Building with Reclaimed Wood … AND New Wood Too

Our brand is still about building custom pieces of furniture using reclaimed wood from old barns.  No change there.

But believe it or not, we’re building more pieces of furniture using new wood (also known as “virgin wood”) too.  This is due to many customer requests.

It often makes perfect sense too.  Here’s why.

A kitchen island built for one of our customers (marble top) made with all new wood

Reclaimed wood is now a “high demand” commodity.  Its scarcity alone makes it more expensive than new woods used in furniture making. 

There is also a lot of work that must be done prior to using reclaimed wood in a piece of handcrafted furniture.  Old nails must often be removed.  The wood must be extensively cleaned up.  A lot of elbow grease goes into this whole process and this also adds to its cost. 

Sofa table built with new wood and reclaimed wood

There is, however, another reason why we’re now using more virgin woods in some of our products.  We’ve discovered that new woods are simply very good to use when building farm tables in certain colors.  

Reclaimed wood typically reflects different variations of colors in finished pieces.  In our opinion, this is great.  But the truth is it’s not for everyone.  Some of our customers don’t want their pieces to reflect as many red or brown tones as they do very light to grey ones.  And that is very difficult to achieve with reclaimed lumber.  As a matter of fact, we’ve developed some really neat finishing techniques in our shop that work especially well with new woods. 

With reclaimed wood, one typically sees things such as fine lines and small cracks, which of course add to its unique artisan character.  New wood, on the other hand, can often be used to create nearly identical pieces of furniture.  This fact is very appealing to some of our customers if they’re seeking a certain appearance for their custom-made piece.

And here is another neat thing …

Wine cabinet built with new wood (bottom) and reclaimed wood (top)

We’re now building some pieces using BOTH reclaimed wood and new wood.  For example, a two-piece buffet … with a painted base cabinet built using all new wood (such as poplar or maple) … and a top cabinet piece made with reclaimed wood.

Since the top part will be the thing that really stands out on buffet like that, a customer can have us craft the top with reclaimed wood.  But the bottom piece, which will be painted over, can easily be made out of new wood (instead of pricier reclaimed wood).

Some of our customers really love this approach.

In order to accommodate requests for custom “new wood” pieces we’ve hired a couple of experts -- true wood craftsmen.   They’re really great guys!  And best of all for our customers, each one has over 25 years of experience building custom furniture pieces out of new wood. 

Both were sort of “semi-retired” but are now crafting furniture for us full time.  We’re so glad they’re a part of our FFTB team.  And we’re excited to now able to offer more custom-built pieces of furniture for clients in new wood.

Give me a call if you have any questions about what we might be able to create for your home.

.....................

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Farm Tables for Grandparents Saying “No” to Downsizing

I’m often fascinated by new trends.  One of the things we’ve seen at FFTB over the past year are more requests for large farm tables (especially expandable ones) for grandparents.

How can this be, you may ask?  After all, don’t husbands and wives who are semi-retired, in their late 50s and early 60s, often become empty-nesters who then downsize?

Well, often … yes.   Not everyone though.

Large "Grandparent" Farm Table

What many of our customers are doing is actually going against the current downsizing trend happening in the broader culture.  Why?  Because they’re planning for future family gatherings at home … when those children who’ve moved out will then come to visit … with their grandchildren!

As a matter of fact, several of our dear customers recently said almost the same identical thing to me, “Kelly, don’t ever downsize.  The kids will grow up. Perhaps go to college.  They’ll leave.  They’ll eventually get married and start families of their own.  But then, they’ll come back home.  And you’ll want to have space for them so everyone they bring will be comfortable.”

I’ve been hearing more and more about families gathering at grandmom’s home for Sunday dinner … things like that.  I love it.

Another farm table we've recently crafted for grandparents

We’re often seeing this reflected in orders for custom farmhouse tables.  (I’d have to guess at least 20 of the farm tables we built last year were for grandparents who are planning to use them for regular family get-togethers.)  We recently built a farmhouse table for empty-nesters that includes extensions for creating a much bigger table.  It’ll be ideal for their children’s families, who live nearby, when everyone comes to visit.

One grandmom even told me she has a “no technology rule” in place at her home during family gatherings.  Cell phones aren’t allowed.  They all have to be left in the kitchen.  No talking or texting on the phone during the special time set aside for family members to all be together. 

Perhaps this will be a new trend.  Generations gathering together … more often.  Slowing down a bit in order to make time and see one another.

How wonderful that would be!

...............................

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

How to Choose the Right Table Style - Shape for Your Room?

