Best Work from Home Desks

Marengo Secretary from Great South Bay, by Thomas O'Brien for Century

Like many of you, I have been working from home for the last few days.  While my dining room table makes a pretty good makeshift desk, I do rather wish right now that I had a home office complete with one of our Century desks where I could spread out without having to clean up every night.   Right now my dining room table consists of my laptop, a nerf gun (thanks to my 13 year old), a paper collage of the A, B, C's (thanks to my 5 year old), and several handmade letters complete with a box of stamps (again, thanks to my 5 year old).  It isn't sexy, it sure isn't organized or neat, at times it is productive, and at its worst it is a reminder of why I like my office in High Point.

So, I thought what better thing to do right now then shop for my ideal desk.  There are a lot of great ones to choose from and of course many finishes as well.  In no particular order, here are some of my favs from our line up.

Frederick Desk by Carrier & Company for Century, C7A-762

Daysky Desk by Thomas O'Brien for Century, AE9-767

Marengo Secretary by Thomas O'Brien for Century, AEA-786

Hallings Secretary by Thomas O'Brien for Century, AEA-765

Illusion Desk by Windsor Smith for Century, I39-762

Corso Desk, C19-761

Teri Desk by Thomas O'Brien for Century, AEA-760

Baltimore Desk by Charlotte Moss for Century, I29-763

Links Desk from our Grand Tour Collection, SF5686

Milan Writing Desk, 849-761

Vienna India Desk, C39-762

And now, because you are still reading this, a picture of my working desk. Again, not glamorous, not sexy, but real and working.

Our New Details Custom Chest Collection

It's all in the details, and Century's newest collection by the same name, is about exactly that. You get to choose the details that go into making your furniture. We have created this configurable casegoods collection to give you options when creating your furniture.  All built in our factory in North Carolina, Details promises personalization made with Century's uncompromising construction standards and quality, and made quickly. Just for you.

You choose your case size and style (drawers or doors), decide how you want the drawer/door front to look, select from a range of base/leg styles, add your choice of hardware and decide its finish and placement, and then select your stain or paint finish. Designed by you, Made by Century. The possibilities are endless!

Here is an example of one chest and how differently you can style it!

 

 

Learn more about our Details collection by going on our website (in fact, you can virtually build your own piece on our new Details visualizer) or by going to an authorized Century Dealer near you.

"Design Embellisments" CEU Presentation with RJ Thomas LTD

In September, RJ Thomas LTD hosted the presentation "Design Embellishments" in the Michigan Design Center. Our Casegoods Manager, Chad Phillips, shared his experience presenting to trade members with us. He discussed a variety of topics including casegood construction, solid wood and veneers, finishing, waxing, striping, and ways one could embellish Century Furniture.

The CEU consisted of many hands-on demonstrations, which gave designers the opportunity to see the actual process behind applying gold leafs, dry-brushing, distressing techniques, and hand wax. Chad passed around samples of gold leaf, showing how delicate the leaf actually is and the difficulties that come with applying it.

Chad's favorite moment from the CEU was seeing the reaction of the attendees when they learned or saw something that they have never thought about or just simply did not know. It was exciting to see that the audience's eyes were captivated by raw veneer and its naturally, beautiful wood grains and colors. It's a different experience when you are able to see what goes into creating a unique and custom piece of furniture. There is no better way to explain it than to actually be able to touch and feel the various types of veneers and hand waxing options.

Thanks Chad for teaching such an important CEU and helping designers learn more about casegoods! Thank you to RJ Thomas LTD for hosting us and giving us the opportunity to present.

From the Factory- July and August 2013

A lot has been happening in the factories this summer. We are seeing lots of projects coming in, and I dare say that people out there are really learning the art of living with color.  There is nothing more exciting to our team than to see pieces come down the finish line in finishes that we have not thought of using. It even inspires us to replicate it and show it to all of our buyers and designers at the next High Point market.

