Made By Hickory Chair

The People Behind The Furniture

Our centennial ad that has been featured in Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, Veranda, Lonny and House Beautiful showcases an Elliott Wing Chair and the Artisan Curved Front Chest each from the 1911 Collection that are reflected into a Sophia Mirror by Thomas O'Brien.  The Elliott Wing Chairs are upholstered in different fabrics.  The brown chest is made from mahogany and the gray one from ash.  Each of the wing chairs and tests were made by hand to order in our workroom in Hickory, North Carolina.

 We are so thankful for the talented craftsmen who choose to come to Hickory Chair each day to invest their talent and time to make one of a kind pieces to order.  We are proud that these talented employees have chosen to make hand made furniture as their vocation. They come to carve, cut, sew, upholster, sand, finish and make fine pieces. It is rewarding to see what they can do while at Hickory Chair. 

It is rewarding to learn about the talents and hobbies our craftsmen enjoy while not at work.  We have artists who create paintings and sculptures.  We have musicians who play professionally, serve as music ministers, and perform regularly.  We have employees who participate in community theater.  Other employees raise show dogs...some for their looks while others for their strength.  Some have beautiful voices and sing in their church choirs and community performances. Others spend their time exercizing, running, working out, playing golf, tennis or softball.  Some kick-box and compete.  Others cycle, jog or dance.  Employees serve as deacon, Sunday school teachers and other leadership roles such as Boy Scout leaders, volunteer firemen, and coaches. 

Each day this group of talented artists, musicians come to our workroom and have the opportunity to make one of a kind pieces to order.  They love making custom length sofas, dining tables made from the top of one style with the base from another, changing hardware and finish on a chest, making the depth of a sofa just right for that tall or small client.  Making one of a kind pieces allows our talented craftsmen to hone their skills.  You help us become even more skilled.  Our 100 year foundation with your custom pieces give us the opportunity to make our furniture in Hickory hopefully for the next 100 years. 

Making "It" For You

Finding "it" - the right thing for your room can be a daunting task.  Sometimes the piece you find is perfect except it is the wrong finish.  Maybe the hardware is not your style.  Maybe if it was a few inches shorter, taller or longer it would have been perfect.  

We listen at Hickory Chair.  It is the passion of our nearly 500 telented artisans and craftsmen to help you personalize our pieces so that they are just right for your home.  It is our 100 year old workroom in Hickory, North Carolina where we make one of a kind pieces to order.  It is the generations skill passed from the master craftsman to apprentice for these 100 years married to lean thinking and environmental stewardship that has allowed us to remain a relevant, valued partner to the designer and collector of quality American made pieces.  It is this passion that has allowed us to trim waste from the process while focusing on fine details of tailoring and finish.  It has allowed us to make one piece at a time from beginning to end in just a few weeks from order the way you want it. 

Shown in our ad featured in the July issue of Architectural Digest, Traditional Home and House Beautiful along with the July/August issue of Veranda, is the new Elliott Wing Chair and Artisan Curved Front Chest with Overlay from our 1911 Collection in the foreground along with the Sophia Mirror by Thomas O'Brien where another version of the chair and chest are reflected.  Because almost 90% of our pieces are made by hand to order that we can offer this kind of personalization.  These pieces tease you with our ability to transform almost every piece we offer for you for your room.  A classic piece can become transitional with the change of finish and hardware or the look of a cherished antique with an aged finish and antiqued hardware.  Want to create your own version of the Artisan Curved Front Chest? Want to upholster your own version of the Elliott Wing Chair?  By clicking on their names you can become the upholsterer or finisher of these pieces.  You can try different hardware on the chest along with finish choices, a combination of two finishes and then hand striping to create your own creation.  

