Cherry Executive Desk

Cherry is a wood that keeps changing after you take delivery of it. It starts pale and honey-coloured, and over years of light it darkens into something closer to russet. A cherry desk is never quite the piece that arrived, which is a good reason to build one carefully.

This one is mid-century in its proportions and plain in its detailing. The corners are finger-jointed and left visible, picked out by a fine light line along the seam, so the structure of the case becomes the only ornament it carries. The top does not stop at the end of the desk. It rolls over the corner and carries on down the side, so the grain turns with it.

Nothing on the front protrudes. Each pull is ebony, set into a shallow hollow carved out of the drawer front, which keeps the face of the desk flat while still giving the fingertips an edge to find. The drawers are soft-close and their bottoms are lined in genuine leather, so the inside of the desk gets the same attention as the outside.

A desk on this design can be built in a range of domestic and exotic hardwoods. Walnut makes it darker and more formal, white oak plainer and more architectural. Quotes move with the species, the finish and the timeline, which is why the first conversation is usually about the room rather than the wood.