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. 

 
          

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.  

     

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.   

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.  

   

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.   

 

My last post was prophetic, as this picnic table was commssioned just after my last update.  I wish I had better pictures of this piece.  I will soon, actually, as it now resides on land just acquired by a friend and his family.  I wanted to share these couple of pictures that I took right after I'd oiled it.  This is a 9' long x 3' wide picnic table that comfortable seats 12, but can uncomfortably seat more than that.  It is made from wood salvaged from an NYC watertower.  As one would expect of wood used in watertowers, it is very durable in water and the colors are very rich in this wood.  I have access to white cedar and redwood, too, depending on the watertower that gets salvaged and brought to my supplier.  

I look forward to the feelings the Summer brings.  I imagine a couple on their NYC rooftop, enjoying the sunset, breeze and each other in two lounge chairs made by me.  I also think of a group of friends gathered around a picnic table in some backyard, enjoying the weather, good food and company.   

This table was designed to fit an entrance area just inside the client's apartment.  The client requested that the table be both elegant and feminine.  We dialogued about a few of the drawings and pictures I sent her.  The light design was a nice contrast with the strength of the heart pine, and this piece was a real plessure to build! 

Soft Maple Table

A client who likes to throw great dinner parties asked for a large table to accomodate such parties.  This table is made out of maple and is 1.5" thick, 9' long and 3.5' wide.  It seats comfortably twelve.  It was not, however, comfortable moving it into her apartment.  My roommate and good friend, bless him, pushed himself to the edge of what his 140 lbs body could handle in helping me move the table top up two flights of steps.  It weighed more than him.   

The finish is a modified tung oil that makes the finish look natural but protects it more than tung oil alone.

Red Oak Bar 

A client asked for a bar for his large loft apartment.  The sides of the bar are board and batten and the top of the bar is 1.25" thick red oak.  The bar is about 7' x 6' and was assembled and finished on-site.  The hanging shelf unit is also made of red oak.  The celebratory drink was very convenient.

 Heart Pine Table

I just completed and delivered this table this week.  The wood was sourced from a building in NYC that was a landmark building damaged during the construction of an adjacent building.  This is made from 5.5" beams from that building, and the lumber yard that supplied the wood said it was some of the densist and most resiny heart pine they'd seen.  I turned the English Tavern-Style legs on a lathe at my woodshop.  This was finished with a durable but handsome hard oil and wax that is safe for use on children's toys.