This is a home I recently discovered online thanks to the great writers over at Architectural Record.
I really enjoy Architectural record’s online post and even more I enjoy taking their CEU (continue education articles), which keep you up to date with all the new product materials and construction ideas in practice today. Hope you enjoy the photos and architectural records online site as much as I do!
If you know of any other websites that have current trending knowledge on modern housing and furniture I would love to see them please leave commit.
Thanks!
This morning I received a couple emails from some sites I normally check and thought Id share some of my favorite items from each site with you this morning. Hope you guys enjoy the show,
-Your Furniture buddy
WOW… I almost forgot to add the site links! What fun would that be to see something you wanted but couldnt find it sorry hope this helps!
http://www.allmodern.com/ducduc-The-Dinning-Wooden-Kitchen-Storage-Bench-DUC-BNCH-DDC1183.html
http://www.rejuvenation.com/catalog/products/eastlake-push-plate
http://www.rejuvenation.com/catalog/products/15w-flicker-bulb-c9528
http://www.stardust.com/phartichokelamp.html?gclid=CPug5Ii3l7QCFehDMgodDVcAIg
So a couple of days ago I posted about a lane table that with the right care could be brought back to life and could find its way into any contemporary home. Well today I found a couple more guys that could easily spice up any room with the right restoration and attention. If you couldn’t tell my hands are itching for wood working projects, and while I would love to create something new just as much I currently find myself wanting to learn from past furniture makers and find use for these master pieces once more!
I would consider these dressers to be from the art deco period, based on their grain matching and finishing trim, but if you know better I would love to be corrected. Anyways both of these pieces are in pretty good shape however they would need to be re-glued along the dovetails in the drawers and be stripped and cleaned. However, once you’ve done that they would be great pieces, especially the cabinet on the right since its interior carcus is made of cedar to keep those pesky bugs off your clothes.
Another Idea that I think could find serve you well to remember is that when shopping at salvation army shops you might find some really cool hardware. I like this dresser drawer pull handle. In the past when I was looking up this kind of hardware it would have cost about 10$ for one, while at the Salvation Army I could have gotten 8 handles and a cabinet for 25$. So just wanted to put that out there to my fellow wood workers and as always keep up the love for wood working!
This last weekend my wife and I drove down to see the George Nakashima’s work shop. George Nakashima is someone I would consider to be an American treasure, and although he is no longer living, his son and daughter continue on his dream of creating beautiful furniture from his work shop in New Hope, PA. The wood shop is located on a nine acre lot with several buildings constructed by George all to support the building of his work. Having lived in Japan and being back in the US now this was like taking a small trip back to Japan for myself. My wife, being Japanese, even got a little teary because it reminded her so much of being back home. The buildings and grounds are very similar to what you would see in tradition japanese landscaping and construction, but there is an influence of western mixed in. While the visit was supposed to be self guided we ended up getting taken around by the shop manager, which gave us lots of great information and background story on the property and the furniture construction. One thing that I found impressing is that the majority of wood being used is a species of walnut, and comes from several places around the world. Knowing that walnut is a very hard wood I was curious how often they have to sharpen their tools after working the furniture. The manager said once a week they must have all their tools and blades re-sharpened. But I am sure it is worth every penny because by the time we moved from the wood shop to the finishing room the pieces looked absolutely stunning. Following the finishing area we were led to the furniture show room, which was my favorite building on the premises. In the show room you are not allowed to take photos so I took a couple brochures to show you their wonderful pieces of art. The show room itself is also a piece of art it has wonderful shoji paper windows, tatami flooring and beautiful wood trim throughout the building.
At this point I had the opportunity to speak with Ken Nakashima, the son of George Nakashima, and he explained about the difficulties that his father had to face to make his mark on this world. I found out quickly that George Nakashima like another one of my favorite designers Isamu Noguchi lived very similar lives. In that around the time of the second world war George too was removed from his home in Washington and placed in a concentration camp. Fortunately for George he was pardon thanks to the help of a friend, but he would have to work as a farmer for an additional two years to earn his freedom. While working as farmer in the New hope area he bartered from another local farmer a 2 acre lot and set out to rebuild his furniture shop once more and lead the American craft movement.
In conclusion by the time it came to leaving the facility my spirit felt rejuvenated and ready to continue wood working, what a wonderful experience that was.
