Posts Tagged ‘architectural millwork’
The Lunenburg Furniture co. Actually Makes Furniture
Back in 2013 when I first established The Lunenburg Furniture Co. I had every intention of actually building furniture, but the gods of business had other plans for me. I was commissioned to build one door, which led to another and another and before I knew it the Lunenburg Furniture Company became The Lunenburg door company. I considered changing my company name to better reflect what I was actually doing, but furniture building is my first love and I decided to keep that identity. Although most of my work is still architectural millwork, I have had the opportunity to build furniture for some wonderful customers and I am finding that lately more is coming my way.
These four Greene and Greene style chairs and expanding table were built for a customer in Halifax.
My wife, Anna, aka The Hat Junkie has been the recipient of many pieces. I made her this sewing table in hopes of helping her decrease her clutter.
As you can see, I was only mildly successful.
I was commissioned to build four swivel chairs and a table by Sandrine Lejeune Design Inc., in Vancouver. The customer lives in New Brunswick and wanted to support a local craftsperson. Built from White Oak using traditional joinery.
If you have a porch, you should really have a porch swing. This arts and crafts style swing lives on a beautiful porch in Mahone Bay. It’s built from white oak. Frozen Daiquiris not included.
If you need inspiration to sit down and work, this desk should do the trick. It lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and I’m currently building a chair to go with it.
Technically, this is a bathroom vanity and not furniture, but it’s worthy of being furniture. I built this for Fran Underwood, an interior designer in Chester, NS. I’m afraid I don’t know the name of the painter, but whoever they are they did a beautiful job.
This simple mid century modern table lives in Mahone Bay, NS.
I built this daybed for Anna….and then a few years later I built her this table to go with it. The style is Country Victorian, a more folksy interpretation of classic Victorian furniture.
The zig zag chair and desk are a well known design by Gerrit Rietveld. I built these from South American Mahogany back in 2013.
I’ll leave you with one of my early pieces. It was drawn by my talented friend, Dan Hafferman. It was built soon after I had graduated from The North Bennet Street School. It’s a Queen Anne style chair. After over 40 years of furniture making, a beautiful, traditionally joined chair is still one of my favourite pieces of furniture to build.
Thanks for tuning in. If you have a special project in mind please send me an email or give me a call. Tony
Jesus’ Dad Built Chairs This Way
As a parochial school student, Sister Mary Agnes taught me that Jesus was not only a carpenter, but he was also the son of of a carpenter. In fact, I may at some point have had to write this on the board a few hundred times after tripping Billy McMannis in the aisle.
Theo and I are currently building a set of Greene and Greene style chairs, made from American Black Walnut with a table to follow. Like all my work, they are built using traditional joinery. In this case, Mortise and tenon construction.
This really is the same construction that would have been used by the carpenters of antiquity. It’s strong and stable and built to last for generations. Mortise and tenon construction was used until the early 19th century when it was largely replaced by factory made dowel joined chairs. This change, motivated by speed and profit margins, heralded in the current era of the wobbly chair. Chairs, more than any other type of furniture, deal with a lot of stress. Made with small parts, they are sat on, leaned on, stood on and regularly tipped backwards at precarious angles. Over time, typical modern day dowel constructed chairs give in to the stress put upon them and become loose and wobbly and eventually find themselves curb side on Big Trash Day. In contrast, a well constructed mortise and tenon chair will one day meet your great, great grandchildren.
Greene and Greene was an architectural firm owned by two brothers, Charles and Henry. It was established in 1894 and was dissolved in 1922. Their work was part of the California Arts and Crafts Movement. They exclusively designed very fancy residences. When they designed the houses they also designed all the furniture and fixtures within the house. Their work was highly influenced by Japanese architecture. The detail on the tops of the chairs are called cloud lifts. These were a signature of Greene and Greene furniture and are an example of Japanese influence.
It’s a privilege to recreate this timeless furniture in my Lunenburg shop for a wonderful customer.
Dreaming of a life with wobble free chairs? Drop me a line.
