Designing A Rocking Chair

I love designing furniture and then seeing it through from hand sketch all the way to finished piece of functioning furniture in a client's home. I created a range of easy chairs that I called the Layan Range (Layan is the beach in the north of Phuket that I love to go with my family on free days) My inspiration for the furniture was from the tropical environment that is my home here in Phuket. Each chair is unique and I travelled back and forth to China to get the prototypes done as at the time I felt that was more economical than trying to do them in our own factory. Once we have the prototypes done we can then easily replicate and improve on them in our own factory under the close eye of my partner Torben.

First up is the Rocking Chair - I love this chair and its fast becoming our most popular easy chair. Rocking Chairs appeal to everyone and this is the first one I created and I just love it too. We have experimented with different kinds of wood and different seat coverings....

Next up was this oversize occasional chair that I'm deciding on a name for. I love that it doesn't conform to any preconceptions or boring rules about how a chair should look like. Its awkward and heavy and not something you would like to eat dinner in or work at your computer in. But having a pair of them in a living space of your home or perhaps in a lobby of a hotel I think is very nice...

This next one I nicknamed Indy's Armchair because my friend Indy insisted on a pair of them for her home and they were the first of the range that actually were put into a client's home. I love the shape of it and the way the arms kind of float about the seat. I used a very nice shiny corduroy type fabric for the upholstery and it turned out very unique. I love it!

Not every chair turns out the way I wanted it and this next one just never could be the way I imagined it. We tried and tried but in the end I just never liked it. I don't mind though because that's just how it goes with furniture design and it's important to know when to stop and move on to something else - I simply don't have time to spend days and weeks fidgeting over a single chair design. Too many other things going on! We nicknamed this baby the Ugly Chair...:)

This chunky blue chair I love because it's just so comfortable and its appeal is in its simplicity and comfort. When you sit in this chair it just feels perfect - the ratios are correct which is important from a comfort and functionality standpoint. I love the fabric we chose and the cushioning is soft and luxurious. I call it simply the Blue Chair.

This last pair of chairs (there's many more but I think you may be getting bored by now) I made in three colours and once again experimented with this rounded wooden frames. These are in imitation leather because of the prohibitive expense of using real leather for the prototypes but I think in the future we may experiment with leather. I love the way the back rest cushioning is incorporated in the upholstery and it looks and feels like a very cool piece. I think it would work very well in a cafe or wine bar - so here's me having a glass of wine!