Round Table with Pedestal Base

Many of our customers assume that all farmhouse tables should be rectangular in shape.  But that shape may not be the best one for their needs.

Our home, for instance, is an old farmhouse with very square rooms.  The best shape for our family’s kitchen table is either square or round because these shapes best match the shape of our particular dining area.  A rectangular table simply wouldn’t be a good fit for our space.

When Are Square Tables or Round Tables Your Best Option?

A square table or round table works well in a square room because it allows each person seated to have enough room to push their chair out and get up and move around.  This also means square and round tables often have pedestal bases instead of legs.  Pedestal bases work very well with these tables because chairs can be easily pushed under them and nobody gets their legs caught on a table leg when moving around.

On average, a 36 inch round table with a pedestal support will comfortably seat 4 people.  A 48 inch table will comfortably seat 6 persons.  A 60 inch round pedestal table will comfortably seat up to 8 people.  And an 84 inch round pedestal table generally seats 9 persons very well. 

Be aware that when round tables grow to 60 to 84 inches in size (6 or 7 feet in diameter) then it gets harder for everyone to reach for food on the table’s center.  So what we typically recommend for these larger tables is that you also get a matching Lazy Susan.  We’ll make you one that’ll be an exact match for your table and it’ll make your piece much more functional and easier for everyone to enjoy.

Round Table with Pedestal Base

We generally like to keep round tables fewer than 65 inches in diameter if they have a single pedestal because very large round pedestal tables tend to become more unstable without extra leg support.  For larger tables, we build a double pedestal base to provide them with that extra support. 

Occasionally we build larger round tables with legs if that is what will meet our customer’s needs the best.  To make such a table look nice, however, we also add an octagon-shaped apron around the underneath of it.  This apron not only helps the table look great, but it also secures the legs and makes the structure very stable.  (All tables that have legs, no matter what style they are, have aprons in order to give them stability).

We typically make aprons 4 inches high.  And we also craft a bead around on the apron because it looks nice.  But we can adjust the width or shape of table aprons in order to give, for example, tall persons more leg room when seated in their chair.  So that is an option you can choose if needed.

Square tables can have either legs or pedestals.  We recently built a very large square table for one of our customers … it was 60 inches X 60 inches in size.  And for this table we constructed a double pedestal in order to give it a very secure base of support. 

When Are Rectangular Tables Your Best Option?

Rectangular tables work very well in rooms that are rectangular in shape.  As far as width goes, we always recommend that a rectangular table be at least 36 inches wide.  The table’s length, of course, can increase proportionally with the room’s length if that’s what the customer desires. 

In general – for a rectangular-shaped table with legs – a 48 inch long table will comfortably seat 4 persons and a 5 or 6 foot table will nicely seat up to 6 persons.  I’d say that the most popular sized rectangular table that is built in our shop tends to be 6 feet (72 inches) in length.  This allows 2 persons to be seated very comfortably on each side with one person on each end. 

Tables that are 7 feet in length can generally accommodate 8 people comfortably … 8 to 9 foot long tables can seat up to 10 persons very comfortably … and 10 to 11 foot tables can generally seat up to 12 people very easily.  (We’ve actually been building quite a few 12 foot tables recently).

What About Trestle Tables?

Trestle tables have not only pedestals but also feet that come off the pedestals.   This allows them to have very stable support while also keeping the pedestals from getting in the way of those seated at the table.

Trestle Table

One of the beautiful things about a trestle, for example, is that it’s usually possible to fit up to 8 persons around a 72 inch long table.  This is because it doesn’t have traditional table legs and there is simply more room for people to sit down around it. 

We often have customers that have banquette seating, where bench seats are already built into the space they want to put a new table.  A trestle table is often a perfect solution for such a situation because it’s easy to for individuals to maneuver around the trestle in order to access any built-in seats.

Trestle Table Base

Trestle tables also offer a variety of seating options.  For example, one seating style that is popular right now is to have seating on both sides of the table … but not on each end.  For this, we typically place support legs at each end of the table so there is more room on both sides.   You can however, install “company boards” on the ends of the table so that it’s possible to seat guests on both ends of the table if more seating is needed.    Such boards allow you to get even more seating on a trestle table during special occasions.

Table with Company Boards

What About Getting Custom Tables & Seating for Unique Situations?

We recently constructed a custom farm table for a beach house in Bethany, Delaware.  Our customer wanted to have a large table that would allow for every member of her large family to be seated when visiting.  The problem, however, is that the room where she was going to place this table was pretty small.  What we were able to do for her is tweak a couple of things.  We placed the legs just a couple of inches further apart than we normally do.  And she ordered narrower chairs so that 3 seats could be placed in between legs on each side of the table.  This gave her just enough space so she could fit all of her children and grandchildren at the table at once. 

