“I think chairs have so much personality, and a way of silently communicating a feeling,” says furniture designer Michael Gilling, of Xylo Woodcraft. “Like Van Gogh’s empty-chair paintings, holding the presence of a person who no longer sits there.”
Gilling started Xylo eight years ago. He produces everything from custom furniture to bespoke fitouts – you might remember the kitchen he designed and built for the Heathcote Valley House by Pac Studio, which won the Colour, Craft and Detail category in last year’s Here Awards.
Over the years, he’s made lots of one-off pieces of furniture, but never a product to his own design. “Each time, I’d craft an item, figuring it out as I went,” he says, “never setting in stone the best way to put something together. This chair is the culmination of that work, focussed into replication.”
Enter the Ritual chair, a classic wooden lounge seat designed to become a favourite part of your daily ritual – a spot to return to each day. It’s comfortable, with wide arms big enough to hold a cup of coffee – “a balance of simple lines, small details and a fingerprint of craft”, says Gilling. Available in white oak or black walnut, it’s customisable in two fabric choices.
The design started on a Post-it note, and went through several refinements and iterations. Initially, Gilling designed a solid-timber chair, with a cushion on a solid base, before he switched to a fully upholstered seat frame for comfort – combined with a hand-finished scallop in the backrest, which is “a way of leaving my fingerprint on it, and something imperfect and human”.
It’s a thoughtful piece, with a very deliberate purpose. “I want people to feel at ease, and be invited to sit and engage with the chair,” he says. “The chair holds you to your ritual – hopefully reminding people to breathe and enjoy a quiet moment in their day.”
Ritual chair
Xylo Woodcraft
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