If you enjoyed this, we invite you to enter our first ever Centennial Design Challenge that begins this Wednesday.  Have you have designed that you wish could be made for your home or client?  Are you a student wishing that someone could make your piece?  Beginning this Wednesday you can become the furniture designer and enter our contest.  Join us as a Hickory Chair Furniture facebook friend.  Check back on Wednesday to www.hickorychair.com or www.facebook.com/hickorychairfurniture for all the details.  Maybe you'll win the grand prize!

Doing The Right Thing

My grandmother loved catching us doing something good.  She would smile, give us a big hug and thank us for seeing something positive that could be done for someone else.  It could be picking up a piece of litter, simply playing nicely with each other or running inside to get help for a baby bird that had fallen from its nest. 

We celebrate this spirit each day at Hickory Chair. We call it EDGE (Employees Dedicated to Growth and Excellence).  It is our journey of environmental stewardship and continuous improvement. We set internal goals and celebrate when we reach them (notice the circus tent!).  We celebrate recycling and repurposing efforts.  We love celebrating when we have designed the waste from the product itself so that there is nothing to be recycled or repurposed.  We celebrate safety, quality and other valuable goals.  

 We set a goal to become EFEC (Effecting Furniture's Environmental Culture) registered by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AFHA) and reached it in 2008.  We entered the contest for the first SAGE Award that was co-sponsored by the AHFA and Cargill.  We won not because of making the greenest product but because of a company-wide culture of doing the right thing... conserving materials and time, recycling and repurposing, and other efforts to control waste and the associated costs.  In 2010 we earned Sustainable By Design (SBD) registration also from the AHFA.  When a drought hit in 2010 we encouraged our employees to conserve water... let us know when a sink or water fountain had a trip or a toilet that ran.  Once everyone knew it was important and worked together, we reduced our water useage by 50%! 

With the rising cost of energy, we asked our team to help us reduce our need for power.  We began by turning off lights when we left our office or work station for meetings or breaks and this lead to turning off computers at night, not printing pages if they were not essential and other acts.  Our maintenance department replaced bulbs with energy saving styles along with new ballasts.  They installed heat reflective roofing in areas ready to be replaced.  The company then signed up for the program that would allow our power company, Duke Energy, to cut our power if a shortage occured due to cold or hot weather.  These countless acts of wise use of resources were noticed.  Hickory Chair was chosen as a 2010 Power Partner along with The Kroger Company - Cincinnati, Ohio; Greater Clark County Schools - Clark County, Indiana; Fabri-Kal - Greenville, South Carolina, Techtronic Industries - Anderson, South Carolina, the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System - Charlotte, North Carolina, DataChambers/Salem Business Park - Winston Salem, North Carolina; Davidson College - Davidson, North Carolina Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center - Winston Salem, North Carolina and Wells Fargo / Wachovia Bank - Charlotte, North Carolina.

On May 2nd, Hickory Chair had planned a picnic lunch for all 450 employees to celebrate a 100% safety record for the year.  Duke Energy contacted us about presenting Hickory Chair's employees with the 2010 Power Partner Award.  In addition, the AHFA had completed the hand carved award for the SAGE Award.  We invited both organizations to join us for our celebratory lunch.  We are proud that for 100 years we have worked hard to do the right thing making heirloom quality furniture in a safe environment for our talented artisans and craftsmen while conserving raw materials, energy and other wasteful factors.  we are proud that over 87% of our products are made by these artisans and craftsmen in Hickory, North Carolina.  We were caught doing the right thing.  We intend to be caught again in the future!

 

A Moment In Time For Our Very First Chair - The Surry Chair

Ever wonder how Hickory Chair got its name when we make so much more than just chairs and none of them are made from hickory wood?  We have to turn back over 100 years to brothers George and WaldronBailey who moved to Elkin, North Carolina from New York to begin a chair factory.  Their family owned a Pin or Dowel factory and the young entrepreneurstook their knowledge and began a dining chair company named the Elkin Chair Company in 1900. Within a year George purchased the rest of the company from Waldron and the George Bailey Chair Company was established.  In a few years George invited local Elkin businessmen to join him and the company became the Surry Chair Company.  

