Home[heim]made Goods
As a designer, I found myself increasingly interested in making my own quality goods. This was partly to offset the frustrations of not being able to find products that fit my personal tastes at a reasonable cost but also as an additional creative outlet to add my own design sensibilities. During an extensive failed search to find an ottoman that would fit in our small apartment, I decided that the only solution would be to design and build one myself. Through the researching process I took a class on leather to learn the basics of working with the material. This class paired with the creative process of producing an original piece from raw materials ignited a new passion for leather making that I hope to share with everyone here. While the immediate result of the ottoman journey was a sleek and modern piece of furniture that fits perfectly in its little nook, the long lasting gift is a new joy for working with leather and sharpening my skills to make quality products to share with others.
This process of making was not without hiccups. The largest constraint, was the smallest of apartments. I had to consider my designs in relation to how they would be produced in a one bedroom apartment. This lead to certain fabrication processes and creative uses of space (bookshelf turned workbench). In the end, this exercise has reinforced the importance of a holistic approach to design and consideration of the smallest details, including the most mundane.
Leathers:
Full-grain leather is the highest quality grade available. Not to be confused with top-grain or "genuine" leather which are sanded or buffed to remove imperfections, full-grain leather includes the hide's top layer, which helps provide durability and additional strength. Because full-grain leather comes with the topmost layer of the hide, it may have slight imperfections and marks that have developed over the course of the animal’s life. These imperfections are natural and part of its overall beauty and make every piece color unique.
