The term “Asian inspired furniture” isn’t just reserved for black lacquered chests and painted tables. Asian design philosophies have influenced hardwood furniture around the world, and especially here in the United States.
This kind of Eastern design influence is evident in the use of vertical moon-shaped cuts and irregular joinery techniques, such as is seen in our Contemporary Craftsman and Exeter collections, respectively.
The Modern Industrial collection features solid wood table tops with powder-coated black steel legs. They’re perfect for the modern kitchen, commercial restaurants and pubs, or just to spice up a room with some new colors and textures.
Our lives happen around our furniture. Every day, our bed frames, dining tables, dressers, and coffee tables support us, often without thanks and appreciation. Here we’re taking a look back at some of the best acknowledgements of the importance our furniture plays in our lives. We’ve assembled what we think are the best furniture quotes of all time.
Let us know in the comments what your favorites are!
The idea is that minimalism helps people question what possessions, activities, and thoughts actually add value to their lives. As No Sidebar puts it, “Every day, more stuff comes into our lives: stuff in our houses, stuff on our calendars, stuff on our minds. All that stuff gets in the way of where we really want to go and who we really want to be.” Read More
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Dear Customers & Readers, Our talented friend, Linda Marcille who created these extraordinary paintings, has fallen ill and is looking to sell them immediately to pay for medical expenses. All 5 paintings in the series are available and we are hoping to keep the collection together. If you or someone you know is interested in acquiring the series, please reach out to us on Facebook or Contact Us. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to bring a priceless art collection into your home, office or museum. Read More
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Much of the food grown in our edible landscape is perennial. We have fruit trees, nut trees, and long-lived and self-seeding greens: sochan, nettle, wood sorrel and lamb’s quarters, to name a few. Once established as part of the landscape, perennials and self-seeders won’t rely (much) on human hands. Convenient! But annual crops are an important part of the landscape, too. Inter-cropping the annuals with the perennials can be beneficial to both.
Preparing the ground for sowing corn
This year I wanted to make a “milpa.” This is a term for the ancient practice of interplanting corn and other plants in a way that benefits the ecosystem. It’s commonly called the “three sisters” although we have more than three sisters, and even a few cousins 🙂 Wild raspberries and strawberries, yarrow and goldenrod for the bees, and many greens, including lamb quarters, lady thumb, and sheep sorrel, all play their parts.
Preparations for cornfield. Photo taken last November
We mow the meadow, so creeping perennials with robust root systems tend to win out. Last November, in order to kill the grass we cut a 30′ x 30′ section as low as possible to the ground, and then mulched heavily with grass clippings, leaves, and wood chips from a hardwood we felled nearby. This worked well to delay the emergence of grass in spring, but it didn’t kill it completely.
One block of emerging popcorn
Later on, loads of compost were added on top to block out sun from the creepers and feed the crops we wanted to encourage. Overplanting, and then thinning, can discourage weeds. It also keeps the ground shady and moist for the young plants.
Knee-high!
Corn needs to be planted in dense blocks to encourage pollination. It emerged after Spring rains–no watering needed. The corn is now in the reproductive stage, with tassels releasing pollen daily and cobs thickening as the kernels develop.
Our meadow “milpa” in late July. Winter squash, beans, nettle, and of course corn.
So far so good! Stay tuned and we will see what we get.
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We’ve had a few customers find us lately, because they’re looking for “responsible furniture”. After thinking about that term, I googled it and not much came up. So I’m taking a shot at breaking it down. Ken and I started Vermont Woods Studios with the goal of serving people who want responsible, eco-friendly, locally crafted, wooden furniture. In that spirit, here’s what I came up with in the who, what, where, when, why and how department of responsibly made furniture.
In this post, we’ll look at the who, what, where, when, why and how of responsibly made furniture.
Small businesses are made of big people like these craftsmen and women at Maple Corner Woodworks. We work to deliver beautiful handmade furniture to your home, but also to make the world a better place.
