Acrylics rise to the top in design sophistication

"Plastic furniture" means different things to different people.

In some circles it can conjure images of backyard chairs from the grocery store.

But to Patrick Pease, using plastic for furniture and other home furnishings is the height of customization and sophistication - something that fits well in a Riverwoods home with works by famed glass artist Dale Chihuly.

"Display work is our specialty. We come up with different ways no one would think about," the owner of Pease Plastics said. He pointed to a panel - a bas relief sculpture of a reclining woman - that he inserted into a headboard. "Automatically you would think that piece would go on a wall. Heck no."

From chairs and tables to kitchen cabinet doors, display cases, headboards and you name it, Pease designs and fabricates clear acrylic furniture and other elements for the home.

The most striking piece in the Riverwoods home is a huge, open great room display unit with clear shelves connected by vertical bars of red, blue, turquoise, green and yellow jewel tones. Thin pieces of colored acrylic are laminated on the posts to make them look like solid color.

A kitchen cabinet door was hand chiseled to create a graphic inspired by the homeowner's design for the glass countertop. Pease notes there are things you can do with acrylic that you can't with the heavier glass.

Visitors can't miss the clear round spindles in the curving staircase. And behind it stands another surprise - a 3-inch-thick panel with a pattern reminiscent of florals or water hides the view of a hallway.

"It was supposed to be clear," said Pease, "but there was a chemical reaction so the foundry asked me if I could take the sheet and make something of it."

Make something he did, an important feature in the house.

"I buy acrylic from one-sixteenth to 12 inches thick and everywhere in between," said Peace. "We design something and make it. We have a fabrication shop and showroom in Glenview."

Acrylic is tougher than you might think, said Pease, and scratches can be polished out of pieces like a table top. Travelers love boxes and stands custom-made for artifacts they bring home.

Pease admits his work is not inexpensive, but prices vary considerably. It is custom work and reflects the concepts of a designer, architect or creative homeowner, he points out. A table could cost $400 to $20,000, said Pease, and artwork is available starting in the hundreds and up to $50,000.

"The showroom is to give people ideas," he said. "They might see a floating end table and say it won't work exactly that way, but it can be adapted."

•Contact Pease Plastics at (847) 901-4440 or through its website at acrylicland.com.