The other day my wife and I were out goofing off when we came across a huge thrift store. So I told my wife lets check it out while we kill some time. Every time I’m in a thrift store the first thing I do is go to the furniture section. I love trying to see what goodies I can find. Sure enough there was a really nice lane coffee table Midcentury dovetail piece. Legs were a little loose but nothing a little glue couldn’t take care of! I would also have to refinish the table since someone decided to go ice skating across the top. Hahaha. Not that bad. But I still wonder how people can destroy or damage something so bad. So as bad as I wanted a fun summer task I knew better let this one slide and keep my eyes out for something really worth it! I wish I knew how to upholster there are always such beautiful chairs and couches to keep me busy for a life time! Guess one of these days you guys will have to teach me something. Hope you enjoy!
This last weekend my wife and I did a little traveling around since the weather was just perfect. One of my favorite places to go visit time to time is the small town of Milford, PA (
http://milfordpa.us/
). If you are ever in NEPA (North East Pennsylvania) I would recommend this as a place of interest. Milford is a pretty small place, but they do have a wide variety of things to do if you are only making a day trip out of it. If you couldn’t tell from the photo off to the left already, well Milford is a historical city and and has some pretty remarkable buildings and homes. For instance Grey Towers (
http://www.fs.fed.us/na/gt/
) is a mansion that was built for Gifford Pinchot. He was America’s first forester and founder of the USDA Forest Service. He served two terms as Governor of Pennsylvania and is considered the father of the Conservation Movement. In addition to historical sights there are several Bed & Breakfast in the local area all retaining thier historical charms. One such B&B I have been curious about trying out for a dinner is the Demmick Inn since they are known for having good steak. 
Another thing of interest in Milford are the local antique malls, second hand shops and cosignment stores. I have a continuous curiosity for old tools and art work so I always enjoy browsing looking for something new… er old I guess, but new to me. This shop usually has a bunch of really cool old 
hand tools and I was really fascinated with an old auger bit set they had for sale, but unfortunately it was a little more than I wanted to spend on old bits that are probably better for displaying than for use. If your looking for furniture than I would recommend the store in the next photo below. They are located right on the main street of Milford and even if your not interested in buying you should still walk through there to see what real furniture looks like. I think after seeing this art you would laugh walking into Ethan Allen or any mass produced furniture company.
Also the building that houses all these old pieces of furniture was an old home at one time so just walking through their show room you see amazing carpentry work throughout the building. But there are also several other shops that run along this building such as art shops, photography studios, book binding, and a contemporary interior decor shop. At the interior decor Upriver Home shop
http://www.upriverhome.com/
my wife and I usually splurge a little here, because they have a wide variety of goodies so it’s hard not too. And the last place I want to recommend is a bakery down the road the Patisserie
http://www.patisserieverobeach.com/
. They have a wide variety of fresh baked breads and deserts so its always a good place to stop and rest after antiquing awhile. I’d like to mention if your thinking about doing some hiking or back packing you might also be interested in Milford since it is very close to the Delaware river and there are several beautiful waterfalls near by which I will have to post another day. If you haven’t noticed by now there are basically three things that motivate me to want to create or get out and explore {Art, Food and Nature}. Which is funny to me now that I say that because when it comes to furniture I want to primarily build tables for a living. So that pretty much that encompasses all of my passions in one thing. Well speaking of food after spending the day in Milford we decided to drive to Middletown New York and have a nice dinner at a casual American bistro Nina
http://www.nina-restaurant.com/
. This is a pretty cool restaurant its fancy enough to make it a great date place, but too fancy that it would break your wallet and you should leave with a half of your dinner. If you don’t believe me try their 32oz steak and tell me how much you take home. hahaha. If you order that let me know how it goes I didn’t think I needed that much protein so I went with lamb chops, which was very good and well plated. Another reason we went to Middletown is because there is a second hand shop which is pretty reasonable and has some quality finds. We ended up purchasing an Alvar Aalto vase for about 40$. We looked up the cost of it and it typically goes for around 120$ and up for the size we purchased so I am pretty happy with that. I have been trying to convince my wife to let my use it as a fish tank. hahaha. She doesn’t fall for my Tom Foolery though normally.
Anyways if you have any questions about local areas in NEPA or the Tri-state area it would be my pleasure to advise you. Also if your curious about something else I have wrote feel free to comment or ask questions. Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy my post
Isamu Noguchi is one of my all time favorite designers and I happened to come across this photo in my file from when I was in Sapporo Japan last year. The display flooring the museum set up for his work was really cool too. Not sure if you noticed the ply panels under neath the tables but they were very interesting and I think would be easy to build. But come some additional depth to a living area. Time for bed! So hopefully I will dream of working side by side with Isamu Noguchi tonight. Yeah right I’d be too scarred to do anything.
