Why buy handcrafted furniture from me?

While it’s true a picture is worth a thousand words and we have done our very best to create a web site that shows the work I do as accurately as possible, you aren’t able to “see and feel the difference” while gazing at a computer monitor. There are many fine wood craftsmen, but there are very few of us who go the extra mile to create a truly exceptional piece. The saying that it takes 90% of the time to accomplish the last 10% of the work couldn’t be more true than in handmade furniture. If my furniture seems expensive compared to others that look similar, I ask you to please contemplate the last 10%:

  • Do they start with beautiful wide lumber that is harvested in an environmentally sound way, painstakingly matching color and grain?
  • Are their drawers dovetailed at all four corners?
  • Are the drawer bottoms solid wood floating panels or are they plywood?
  • Do their drawers slide on hardwood slides or are they kitchen cabinet mechanical slides?
  • Do they use pinned mortise & tenons, dovetails and sliding dovetail joints or do they use the simplest, quickest joinery “to get the job done”?
  • Are their backs solid wood frame and panel or are they plywood?
  • Is the piece as nice to look at from behind as it is from the front?
  • Is the piece finished inside as well as out and are there any globs of glue or runs of finish where you don’t “usually” look?
  • Are critical junctions reinforced with corner blocks or apron spreaders when “maybe” they don’t have to be?
  • Are their pieces as nice to touch and use as they are to look at from across the room?
  • Do they constantly design and build with seasonal changes in humidity in mind?
  • Is each part sanded to 320 grit, burnished and finished with multiple coats of a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly oil finish or do they spray on coats of lacquer or polyurethane?
  • Are they building each piece individually, or is there an assembly line building multiples of exactly the same piece?

I do all of these things and more. I welcome the opportunity to discuss my work with you and hope that one day you can visit to see firsthand what I’m talking about. If this is not possible and you’re comparing furniture, I encourage you to ask these questions and to “see and feel the difference”.