a claro walnut slab headboard bed

we finished this fun project yesterday for a client in northern vermont ... the headboard is 

a +/- 48 x 100" slab of claro walnut.  the design is based on the bed below

 that we made a few years ago for a client in florida.

we started, as usual with a cad drawing and a mockup .. click the photos to enlarge them ..

the client accepted the concept and we were on our way ..

in this photo, we've got the plywood box for the platform and the ventilated ply tops cut. 

in the end, we cover the ply boxes with dark stained walnut and edge the plywood with the same material ... in this photo we are locating the boxes prior to drilling holes in the slab for the carriage bolts that secure the boxes to the slab.

the boxes were cut from continuous pieces of claro so that the mitered grain of the boxes matched as it went around the corners.  they looked really slick ..

we added our custom cast patinated brass diamond pulls to the drawers and we were good to go.

the slab will be hung on the wall at the clients home using the same system of 'french cleats' that we used on the first bed .. here's a link to that blog post where you can see how that works ..

photographing projects like these is always a challenge due to their size, but with a little photoshopping to remove the background clutter, you can get an acceptable 'record' image.  

not quite like the recent photo in the times of a new york city bed.  that one has a new york city price on it too.our version is a bit less in price.  neither of these are original ideas.  i had a client/friend visit the shop yesterday, and his parents had an (according to him) identical bed, only with a glued up rather than one piece headboard.  he remembered them having it in the 60s at least, maybe earlier. 

recylce, reuse ...

for more images of our claro walnut and other furniture please 

see the slide shows in the previous blog post ..

note below from the client enclosed with the final payment ...