We are often asked by our clients for a piece of furniture that they would love to be an Heirloom for them to enjoy and pass on. As nice as these are to make, it is difficult to capture a piece that will be enjoyed in present times and not be restricted by periods or interior styles.
When these projects come forward I like to spend a little bit of time with the client to find out what they want the furniture to achieve i.e storage, showpiece, conversation piece. Alongside this it is key to connect the furniture to the customers taste and making the furniture personal.
More often than not a small amount of time at the clients house can show their taste, but it is the photos on the sideboard, the old piano in the lounge, the children’s pictures on the fridge that can give a little spark to connect the furniture and the family.
This table was made under the specification, for a love of large timbers, chunky beams and solid joinery. But after a coffee and chat the client had strong love and family connection to Cornwall. With this in mind I sourced and inlayed Cornish Copper billets into the table to not only give a strong joinery connection detail, but a subtle link to the Cornish mining past heritage.
The Copper was made up by a Blacksmith I know very well and the copper naturally changes colour in time.
This second table was a storage table that the children couldn’t easily access and would be in keeping to the lounge bookcase I had built and fitted earlier in the year.
The internal drawer storage is accessible from a simple finger groove to the base edge with no obvious ironmongery. The square tenon peg detail was carried over from the doors on a bookcase I made within the room.
The stained glass top, came about from a photograph the client had on the wall that was taken in Scotland, from their family home. It was a black and white picture that had the client as a small boy looking out of a window to the Loch in the distance.
This inspired the window styled frame and the stained glass is actually a mirror to the back of the rippled blue glass, giving the affect of water ripples.
These pieces I love to make, especially when the client sees and understands the detail, before I even explain it.
We make everything and anything in wood, but sometimes wood is can be showcased by other materials and memories.
