Designers choice.

|First they said I was crazy'

"Pulaski makes a variety of occasional furniture in many different styles, but back in 1974 when I wanted to fashioned hall tree, the design committee thought I was crazy. They told me that it had been 50 years since people used clothes trees in front halls and foyers. But Bernie Wampler, who was president, said, |If Leonard wants to make a hall tree, let him. |We sold 30,000 the first year.

"The following year, I said to Bernie, |I have an idea for a bedroom and dining room to go with the hall tree' - and that was the start of Pulaski's wonderfully successful Keepsakes reproduction line." (Eisen estimated that some 2 million pieces of Keepsakes have been sold in the past 19 years.)

"The little hall tree gave birth to the return to nostalgia movement that is such a market favorite today. My favorite hall tree is a more sophisticated version from the Apothecary Collection reissued in October 1993. It has elements that represent the entire collection: solid andiroba/mahogany, carved glass, crystal knobs and brass accents."

|Let your imagination run'

"Wicker and rattan are wonderful materials to work with because they are so easy to bend into any shape. You can achieve such interesting arrangements and patterns. You can let your imagination run - there is no limit to what you can do.

"The Penzance group is oversized and comfortable with free flowing lines. These shapes and sweeps were of some concern to the manufacturer, however. He went to the Philippines where the furniture is made and worked out a minor engineering question. This happens all the time in designing furniture. You never know where a problem will come up until you build the prototype.

"The frame is rattan, which is a solid, fibrous jungle vine that is easy to bend with steam or heat, and is tougher than wood. It is wrapped with rattan peel - the skin of the rattan pole - which has been cut by machine into long, flexible ribbons. The wrapping and weaving material is termed wicker."

A team effort

Waxman: "Jack and I agreed that the 1600 dining room group we designed for Fairmont about five years ago is our favorite. It was quite unique at the time because of the bent glass in the china, the pearlized finish and clear, acrylic hardware. We also like the curved doors of the base.

"In our office, we sit only ten feet apart, so we can bounce ideas back and forth as we develop a design. When a client has an unusual styling request, we've found that two heads really are better than one. The Fairmont design occurred because the client requested a contemporary dining room with a pedestal base table."

Schmitt: "The manufacturer's machinery also influences what we design. Each factory has its own capabilities, and we have to be aware of what the machinery can do. That keeps us on our toes. Our job is to come up with new designs within specified styles and budget parameters."

Walnut from 100-year-old trees

"The Mendocino dining table was designed for KMW Furniture Makers in 1983. Its top and base are 6/4 California walnut. The wood was supplied by Jim French of California Wood Products who had a passion for milling lumber from these 100-year-old trees. They were being used for firewood until Jim discovered them in the Central Valley. The wood is a hybrid, with the root system of a California black walnut, onto which was grafted a nut-bearing English walnut.

"This design was based on the Greene and Greene |elegant craftsman bungalow' style, and assembly was by the customer using die-cast, threaded-insert RTA construction. It could be shipped UPS in four cartons.

An oak version sold well, and the walnut version sold well to unfinished furniture dealers, but not to end customers. I suspect that at the time, walnut was not part of what retail customers were seeking in unfinished furniture stores. However, I bought one, and it is in our dining room today, as beautiful as ever."

Familiar, yet different

"I believe every piece of furniture should incorporate some memory of the past. My challenge to myself was to create a chair with a familiar look, yet make it different. I wanted it to be simple, and to carry recognizable characteristics of the past.

"I was influenced by the English and American Arts & Crafts movement, particularly Charles Rennie MacIntosh, in creating this custom chair. It has a typical spindle back, and from head on, it looks absolutely straight. But from the side, you can see its graceful S-curve and scrolled seat edge. Arched stretchers add to the bodismo movement."