Designing for TV viewing sounds simple enough, doesn't it?  All you have to do is buy one of those mounting bracket packages and hang the TV on the wall.  Oh...wait...where do you plug it in?  Forgot about the cable box and blueray player.  How do you get the cables to the TV?

If it's done well, designing for TV viewing can be seamless and beautiful.  Of the many details to work out, and we find cable management to be the most challenging.  In this design, all of the cables run behind the wood cabinet in a series of chases.  What if you change components?  No problem...each component has a lead wire so you can can pull cables in either direction to switch out equipment.  We used a dark finish on the lower cabinet so that the power outlets fade into shadow.  We think the success of this design is a partnership between designer and cabinetmaker.  Our pals at Stroba ( www.stroba.com )  helped us pull this one off. 

 

With the fall comes family gatherings and savory feasts... October's Room of the Month features a Dining Room that's sure to make you want to linger around the table for hours.  Stylish, warm, comfortable, and available for purchase at our Shop page.  

 

Sometimes the simplest solution comes from balancing scale and proportion.  In this suburban Detroit home, it was hard not to be daunted by the soaring fireplace wall.  While the grandness of the space is wonderful, the fireplace was lost in a sea of drywall and there was no visual focus. Without a reference to human scale, this wall was adrift!  We designed a fireplace surround and mantel, which introduced a strong horizontal line and...voila! ..the scale of the wall is broken down and your eye has a comfortable place to rest.  But why stop there?  With the remaining wall above the fireplace, we punched the center back to create a niche for artwork and added wall sconces flanking the newly created niche.  So, by adding several very simple horizontal and vertical lines, the proportions and scale are adjusted.  Add the interest of new materials, textures, and lighting and this wall now anchors the room. 

Sometimes the best furniture solution is a custom design.  For example, this china cabinet needed to be a specific width and height, solve both storage and display needs, and live happily with several other very different pieces of furniture.  A perfect opportunity for a custom design!   In the slideshow you can see the entire design and fabrication process, from conceptual sketch to the finished product. 

This piece was created in collaboration with Stroba, Inc.  These guys are truly modern day artisans!

September's Room of the Month is all about creating a place at home for all your fall projects.  Buckle down at either of two complimentary Arts & Crafts style desks or curl up and read a book in our comfortable lounge chair and ottoman.  This room is as functional as it is fun.  With one desk providing ample storage for a computer, printer, and files, and the other providing an open worksurface, you can tackle any sort of project, whether it be for work, school, or play.  Click here to purchase any of the items shown.

We asked Jon Haberman www.jonhaberman.com to tell us about the free edge cabinetry that was recently installed at one of our projects...

In the first design discussion for the cabinetry in the DC apartment that was recently featured in the SPI Blog, Sarah Pak suggested that we consider using a free edge in the wood for the countertops.  I jumped at the idea.  A free edge results when a board is cut from the log in such a way that the outside edge of the tree is left intact.  Boards are not usually cut in this way and can be difficult to find.  I found them for this job at Hearne Hardwoods in Lancaster, PA.

 

Furniture and cabinetry that utilize a free edge have become increasingly popular.  It can be an acquired taste.  Free edge boards typically have variations in color and figure and knots or blemishes that production furniture makers would reject.  I have become more and more interested in the beauty revealed in these imperfections.  It is great to find clients and collaborators who share this interest.

 

The first photo is one of the boards that we used for the DC cabinets as it looked when first brought to the shop.  At this stage it has been sawn at the mill into a board of a certain thickness.  Ours were just under two inches thick.  These boards are called "in the rough." Once we have decided which boards will be used where, they are "cross cut" (cut perpendicular to the length of the board). Next they are "dressed" to their final thickness.  In pre-industrial times this was done with hand planes.  We use machines.  Every piece then moves through multiple sanding steps, using finer and finer grit paper.  After a final sanding, the finish is applied, in the case an acrylic lacquer.  This a rewarding part of the process.  The finish brings out the color in the wood and reveals the particulars in the grain.

 

To start with rough boards and bring them to a state of polish is very satisfying.  There is always something new to be found in the different woods that come in and go out of our shop.

One of our favorite, most versatile pieces of furniture is the accent table.  With a small investment, you can add interest and functionality to a space.  Also, we like to pair furniture pieces made of different materials (i.e. stone/wood/metal) to add depth to a room, and accent tables are an easy way to introduce contrasting materials or pops of color.  With so many choices on the market, you are sure to find accents that fit your budget and design aesthetic.  Here are some of our favorites:

To purchase any of the tables shown here, please visit our Shop page.

Stay tuned for future products! 

One frequently encountered design dilemma (found especially in older homes throughout the area) is the small, cramped bathroom.  While not every budget or situation can allow for expanding the footprint, there are several things that can be done to pack a lot of punch in a small space. Here are four ideas from a recent bathrooom renovation:

1. You can really spread out by extending the vanity top over the toilet.
2. By incorporating a stripe into the floor pattern, you can balance out the proportions of the space by emphasizing the width or depth of a room.
3. By raising the ceiling and adding a clerestory window, you get both height and light.
4. Eliminating the tub and adding a shower gives you more elbow room for bathing.  The floor tile runs up the wall to the bench and ledge, which makes the shower feel even larger.    

And to think it all started here...

Sometimes when you have a combination of free thinking clients and talented craftsmen, you can use fun materials and methods to solve straightforward design problems.  Take for instance this newly completed project in Washington, DC.  We needed lots of storage space but wanted something other than traditional bookcases and storage cabinets.  We worked with Washington cabinetmaker Jon Haberman www.jonhaberman.com  to create these beautiful cherry cabinets. As you can see, we were able to make use of the "free edge" of the cherry board, adding interest and an organic beauty to this cabinet.  Instead of doors on the cabinets below, we used sliding panels with raffia in the center panels.

And yes, this is definately a cinderella story for the cherry boards when you consider how they arrived at the workshop, bark and all.