Trestle Table with Chairs and Bench

These are the sorts of things we can do to meet your needs.  Please don’t hesitate to give us a call if you have any questions about having a custom farmhouse table built for you … one that will perfectly fit your space.





Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

How to Choose the Right Table Size for Your Room

5-Foot leg Table Seating 6 Persons

One of the things we love about building custom tables is our customers can choose a shape and size that is a perfect fit for their home.  We really want you to discover what sort of table will be just right for you.  You’ll find the following information very helpful because it’s based upon extensive research and our real-world experience here at Furniture From the Barn.

When thinking about what your table is going to look like, the main thing you’ll want to do is evaluate the space where your table is going to reside after it comes into your home.  The table should not only look good in that space, it should also provide ample seating and functionality to meet your family’s needs.

Measure to Get Enough Room Around Your Table…

We usually begin by discussing your table’s width.  Ideally, the width of your table should be at least 36 inches.  This will give you enough room for both place settings and food.  Depending on the size of your room, the width of the tabletop can correspondingly increase with its length if there is enough space to accommodate it.

6-Foot Leg Table Seating 6 Persons

When measuring the space in the room it’s important to allow for enough seating so that everyone at the table will be able to sit down comfortably.  One great trick we’ve found to measure this is to take a bed sheet and then fold and shape it to size of the table you’re thinking about getting.  You’ll want to move existing furniture out of the room before doing this and then get a table measure to determine how many inches there are from the walls (or other furniture in the room) to that bed sheet (which is serving as the imaginary edges for the table size you’re checking).  There should be at least 36 inches of clearance so that every person seated around the table will have enough room to be comfortable, plus allowing others to get around them when they’re seated.  In reality, 42 to 48 inches of clearance is better, but you should really have a minimum of 36 inches. 

Since we’re going to be crafting a custom table to fit your particular space then, as much as possible, you want to avoid overcrowding that space.  Many customers tell us that they want the table we make for them to be the “last table” they’ll every buy … perhaps even hand down to one of their children someday.  So we typically have this goal in mind.

7-Foot Leg Table Seating 8 Persons

Measure to Be Sure You’ve Got Enough Room for Your Place Settings…

Each person sitting around a table needs a minimum of 24 inches of table space in order to accommodate their place settings.  Most of the chairs we offer range from 19 inches to 20 inches wide. 

We do have a popular chair that is 22 inches wide, but if you use that chair then you’ll probably also want to calculate at least 26 inches of space for on the table for the corresponding place settings for that seat.

7-Foot Trestle Table Seating 8 Persons

Can You Get Customized Table Legs?

We usually make the legs on our tables to be removable.  The exception to this rule is when a customer wants legs built with mortise and tenon joints.  Making removable legs allows for safer transit of tables from our workshop to customers’ homes.  We never recommend shipping a table made with mortise and tenon legs for a long distances because there is a chance the legs may get snapped off at some point during transit if the movers fail to properly handle the table.

Table with Cabriole Legs

We also custom make tables for taller individuals.  For example, our standard tables are 30 inches high, but we can increase that to help make taller persons more comfortable when seated.

What About Bench Seating?

Yes, we often make custom benches to fit a particular table.  Not only do we tailor make the bench to fit so that it slides under one side of the table, but we can make bench legs either higher or lower, depending on the need.  We even make taller benches especially for children (kids really love bench seating).  After the children grow bigger many customers repurpose their bench for use in a mud room or other ways.

Really neat!

The point here is that it’s your table and seating … we try very hard to meet the needs and desires of every customer so long as things can be built and shipped safely.

Leg Table with Chairs and Bench

You can typically get more seating on a bench than with chairs in the same space.  One thing many families order from us is a table that has chairs on one side with a bench on the other side.  Benches can also be made to slide under tables and be nicely tucked away so there is more room around the table when the bench isn’t in use.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Why Custom Building Your Furniture Sometimes Takes Awhile

When you order custom-made furniture from us you start the ball rolling on a unique building process.  This process may take anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks. 
 
While we always strive to deliver all orders as quickly as possible, it’s important for all of our customers to know our lead times for final delivery often depend upon a number of factors.  While the following ones may not include everything we do, they are probably the ones that impact delivery dates the most. 

The Batch Cycle…

Although we’re building more and more custom pieces of furniture nowadays, most of our business is still centered on hand-crafted farmhouse tables.  We typically build all farmhouse tables that are currently on order in one batch.  We do this because it’s much more efficient for us to select the proper number of high-quality boards for multiple tabletops at one time.  Then we devote lots of space in our shop to planing and gluing them together.  If we’re working on a batch cycle like this then we’re not building other pieces at the same time.

