THE CHANTILLY CHEST: Piano black high gloss lacquer, exquisite pearl silver, plush velvet lined drawers, three dimensional carved lace design, black crystal hardware, and soft close drawers.
Chestnut Grove was at this years 2018 Interior Design Show located in downtown Toronto. The Chestnut Grove Design Team featured this beautiful, and sensual lingerie chest.
“THIS LOVINGLY MADE PIECE OF FURNITURE HAS
BEEN CREATED TO COMPLEMENT AND ECHO THE
SENSUALITY OF ITS CONTENTS ”
FRANCESCO GIAMPIETRO
Inspired by the 500-year history of lace and dedicated to bringing innovative design into the modern home, the artists and craftsmen of Chestnut Grove Design Studio are thrilled to introduce the Chantilly Chest, a lingerie chest-of-drawers with the sensuality of its intimate contents. This unique piece of furniture is decorated with intricate and richly colourful lace patterns recreated in wood. The design is meant to please both the eye, through its arresting visual impact — and the fingers, through its three-dimensional, lace-like texture. “I want that sensation, that experience of lace,” says Chestnut Grove’s Franco Giampietro, the originator of the idea and head of the design team that so vividly brought Chantilly Lace to life after a year of high-tech experimentation in the studio.
Simply put, the Chantilly Chest is a waist-high set of chest-of-drawers designed to hold women’s lingerie. But, of course, nothing is simple about it. Not when the drawers are so precisely sized to hold each type of underclothing, as well as jewelry. Not when the height and overall dimensions of the piece are so female-friendly. And not when the chest is decorated with intricate and richly colourful lace patterns that are recreated in wood and laid over the structure for visual and tactile appeal.
“This lovingly made piece of furniture has been created to complement and echo the sensuality of its contents,” says Francesco Giampietro, principal designer at Chestnut Grove. “Creating lace in wood instead of fabric and using it in this unique manner is a breakthrough for us. It took a year of experimentation in the Design Studio workshop.” Lace, with its delicate web-like design, is about 500 years old, although its exact origins are in dispute. It has long been used to decorate furniture, by careful placement of the lace fabric, and personal clothing, most recently women’s lingerie. Even the Latin which gave rise to the word “lace” refers to a noose and may be used in the context of enticement.
“I was intrigued,” says Francesco. “I wanted to recreate lace through another material and see if we could still have that same sense of sensuality and intimacy that lingerie lace has. We wanted to transfer these feelings over to another medium, in this case to a piece of custom furniture. That was part of the challenge.”
Other people have applied lace over wood furniture as a template for painting lace patterns. “But that is no good to us,” says Francesco, “because that is basically just painting wallpaper on furniture. When I touch lace it is three-dimensional. It has a certain feel to it. I want that sensation, that experience of lace. I want that feeling to be transferred over to my design for the surface of the lingerie chest. I want you to feel the sensation of lace through the fingertips. Design has always involved a deep emotional connection for the person seeing or touching an object — and that connection is obviously both through the visual impact and through the touch.”
To experience the Chantilly Chest in person, visit the studio at 40 Adesso Drive in Vaughan. You can also view the press kit for more information, including photos and the entire story behind the design.
