Designing With Curves
Getting off the straight path can be liberating. I can see it with my eyes shut: a curving stretch of highway snaking past Otter Cliffs in Acadia National Park. Each twist in the road opens up a [...]
Hancock Shaker Village Daybed
Recreated from a photograph and measurements, this design feels both modern and timeless. One of the things I have come to admire as a furniture designer-maker is the timelessness of works [...]
Plans vs Proportions
Adapt a furniture plan with your eye. I think of plans as sort of a roadmap. They were a big part of my early work as a machinist and later as a woodworker. We had an unwritten rule in the …
Federal Furniture
Years ago I discovered Federal furniture and knew that with beautiful veneer, superb inlay and simple carving, this would be my furniture period of choice. Federal furniture has much to offer [...]
An ExpERimENTAL Table
Designer Enzo Mari gave the world this design (and many others). But are they worth building? When my grandparents married before World War II, they bought a dining room set that cost several [...]
American Gothic
This early form – an aumbry – spawned many different types of furniture. It is easy to forget that many of our favorite pieces of furniture are recent innovations. Forms such as coffee tables, [...]
Designing by Foot, Hand & Eye
Empirical, not Imperial, is the measure of the pre-industrial maker. In this article I’m going to show how I design a simple piece of furniture whilst immersed in the mindset of the [...]
Make a Chair That Rocks
A little geometry and a simple prototype ensure a pleasant ride. I recently set out to design and build a new rocking chair. I’ve designed and built a handful of rockers, but my past [...]
Try for Your Best Work
From 1977-1983 I made my living as a studio furniture designer and maker. In addition to making furniture, I found most of the hand tools available at the time so uninspiring and [...]
The Metropolitan Console
Back in the 1950s, traditional cabinetmakers in Scandinavian workshops produced sleek, powerful furniture using modern materials and modest machines. This project pays homage to those exciting [...]
Medieval Folding Stool
Have you ever heard of a “faldstool?” You’ve probably seen one in a movie that’s set in Medieval or Renaissance times—it’s the distinctive portable chair that a [...]
Time for Tea: The Restoration of a Mackintosh Landmark
Restoring one of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s greatest accomplishments 150 years after it originally opened. LOCATED AT: 215 Sauchiehall Street Glasgow G2 3EX, United Kingdom [...]