Extraordinary & Unusual Custom Woodwork
Fortunate Clients
July 28th, 2010
WE are very fortunate once in awhile to have clients that really believe in us and hire us to do what we do best. Trust is a very big word in our creative vocabulary. These particular clients hired us to make four distinctively different pieces of furniture.
It began with an elaborate teak bed that was created from a masterpiece carving from Indonesia. The teak wood that was left over from that job morphed into the design for a tabletop on a large coffee table. An idea emerged with a design that related to their extensive Indonesian collection but still stood out as a modern icon. The finish for the table was a distressed black paint over gold relating to the Indonesian palette.
Coffee Table
A small side table was needed to sit between two chairs in the same room. Voila! Sputnik was born. The sweet and simple lines of this table belay the complicated relationship between the turnings, the sputnik center and the dish top.
Sputnik Side Table
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Stump the Craftsmen
July 25th, 2010
This is a game that decorators play by bringing a project that seems beyond the scope of your ability. We say “yes, we can do it” without having any notion of how. After the decorator leaves, we look at each other and say”how the hell are we going to do this project?” Then we start working on it…ideas evolve….trial and error…frustration and success. Slowly the project arises out of the ground and flowers. This table was that project.
Demi-lune table
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What it was
July 20th, 2010
We had an incredible piece of land…now what? New canvas…not exactly furniture, but much bigger, something that creative teeth could really sink into. A road was a good start, one that wound through 1/4 mile of woods to open up onto a vista of granite cliffs stepping 150′ down to the water. Six hundred feet of waterfront, deep water, privacy. A good start.
We had a vision of a modern bird wing structure that cantilevered over the cliff. This was going to be a house all about the view. A structural engineer was brought in at this point and players that were willing to see beyond the usual house construction in that neck of the woods.
We designed the house, blueprints were made by a local drafting company and construction began in August 2010. With the value of local tradesmen, some daunting and untested tasks were accomplished. The use of steel in this area was new to the house builders and our house relied on it for its drama. We all had to learn together how to integrate this new material. By the end of August, our bird’s wing was flying.
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Love Project
July 6th, 2010
Three summers ago, we were property hunting in the back seat of a realtors car travelling the northshore of Lake Huron, my homeland. Having spent many days doing this, we came to the conclusion that what we were looking for was gone…drama, privacy, nature and unspeakable beauty all within 15 minutes of a liquor store. We came to understand that most Canadian lakefront properties were postage stamp lots right beside each other or Crown Land (property of the Queen of England…go figure) All the property elements were missing. The last day of vacation, expressing our discouragement to the realtor, he mentioned a group of properties that were not yet for sale that might be something we were looking for. There were 12 lots – 10 acres each, on a dramatic shore overlooking the big lake. When we walked lot 5, we knew this was it.
To be continued…
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Here’s How We Work
July 4th, 2010
We ask the client to participate in the process…the obvious first verbal communication is sometimes exacting or vague. What we ask the client to do is express themselves by finding, showing or telling us their ideas and tastes. It doesn’t necessarily have to be specific to the project. “Tell us what you love.” Show us a place where you like to be, a form that you relate to, a color, a fabric, a vibe. You, the client, start the creative sentence and the back and forth dance that ensues form into story, shape, architecture, color, maybe even something you didn’t even know you wanted.
Of course, this is the perfect scenario. A lot of the time, it is like pulling teeth or a know-it-all that doesn’t know shit from shinola..then again sometimes neither do we. At any rate, this gives you the idea of the process.
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Shop Mascot
July 4th, 2010
Our dog Luna runs the shop in that EVERYONE knows who Luna is and wants to be her friend. This puts us on the map locally with the hood. Luna is a dog /wolf who has a nose for dog treats and knows how to train even the most innocent passerby to adore her. She sits outside on our loading dock all day scanning the alley for her next pigeon. Her wild spirit and patience is an inspiration for how we live our lives each day….with her in mind.
Boss of the alley
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Illumination
July 1st, 2010
We collect lamps/they collect us. Lamps have their very own personality lighting and enlightening our furniture and spaces. Lighting is tricky, in that it incorporates mood and vibe as well as dress. At times, we have created or re-invented lighting to suit our purposes. A traditional crystal
Blackmoor lamp
Girdle lamp
chandelier was our first choice to light our dining room table until…we walked into a lighting store in Miami and beheld the white plastic space flowers. A change was going to come. We designed a silver trough to suspend three separate lights. By day they look like floating space flowers, by night, magical candy confections.
Space flowers
The chandelier underwent another kind of incarnation with glass adornment – a surprise wherever it is hung.
Chandelier
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Antique Demise/Competition For Woodworkers
June 23rd, 2010
With some exceptions, the value of hand-crafted antique furniture has declined in the last several years. A run of the mill walnut Chippendale low chest of drawers, that sold for $5,000, fifteen years ago, is now selling for $800-1,200. This would be great for a young person looking to buy except there appears to be little interest in antiques with the current generation. It does represent competition to custom furniture makers such as ourselves who would have to charge $4,000-5000 to make the same form. As you can see, it is a muddled market and a little difficult to figure out.
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It’s a Party
June 20th, 2010
The warehouse may be a sanctuary and our sky fort, but it is also a giant closet for objects once loved and stored. What better way to show our appreciation than to host an extravaganza yard sale. Dusted to shine, these pieces move on again to be appreciated all over again. Big and small – furniture to jewelry – all get to come to the party.
And it is a Party!
yard sale party
mannequin sold and transported
Happy customer
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Our Most unique woodworking project
June 18th, 2010
A photograph of an antique Moroccan archway started the process between the clients and ourselves in introducing this architectural form into their house. The kitchen needed to be anchored with a strong and creative entrance that reflected the photograph. We interpreted this with free rein, conforming the north African details into such forms as the archway, panelled walls, doors, mirror, bulletin board and key kiosk.
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