The trappings of 20th century Americana are frequently evoked in Ted Boerner's furniture: a Lucite table that resembles a 1940s juice tumbler, a sleek upholstered chaise with the silhouette of a folding pool lounger, a dining table with a Lincoln Log like base. Ted Boerner's childhood summers in rural Wisconsin were filled with midcentury modernist inspiration, much of which stemmed from his grandfather's rustic log cabin. Outfitted with Eames chairs, a hand built modern staircase and a tangible patina of historical vitality, it was a setting steeped in the same simplicity and well-wrought comfort that Boerner has become known for in his furniture designs.
As a former theatre and dance student at the University of West Virginia, Boerner developed an intuitive sense of the body and the space it occupies an awareness that would later lend his furniture designs their genial angles and careful proportions. After a shift in academic focus, he earned his BFA in theatre design and continued in the field as a grad student at NYU. Returning to his home turf of Wisconsin, Boerner worked as a production designer for a classical repertory theatre with which he traveled extensively, designing sets and costumes for a myriad of productions. Read more >