We normally build a new batch of farmhouse tables every 8 to 10 weeks.  If you place an order just prior to the start of a brand new batch then we can usually fit your table into this new batch of farm table orders.  If you place an order for a farmhouse table in the middle of a current batch cycle, however, then your table will be placed in cue to be built during the next batch cycle because the wood for the current batch has already been selected.  That means, of course, your table won’t be completed until the end of the next scheduled batch cycle of farmhouse tables (in 8-10 weeks).

Doing things this way ensures that your piece gets premium attention, along with the best wood we have on hand for the job.  We don’t rush any part of this process because, after all, we’re producing the highest quality custom pieces from re-claimed barn wood.   All details in your piece, including exact measurements, are made to order.  We’ve got to be very careful about what we’re doing.  The table or other customized furniture you acquire from us is far different from some table sitting on a showroom floor at Pottery Barn that comes from a mass production factory in China.

Your Type of Design…

Some design types are easier to build than others.  Certain shapes and/or styles are more labor intensive.  A leg table, for example is easier to build than a trestle table.  We’re getting many more orders for trestle tables nowadays and they add a little bit more time to those batch cycles.

We’ve built a few entertainment centers lately that have been custom-sized (with other custom features) in order to fit exact spaces in customers’ homes.  A few have features such as bi-fold doors, which pocket and slide back into the cabinet, instead of folding outward.  Intricate pieces such as this require exact dimensions and measurements before the building process can begin. 

My husband, Michael, also creates detailed drawings for intricate pieces so we can consult with customers and make sure they’re getting exactly what they want.  That requires a certain amount of time before the building process even begins.  It’s also not uncommon for a customer to change one or two specifications before placing their order.   Doing that often requires new drawings though, which adds a bit more time to the overall process.

The Size of Your Piece…

Some pieces simply take longer than others because of their large size.  A big hutch or table, designed with precise specifications and measurements to fill a larger area, for example, requires a much higher degree of attention in order for us to handle all of its features.  We also devote greater amounts of space in our work areas to build them.  We don’t mind; we love creating large pieces.  But we know from experience that products like this simply take longer to design and craft.

The Finishing Process…

After a table or other piece of furniture is finished being built, it comes into our finishing shop.  At that point, I often take a snapshot of it and email the picture to the customer so they can see what it looks like before colors are added.   An average table takes us about a week to finish.  But then we really like for it to sit in our shop about a week afterwards so it can cure properly, prior to final delivery.  As you can imagine, the finishing time for certain pieces is often longer, depending upon size and types of finish.

Custom Craftsmanship, Heirloom Quality Furniture

One aspect of the modern world many of us have come to enjoy is speed.  We all get most orders for physical products fairly quickly today.  I like this too … most of the time.  Having us build a custom, heirloom-quality piece of furniture for you, however, isn’t that sort of “instant, push button” type of product.  The time it takes for us to build hand-crafted furniture reflects its high value. 

The time needed to design, build and finish your furniture is very small compared to the generations who will cherish it.  Our long-time customers understand this.  Putting a huge amount of work and effort into every piece of furniture is what we do every day. 

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page

Farmhouse Tables Page

Customer Showcase Page

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime

Military Mom Acquires a Yellow Pine Farm Table

Back in 2012, one of our customers came to visit us with her daughter.  After walking through our display room, she ordered a custom-made yellow farm table.  She asked if it would be possible for us to build and delivery it before the start of the Holiday season that year.

I knew it would be a tough deadline to meet.  But we were motivated to meet this challenge.

You see, the individual ordering this particular kitchen table serves as a nurse in the military.  As a working mom who has seen much suffering from war, she really wanted to enjoy a special time at home with her children before heading back into the Middle Eastern combat theater. 

Her nursing job entails picking up wounded soldiers right off the battlefield by helicopter.  She shared with us the reality of seeing some terrible things firsthand.  As it turned out, she was scheduled for re-deployment to Afghanistan just a couple days after Christmas.

She wanted (and we really wanted for her) to be able to sit down on Thanksgiving with her whole family together around a new custom yellow pine table!

Crafting a Yellow Pine Farm Table Made with Old Barn Wood

From our standpoint, yellow pine is typically a southern wood. It was logged and sent up north from Southern States on river barges.  Much of it probably came to us from the Carolinas during the 1700s and 1800s.