In 1911, George learned of Hickory, North Carolina's interest in replacing woodworking jobs lost to the demise of the wagon industry with furniture.  Hickory investors unanimously voted and invested their own money in the fledgling dining chair company that had only one style that it made.  Hickory Chair Manufacturing Company was established on September 19, 1911. 

It is unfortunate that we have no catalogs prior to 1930.  From the picture in this ad and this photograph from ebay, we knew this was the first chair.  Even then we made this chair with a pitch of the back that provided lumbar support and a top rail that was curved to fit the natural contour of ones shoulders.  Queen Anne styling was popular in the first decades of the 20th Century.

As we prepared our new collection to honor 100 years of furniture making we began with this chair.  What made it relevant for today?  Certainly the Queen Anne styling is not currently the rage today, but the benefits of the features did!  It was the comfort of the shape of the back and the practical scale of the chair.  From this inspiration our team created the new Surry Chair to launch the 1911 Collection.  Its quality has allowed the piece to become a modern day antique. 

Our modern version incorporates the comfortable back splat and contoured top rail.  Unlike the antique that inspired it, we created a custom engineered 8-way hand tied spring system that provides great comfort and support.  The Queen Anne styling was made clean with tapered legs with stretchers.  Our modern version is made in your choice of mahogany or ash wood with endless fabric, nail, leather and finish options.  It is crafted in this Hickory, North Carolina workroom where the vast majority is made... in fact over 87% of our entire product line is made in this American workroom.  We do not make fabric, leather, hardware, stone, glass, mirror or metal and have to purchase these materials as well as intricately hand carved pieces.  The rest is made here by almost 500 talented artisans and craftsmen.

We were very excited about this transformation when an email arrived from Jill Thomas.  Jill lives in California and was considering parting with her Grandmother's dining set that she had inherited.  She wondered who made the pieces and turned over a chair to see.  The labels were torn on each chair but she quickly knew they were made by Hickory Chair.  A simple search on her computer and she learned that Hickory Chair was in business still making chairs.  She contacted us and we were thrilled!  She had no idea that Hickory Chair was a 100 year old company.  Her grandparents were married in 1928.  Her father remembers the set as a boy.  He remembers that they always had them versus being purchased as he was a boy.  She is researching to find out, if she can, if the set was a wedding gift or handed down to them.  The set is in great condition.  We hope that IF she ever decides to part with them she will give us the opportunity to purchase them for our archives.  The set is heirloom quality which has made them sustainable.

We are trying to research the dining table for her as well.  We are not sure but are still researching it.  Since we do not have catalogs prior to 1930 it has been difficult to research.  If you have any pictures or catalogs from 1911 to 1930 we would love to have them for our archive. 

Do you have a story from our 100 years?  Please share it with us at press@hickorychair.com!  Interested in learning more about our history?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1911 Collection - The Centennial Collection by Hickory Chair

Turning 100 years old this year is very special for all the employees of Hickory Chair.  We want to say thank you to everyone who has chosen Hickory Chair pieces for their homes these past 100 years.  We enjoy receiving emails with pictures of family heirlooms and special finds at antique stores that so many of you have shared with us. 

This week we have introduced a very special new collection at the Spring International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina.  To create the 1911 Collection, a group of us perused our earliest catalogs.  As we reminiscedabout the products in these vintage catalogs beginning in the 1930's, we realized how beautiful and timeless many of the forms were.  We selected distinctive timeless pieces that we felt could be updated for today.  The result is a grouping of pieces that are respectful of their heritage but are decidedly modern! 

Normally you have to wait up to six months after market to see new pieces in stores, catalogs or web sites.  Not with Hickory Chair!  Our craftsmen in Hickory, North Carolina have already made pieces that have been ordered at market and are shipping them to the stores that ordered them!  Therefore, we have already posted the 1911 collection to our web site.   With over 87% of our entire product line made in Hickory by our talented craftsmen can offer custom finishes, sizes and other options that will allow you to personalize pieces for your home and made for you in just a couple weeks from order!