So if you have an order coming through with a spectacular finish combination, just keep your eyes out as you may just see us showcase it come October! Until then, enjoy these shots...

779-224 from New Traditional Collection in Apple Green

T29-621 from Timberlake Home Collection in Buttercup

599-305 from Consulate Collection in Black

599-401 from Consulate Collection in Zeppelin

699-203-2 from Chin Hua in a custom combination finish

419-223 from Paragon Collection in slate gray

559-208 from Omni Collection in Prairie and Platinum combination

And my personal favorite, 779-202 from New Traditional Collection in Sapphire!

Behind the Scenes: Mesa Photoshoot

Recently, our designers, marketing team, and photographers joined up for an on location photo shoot for our newest collection, Mesa. Mesa was introduced last April market and has a unique look that really needed the perfect home for photography. We found just the home! 

We packed up the trucks with.. 

2 dining tables 

12 dining chairs 

1 sectional 

2 consoles 

4 chairs 

1 bed 

1 bench 

5 occasional tables 

boxes and boxes of accessories! 

Rounded up the team..

1 photographer 

4 grips

2 designers 

2 marketing folks 

2 adorable dogs (they belonged to the homeowners!)

We arrived to the home with our work cut out for us. We had a lot of furniture to shoot and rooms to set up! Once we got there, we started first thing and unloaded the truck.

Before we can begin loading our furniture in the home, we have to move the homeowners furniture. This involves taking photos of exactly where all of their things are so that we can put them back exactly as they were. Then we begin the set up for our first shot, the bedroom. 

After we set up the room, we look through the lens and make sure the composition of the frame looks good. Once the overall layout of the pieces and the room look great, our designers start styling the room with accessories while the photographer sets up lighting. 

After each shot, we all look at the photo on the computer screen and make sure everything looks perfect.

Dining room set up...Our designer is in the back styling the console piece. This home had beautiful natural lighting and amazing architecture!

After day one of shooting, we are exhausted! Leaving many of the the pieces left to shoot in the home, we are prepared for day two. 

Day two began with the living room. Out with the homeowners furniture, and in with a very large sectional! The room was the perfect size for this shot of living room and dining room. Lighting set, cushions and pillows fluffed, and ready to go!

Checking the screen for anything that needs adjusting!

After another long and productive day, we are finished! We captured some really great photos and it's time to move everything out and back on the trucks.

Look for the new Mesa catalog coming soon to see all the incredible photos we captured. 

From the Factory--January 2013

Hard to believe we are into another year.  Yet, here I sit and January is a day away from being in the past. We have been hard at work in our factories building and finishing some spectacular pieces of furniture that by now are on their way to someone's home.  Looking at them, I truly wish it were my own! 

Enjoy some pictures of what we saw coming down our finishing line this month and remember you can see them all on on our Pinterest board @ http://pinterest.com/centuryfurnitur .

339-624 in Tangerine

339-628 from our Tribeca Collection in Sky finish

339-628 shown in Cloud

339-421 Curio Cabinet from Tribeca shown in a combination of Jet with Silver Leaf on the interior

559-639 Lamp Table from our Omni Collection shown in Garnet

529-602 Turnberry Cocktail Table from our Classics Catalog shown in Sunset

 

From the Factory--December's Sparkling Finishes

This time of year everything seems to sparkle just a little bit more.  People are friendlier, stores try just a little bit harder, and we all take just a little more time to enjoy everything around us.  In our factories we are busy trying to get out all of the holiday deadline orders.  It's amazing how this time of year really makes you focus on home, and making sure it too has that extra sparkle.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to send out a few examples of our sparkling furniture!  I think they are the perfect inspiration for this time of year and hope that you will think so too.

559-176 Omni Wave Bed shown in Platnium

419-703 Paragon Door Chest shown in Old Gold 

419-703 Paragon Door Chest shown in a combination finish with Block Silver leaf doors

599-203 Consul Chest from Consulate shown in our Sapphire finish

Happy Holidays to you all!  May this season sparkle for you and yours.