 Yellow pine is probably the hardest of the pines we use to build farm tables.  Table tops made from our stock of re-claimed yellow pine barn wood can range from 1 ¼” to 1 ½” thick.  (That feature is very important to some of our customers.)

We have, on a couple occasions, made yellow pine farmhouse tables with tops up to 2-inches thick.  The result is a very thick, heavy table.   Such tables are exceptions, not the norm.  We can build them though.

One noticeable quality of our yellow pine wood is its grainy texture.  One can also see its hues are definitely more yellow in color than modern species, which are fairly light in comparison. 

That being said, we often mix in darker pieces of yellow pine with the lighter ones.  There were certain elements that contributed to the coloring of these darker pieces.  Mixing them with lighter-colored boards offers a lovely contrast in the final product. 

A Yellow Pine Farmhouse Table for the Holidays

Along with her new farm table, our customer also had us build a bench and corner cabinet for her.  We all looked forward to the delivery of these pieces to her kitchen. 

 After originally placing her order, it seemed as if she almost couldn’t believe she’d found us here at Furniture From the Barn.  The old-world look of the yellow pine tables we showed her on display was exactly the look she was after. 

It turned out she’d wanted a table like this for a long time.  We’re so glad she let us be the ones to make it happen.

Of course, we know from experience that our customers love receiving a hand-crafted farm table from our shop any part of the year.  But for this military mom, receiving her yellow pine table just in time for the holidays in 2012 was the perfect time to enjoy it with her family.  For her, it was the best way to sit down to her first meal on a new farm table constructed with antique wood.

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php

Table for a “Farm Girl at Heart” … Near New York City

Dolores discovered us about 3 years ago.  I remember our first phone chat.  It took place on a Sunday afternoon. 

I often don’t answer the Furniture From the Barn business line on Sundays.  Sundays are usually reserved for family time.  We go to church.  We have dinner together.  Stuff like that.  But I happened to answer the day Dolores and I first met over the phone. 

Dolores lives in North Jersey, just across from New York City.  Many of her family and friends work in NYC.  Much of her life is rooted near there. 

Yet, there is another side to her.  Even though anyone who knows Dolores can see clearly she is an Italian gal from Northern New Jersey, those who get to know her really well discover she is a “farm girl at heart.”

Drawn to a Farmhouse Table Built with Douglas fir Wood

When Dolores first contacted me, she was in search of a very square farmhouse table for her kitchen.  Photos of ones we’d built out of reclaimed Douglas fir barn wood immediately attracted her attention.  She ended up ordering one 48” x 48” in size.

Douglas fir wood is similar-looking to pine, but darker.  It also has a more refined look to it, meaning any knots in the wood are smaller and better defined than knots found in most pines.

We’ve found re-claimed Douglas fir barn wood often displays very red undertones.  Most individuals who love the appearance of Cherry are attracted to the Douglas fir pieces we design.   

Customers who want thicker table tops can get them in Douglas fir too.  It’s a harder wood and a very good choice for kitchen tables.

Moreover, we find more people wanting other types of pieces made in Douglas fir nowadays. It has become a popular wood for bathroom vanities and kitchen islands.  We’ve had lots of interest in those pieces of furniture in particular.

When It Came Time to Deliver Her Farm Table…

About the time Dolores’ table was ready for delivery, Michael and I were scheduled to display some of our pieces at a furniture show in North Jersey.  As it turned out, this show happened to be only about 10 miles from her home.

It was the perfect opportunity to deliver her new kitchen table.  That was only the beginning of our time with her, however.

When Dolores discovered we were going to be in her area, she insisted Mike and I stay at her home.  Not only that, she volunteered to help us at the furniture show.  And on top of that, she cooked delicious meals for us throughout our stay with her.

To say we were smitten by her kindness would be an understatement.

One thing none of us knew at the time was that first table we custom-built for Dolores would end up being the start of a whole interior home make-over.  Her journey began with that farmhouse style table.

Among the furniture we’ve been privileged to build for Dolores are: a dining room set, living room set, hutches, chairs, and sideboards.  Most recently, Dolores asked us to build an Oak bedroom set -- as a present for her husband. 

Looking back now, it’s easy to see how all my conversations with Dolores over the years have allowed us to become close.  Neither my husband nor I knew, however, this “farm girl at heart” would turn out to be such an amazing person and friend!

 

Please visit the following pages for even more information:

Furniture Gallery Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-barnwood-furniture-gallery.php

Farmhouse Tables Page: http://www.furniturefromthebarn.com/reclaimed-farmhouse-tables.php

Customer Showcase Page: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/customer-showcase.php

Have any questions?  Contact us anytime: http://furniturefromthebarn.com/contact-us.php