A Moment In Time For "The Cross Eyed Owl" Dining Chair

The great thing about classic design is that it is timeless.  The great thing about heirloom quality is that it can withstand use so that it can become an antique or an heirloom.  When you mix classic design with heirloom quality then you really have something special! 

If you have not visited ebay and searched for Hickory Chair you would likely be surprised with how many pieces the search will find.  Granted that there is a hickory bark furniture company that shows up when you type in Hickory Chair too, but on any given day you will find numerous heirlooms that the owner no longer needs but the quality of the pieces will not allow them to throw them away.  One could call this sustainable furniture since it can be repurposed or recycled to another family.
Yesterday a set of Chippendale dining chairs from Hickory Chair were sold on ebay.  The seller, Stenella Antiques, had a set of two 840-01 Chippendale Arm Chairs and eight 840-02 Chippendale Side Chairs that they had acquired from a family.  The set of chairs were in almost mint condition.  Two different requests came into Hickory Chair asking us to verify that they were truly Hickory Chair dining chairs.  Fortunately we were able to confirm that they were indeed our chairs. 

Hickory Chair made these chairs for many decades.  They were introduced in the early 1960's and were made for approximately 30-35 years.  In these years thousands of these mahogany chairs were crafted in the Hickory, North Carolina workroom.  These classic Chippendale chairs were nicknamed "the cross eyed owl back chairs" by fans. 

Recently Dean Farris, a designer from Naples, Florida wrote in his blog, Dean Farris Style about one of his favorite places, The Shackleford House, also known as The Pink House in Zillionville which is near Albany, Georgia. The dining room reminded him of the dining room at the Gasparilla Inn by Sister Parish.  As I surveyed the pictures I realized that our 840-02 Chippendale Side Chairs were used in an ivory painted finish.

Over ten years ago I stayed at the beautiful Roslyn Claremont Hotel in Roslyn, New York.  Upon entering my room I immediately recognized an 840-02 Chippendale Side Chair at the desk.  Today I found on their web site a room scene that showed that these heirloom quality chairs were still being used in the rooms.

Almost every day someone contacts Hickory Chair eager to learn more about Hickory Chair vintage pieces that they have inherited or purchased.  We try to help each person with any history about their piece.  It makes you feel proud to know that the pieces made by talented American craftsmen are still appreciated after the decades since they were made.  One hundred years and counting for Hickory Chair.  We are proud that we have capabilities that allow us to make over 87% of our entire product line in Hickory, North Carolina. 

Do you have a vintage Hickory Chair story to share?  Contact us at press@hickorychair.com.

A Moment In Time For All Time

Hickory Chair is proud to be celebrating its 100th year making furniture in Hickory, North Carolina this year!  This milestone has been made possible by the talented craftsmen making fine furniture to order since 1911.  Multiple generations of families have made Hickory Chair their home and career.  Their attention to detail and passion to make the finest product possible at a value has allowed the company to survive throughout wars, the depression, recessions and other powerful obstacles.  All 500 of us at Hickory Chair today thank all of the indivduals who selected our pieces during these 100 years and who aspire to add future pieces to their homes.

Recently we were contacted by a Hickory Chair fan who had purchased a James River Collection Queen Anne Low Boy for her home.  In researching the piece for Bethany we were able to tell her that the piece was approximately 50 years old.  When Hickory Chair celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1961 they also celebrated the 20th anniversary of the James River Collection with new pieces.  This Queen Anne Low Boy was part of the 20th anniversary collection! 

