Best known for his work with molded plywood and prefabricated housing, Norman Cherner served as a distinct American furniture designer. Cherner was born in 1920 and studied and taught at the Columbia University in its fine arts department. He also an instructor at the Museum of Modern Art in New York from 1947 to 1949, which allowed him to learn about the Bauhaus movement and explore multidisciplinary design.

At this point, Cherner focused on designing affordable furniture specifically for low-cost modular dwellings and explored his theories in several books, including 1953's "Make Your Own Modern Furniture" and 1954's "How to Build Children's Toys and Furniture." Cherner constructed one of his first prefabricated houses in 1957 for the U.S. Department of Housing. The house was displayed in Vienna and returned to Connecticut and uncrated to become his first home and studio.

In addition, Cherner created Plycraft, a Massachusetts-based manufacturing company that led to the design of the "Cherner Chair" in 1958. The chair offered a mix of style and function and became exceedingly popular following the creation of Norman Rockwell's 1961 painting "The Artist at Work," which featured an image of the chair. The Cherner Chair was rarely seen outside of art galleries and museums, however. Cherner died in 1987, but in 1999, Cherner's sons Benjamin and Thomas formed the Cherner Chair Company to mass produce the design of the Cherner Chair. This ultimately led to the creation of the "Cherner Table" in 2004 as well.