A One-of-a-Kind Front Doo

Those in the know are familiar with the furniture maker Toyomoku. Their Upright Chair — designed to protect children’s posture — is something we’ve sold a lot of at Zakka Revo.
Now meet the PEONIA. Designed by the same designer, Asakura-san, who created the Upright.

What’s interesting about it? The concept is simple.

Japanese dining chairs have traditionally been designed to international standards — built for people around 175cm tall. The standard table height is 70cm. But what happens when a shorter person sits in a chair designed for that height? Their heels don’t touch the floor. The backrest doesn’t fit. And most people don’t even realize it — they just sit there, vaguely uncomfortable, vaguely tired.
Sit in a PEONIA, and you’ll get it immediately. “Ah — this chair was made for me.”
The name has a nice story too. It comes from a Japanese saying: “Standing, she’s a peony; sitting, she’s a tree peony; walking, she’s a lily.” PEONIA is the Latin name for tree peony. Pretty clever, right?
And this April, a new model arrives: the “PEONIA 147” — designed for people from 147cm tall. Same shape, same concept, just sized to fit even smaller frames.
Zakka Revo is on winter break, but we’ll be launching PEONIA when we reopen in April.

Working on a front door for a client who believes in more of everything — a real luxury entrance door.
The door panel itself is done. Now comes the hardware installation: hinges, doorknob, lever handle, and more.
This is nothing like factory mass production. Each piece of hardware is hand-chiseled into the hard wood, one by one, using chisels and various other tools.
It’s far more painstaking than it looks. Just fitting the hinges and attaching the lever handle — that alone takes more than a full day.
And since this is a one-of-a-kind piece, one slip of the hand and it’s ruined. An incredibly high-stress job.

Like this — the hinge fits perfectly into the door.
But lately, there’s a problem. My presbyopia has gotten bad and I can’t see close up clearly. For the first time in my life, I’ve had to wear reading glasses while working. The indignity of it.
I suppose it’s a sign that my time is running out. Next month I turn 64. An old man.

Turned out beautifully.
The front door is the face of the home — it matters.

About 70mm thick. Warm and solid.

Something like this is the image.
Almost identical to the front door we made for the Misawa Home collaboration project a couple of years ago.