miller is serious about its commitment to corporate sustainability. Herman Miller’s Design for Environment team (DfE) carefully applies environmentally safe design standards to both new and classic pieces throughout the Herman Miller’s product catalog.

 
Another major player in the modern furniture industry, Knoll, has also been re-tooling some of its most well known pieces. Originally designed in 1948 by Eero Saarinen, the latest incarnation of the Womb Chair is GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified. Since the late 70s when Knoll hired a full-time environmental engineer, the company has been focused on producing high quality products with minimal impact on the environment.

 
In 2003, GREENGUARD certification was achieved for all KnollStudio seating as well as all KnollTextiles. Additionally, by 2005, more than 90 percent of the wood used to make all Knoll composite board products contained an average of 93-percent post-industrial material. With the eco-friendly trend gaining momentum like it has been over the past few years, it seems likely that more furniture manufacturers will follow suit. It just goes to show that a good design is a sustainable design.

Article submitted by Jamie Sward

SmartFurniture.com also offers free shipping on many of their products, so you can save even more money. While you are at it, don’t forget to request a free catalog filled with pages of new products and ideas for your modern home. Take advantage of this amazing discount – there is no better time to buy an iconic design you have always wanted!