Custom Furniture

Below are a few commissions of new furniture. They all started with an idea of what the client wants and in what style. As a furniture historian, my aesthetic is not limited to one period or style. Rather, I find beauty in most styles. Yet my experience as a restorer informs my methods of joinery and finish so that the design takes into account modern living.

Some objects, as in the cabinet above, was made to house a television, but the joinery is typical 18th Century mortise-and-tenon and dovetail construction.

For more information on some of the objects, click on the image.

William and Mary wardrobe

Made from a wood sawn from a single tree, this case uses traditional joinery— mortise-and-tenon joints for the doors and hand-cut dovetails for the drawers. Click on the image for more images.

Queen Anne lowboy

William and Mary wardrobe

In order to house the electronics for the TV and stereo, the bottom "drawers" are actually a single carved piece of wood that hinges down for access to that space.

Shaker farm table

William and Mary wardrobe

Over-mantle marquetry panel

This farm table was made from Vermont cherry with the top made from bookmatched boards. All joinery was mortise-and-tenon.

Over-mantle marquetry panel

The compass rose was constructed of walnut and maple on a cherry ground with borders of ebony, herringbone inlay, and cross-grain English oak. Each corner has a constellation in mother-of-pearl stars.

Hanging shelf

Over-mantle marquetry panel

Hanging shelf

One of the few times I used true Honduras mahogany for a commission. The finishing took almost as long as the building!

TV cabinet

Over-mantle marquetry panel

Hanging shelf

Built to house a plasma screen TV, the case has a separate back compartment to house cooling fans and remote access to stereo, DVD, and TV functions.

Mantle

Live Edge

On this commission, I worked with the carpenters on the job assisting with implementing an idea into a working design and executing it. They built it with some help from me and I finished it. The most interesting part was incorporating these antique dog sculptures into the design.

Live Edge

This project started with a client having three slabs of walnut cut by their grandfather. Two became the top and the other the slab leg.

Shaker Wardrobe

Arts-and-Crafts Trestle Table

This design was a collaboration between the client, a decorator, and me. While I did not have access to a flitch or boulle of wood, I was able to find a number of sequential boards that allowed me to arrange the parts artfully.

Arts-and-Crafts Trestle Table

An oval trestle table is a rarity, but this space called for just that. Inspired by Shaker and Arts-and-Crafts styles, a design with straightforward joinery and limited decoration was used. The beveled edges with a lamb's tongue termination was as wild as I got!

This table takes all of two minutes to break down or set up and yet is very rigid.