  Her piece had been crafted from fine mahogany solids and veneers and then finished in the standard Amber finish.  Over the 50 years of use the low boy had gained a rich patina from the natural burnishing from hands and use.  The original pristine finish had mellowed with wear on the corners, top and drawers and had faded in the sunlight over the years.  The original shiny solid brass hardware had developed a soft, antiqued patina over the years.  The piece had not been in a museum, but used every day.  The two drawers worked perfectly because they were crafted from fine American oak for the sides, back and bottom of the drawer.  The English dove tail joints had held the mahogany face and oak back of the drawer tight to the sides. Bethany loved the way the piece had aged over the years.  She lovingly cleaned and polished her James River heirloom piece and placed it in her home.  

 Once stated in the Charlotte Observer was a statement that "the greenest thing of all is something that does not need to be recycled".  Collecting heirloom quality furniture items and repurposing them for homes today is a form of sustainablity.  Because of their classic forms, clean lines and timeless design, pieces like this low boy can have a new life with a new family.  They have a new moment in time for all time.

 

A Dream Home With Style - Tony Stavish, Chicago, IL

  Tony Stavish, a Chicagoland interior desginer, was chosen to bring his vision of an eco-friendly home office to the 2010 Dream Home at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Illinois.  This is the latest honor in his 18 year career.  He is the owner of A. W. Stavish Designs.  We learned a bit about Tony from his web site, "Dubbed by House Beautiful Magazine as a rising star of Interior Design, Tony Stavish has, in the last eighteen years, created a unique voice in Chicago's design arena.

In the Fall of 2006, Andrew Martin selected Tony to be amongst the design elite in, "The Andrew Martin Interior Design Review". Additionally, Tony is now prominently featured on the Andrew Martin website.

House Beautiful featured three of his rooms in their 2004 Chicago Showhouse. www.housebeautiful.com, (keyword: 2004 Makeover Showhouse). In addition, Tony's work has appeared on the cover of numerous shelter magazines and, the book "Unmistakably French". ; Most recently, his own home graced the pages of, "Villa Décor", published by Gibbs Smith. His work has also been featured on HGTV's, "Small Spaces Big Style"."

He was chosen as the designer to create the Home Office portion of the Dream Home.  Each designer was challenged to make their room the ultimate in sophistication and comfort while being eco-friendly. Tony turned to various fabric companies whose fabrics were either linen, cotton or made from recycled plastic milk cartons. The Hickory Chair Camp Chair and Ottoman were upholstered in leather.  Their wooden frame was made from certified sustainable American hardwoods.  They were made in Hickory, North Carolina by a team of talented craftsmen and artisans.  The Hickory Chair-Pearson Interior Design Showroom at the Merchandise Mart assisted Tony with this project. Tony was selected to share his inspiration and story on the WGN TV station in Chicago.    

 The Dream Home will be open for the remainder of the year at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. 

Hickory Chair's Journey of Environmental Stewardship

As a maker of fine furnishings, we take pride that 87% of our entire product line is made in Hickory, North Carolina.  We make upholstery, dining tables, beds, armoires, cocktail tables and a host of other items.  Our 99 year old company has over 430 talented craftsmen that make these heirloom quality pieces.  This is special as so many furniture companies have lost the ability to make furniture domestically.  Another aspect that is very special is the focus each employee has on environmental stewardship.

 

Employees at Hickory Chair have continued their dedication to continuous improvement in an effort to increase quality, value, and personalized options for their customers. In 1997, they named their focused effort EDGE – Employees Dedicated to Growth and Excellence –and their results have transformed not only the product line itself but the way in which the products are made. One important outcome has been a commitment to improving the environment through a series of initiatives to reduce their environmental footprint and implementation of sustainable business practices.

 

In 2009 Hickory Chair began the process of earning Sustainable by Design registration by the AHFA. We are proud to announce that in April 2010 Hickory Chair has earned Sustainable by Design (SBD) registration. SBD is providing a roadmap for home furnishings companies to create a corporate culture of conservation and environmental stewardship by integrating socio-economic policies and sustainable business practices into their manufacturing operations and sourcing strategies.

