Hall Table Design!

I recently received a commission for a Hall Table. The dimensions were specific for a location the client had in mind. The top had to be below 41 in. long. I factored stability into the design and made the top 12 3/4 in. wide. This is to avoid any tipping over situations. The only other design criteria was the type of wood. The wood was to be Maple and I literally had carte blanche to come up with a design. After some sketching, pencil art, I decided no two variations each with a different aesthetic. One deign was conservative, the other bolder. One Hall Table design had straight vertical legs much like a conventional table. The other had splayed or angled legs, a more contemporary and unique design. Of course this is likely to have been done before, but my twist was the addition of (2) Cherry reinforcing rails at the bottom to lock the stand together. I selected Cherry to provide some contrast to the lighter Maple used throughout.

After careful grain selection, I located some boards with some nice straight grain. The top was glued together in halves with careful attention to the grain. I was seeking minimal grain clash and the simplest grain to not draw attention to the grain and instead the top. This also applied to the stand itself. The focal point was to the be angled legs and wide, clear top. The majority of components have straight grain, especially the outward facing upper and lower aprons, and legs.

The design and build were a success with few problems encountered. The angle of the legs was determined by mocking up a leg against the hall table top and measuring from center to the outermost tip at the bottom. I did not want the tip to exceed the width of the table top but a few inches shorter. This always with stability in mind, both along the length and the width of the table. The bottom Cherry rails were purposely left long during the build and were trimmed at the very end to provide an interesting, unique aesthetic.