Design a Week – 9/52

For Love Potion submission #9, I’ve strayed slightly from human furniture. The inspiration, nay impetus, for this entry is my beloved Old English Bulldog – Ditka:

Ditka already owns the couch under the front windows of the house.  He has recently started to scout a position on the couch downstairs, so in an effort to reclaim my padded sofas, I wanted to create a bed just for him:

Put a nice pillow/cushion in this and I think we have quite the place to call home. I know what some of you are thinking – “FINALLY, some curves!” Don’t worry, I’ll get back to nothing but straight lines in the next sketch.  I felt like the curved tops to the legs add a few dimensions.  First, they keep the pieces from looking like a topless box.  Second, they help open the top and make it feel bigger than it actually is.  The feeling I was going for was a tropical throne with palm branches at the corners.

To go with that tropical throne theme, I have a couple of alternate additions to the bed. First, curves to match the legs in the center of the back:

Second, a handle to connect the front and rear legs on each side:

I could go either way with adding either of these details to the final piece. In addition to those possibilities, I need to figure out how I want to make the flat sides.  The curved legs are thicker than the sides, so I could center the sides on the legs, rather than have them flush to the outer edge. That would make the joinery a little easier, because I could use the whole board as the tenon rather than having to cut the tenon at the ends. I may have just talked myself into it!