Bookshelves to Ponder

    

How well do you know the objects that were in your room as a child? While trying to get to sleep, how many hours did you spend considering the marks on your ceiling, walls or objects in your room? This bookshelf was designed with those valuable hours in mind. The live-edges, contrasting wood grains and colors bring the gentle complexity of nature into the child's bedroom. The puzzle-like joinery provides the human-element of wonder to this piece. 

Reclaimed Redwood Table and Cupboard

 
          

The young couple who purchased this table came to me with a very New York City situation.  They had just moved into a beautiful one-bedroom apartment, and they were looking for a way to make the kitchen/livingroom feel a bit more like two rooms without sacrificing too much of the valuable space.  The female in the couple is also a very good cook, and she was looking for a bit more storage for her kitchen.  The male in the relationship is a writer, often works from home and was in need of a nice table for these long hours infront of a computer.  We worked together and came up with the design for this table and cupboard combo.  The table provides a place for both of them to work.  It's narrow design breaks up the room, offers a desklike environment for him and great counterspace for her to create and then serve wonderful meals.  The breadboard endings on the table provide visual reprieve for the table and cupboard's 9' length.   

The wood for these pieces is also very special.  This wood is was salvaged from an old pickle barrel that was 10' tall and 16' in diameter while it was being used, beginning in the 1940s.  Working with this wood was a real pleasure, and its salt deposits glittered while I was working on the wood.  Here is how the wood appeared when it came to me.

You can see the salt deposits on the side that was once the inside of the salt barrels.  I left a bit of the salt deposits on the side of the cupboard.  

The colors are brilliant in this wood and I'm looking forward to the next pieces made of this wood.  

Maple Table with Walnut Drawer and Catbox

 

     

This client just bought a place and leaving the world of the renting, and having invested in a home that suited her, she decided to chose furniture that suits her, as well.  The first piece she asked me to build was the catbox that you see in the last photo.  This box fits perfectly and hides the plastic the liter box the cat is used to.  

The pictures of the maple table were take at Tompkins Square Park en route to the delivering it.  It was nice to have one of my pieces out in public.  Two people stopped and might commission me to do work, and one person warned the person who was with me deliverying the pieces and taking pictures not to take it because it might have bed bugs.  She assurred her that the piece was bedbug-free, as I'd just made it.  I assurred her that the piece was impervious to bed bugs.  This is, of course, a complete lie but would be a pretty good marketing tactic.  What am I talking about?  What have I become?  

The maple was a pleasure to turn after the resinful heartpine.  The walnut drawer is edged with maple, and creates a nice contrast.   

White Oak Bookshelf

   

 

One of the struggles of living in NYC, especially when young in your career, is that space is limited.  Rooms play many roles: "This is my bedroom/library/den/office/kitchen/bathroom. And here's my closet"  As a builder in NYC, this presents a fun challenge of building pieces that fit, enhance and maybe take some of the sting out of such situations while also being versatile enough to fit into future living situations.  This bookshelf is a good example of one such piece, as it was designed to fit exactly on a metal filing cabinet, but you can imagine it in a future library surrounded by other, similar pieces.  

Another cool feature of this bookshelf is that it is left completely unfinished.  The client did not want any chemicals on the wood, and leaving it natural also makes it more versatile for other living situations.  Over time, the tannins in the white oak will react with the environment and its color will deepen into that beautiful tan/brown so characteristic of white oak.  I look forward to seeing this process. 

The burl (irregular grained wood that is really beautiful) in this piece was selected to match the client's curly hair.  

Watertower Scrap Desk

   

Made of the scrap patina of the lumber for the picnic table, this colorful, rustic desk now resides in my room.  I was without any of my own work, so I spent some time making this little desk for myself, as there is a trend amongst craftspeople that I'm trying not to be a part of.  The Romanian carpenter who I worked under referred to himslef as a "shoeless cobbler."  With almost 40 years of woodworking experience, one would expect his home to be full of beautiful creations, slowly built by him over the years, not according to shop drawings, but just as he pleased.  However, this isn't the case, and he said his home does not have anything he built, except maybe a cutting board or two.  Having spoken with other craftspeople, he is not alone.  I can think of a few reasons for this trend, and I'll spend more time pondering it.  But for the time being, I wanted to build myself a little thing of wood that I think is beautiful.