In Hickory Chair’s case, Sustainability by Design is an extension of the EDGE culture and not a new thought process for the company. “Our employees are focused upon making fine furniture that is made to last in an environmentally friendly manner. We are proud that count less pieces of Hickory Chair furniture made in our 99-year history are being passed down from one generation to the next and not filling landfills. We believe that following the guidelines of not only SBD -Sustainability lity by Design but also EFEC – Effecting Furniture’s Environmental Culture will help us launch our second century responsibly and simply doing the right thing for the environment, our employees and the consumer who chooses Hickory Chair personalized pieces for their home” reflects Jay Reardon, president.

 

Hickory Chair has developed an Environmental Stewardship Policy which guides all activities in this area on the part of its operations and employees. The Policy states their overall goal as follows:

 

“Hickory Chair recognizes the importance of protecting the environment and conserving our natural resources for future generations. We are committed to responsible environmental stewardship in our dealings with customers, employees, suppliers, government, and our neighbors. The Hickory Chair commitment to responsible environmental stewardship is put into practice by integrating environmentally sound business practices into our strategic business plan and into our daily business decisions. ”

 

President Jay Reardon said, “At Hickory Chair, we believe the most significant thing we build isn’t furniture, its trust. Nothing is more important to our organization than the relationships we nurture with the employees, dealers and consumers we serve. It’s a conviction that fuels our quest for quality, creativity and excellence – and drives our commitment to listening constantly and responding thoughtfully. The Hickory Chair Environmental Stewardship Mission Statement expresses our conviction to act responsibly so that our employees, our customers, our suppliers, and our community can trust that we will manage our operations in a manner that demonstrates our commitment to sound environmental stewardship practices.

 

 The top management endorses the Hickory Chair Environmental Stewardship Policy and reviews it annually to ensure that its principles and goals remain in alignment with the company’s strategic business plan. The policy is communicated to all employees, prominently posted in the workroom and office and is available to the public upon request. Our goal is to recycle and repurpose all of our waste materials. Through EDGE, our employees are looking at ways to redesign our processes such that waste is prevented from being  created in the first place.”

 

Donna Musick, Hickory Chair’s Environmental Coordinator added, “The improvements generated by EDGE have made a tremendous di f ference on our ability to positively impact the environment, and can be grouped into three areas: better machine utilization which reduced energy consumption, process improvements that eliminated additional work or wasted materials, and the elimination of non-value added operations which improved productivity and reduced energy and materials usage, providing better values without compromise for our customers.”

 

Among the specific actions being taken by Hickory Chair are:

- Domestic wood is purchased from sustainable/renewable sources

- Beginning in 2007, catalogs and price lists meet FSC (Forest Sustainability Council) registration and are printed on paper that also meets FSC registration.

- Many of the fabrics offered are made of 100% natural/organic fibers

- New insulation and heat reflective roofing have been instal led to reduce energy costs

- Compressors have been updated which eliminated the need for a water cooling system, resulting in water conservation

- Wood dust is the primary fuel source for their boiler for the manufacturing process and facility heating, thus avoiding putting more than 2000 tons of wood biomass in the landfill.

 

Hickory Chair is proud to announce that in 2008 it became an EFEC (Enhancing Furniture’s Environment Culture) registered company. EFEC is sponsored by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) and was created to assist furniture companies in evaluating their operations to ensure continuous improvement of their environmental stewardship. Hickory Chair is one of a smal l group of furniture companies that are now EFEC registered. EFEC is a voluntary environmental management system for furniture manufacturers. The registration requires companies to use management tools that help the company integrate environmental concerns into daily business practices resulting in better environmental performance and improved profitability for the company. EFEC companies enjoy the benefits of increased environmental performance, the recognition as an environmental leader in the furniture industry, improved performance, and efficiency as well as improved regulatory compliance with an enhanced ability to track environmental costs. In addition, financial savings from better management of resources and raw materials results in less waste and recycling.

 

In 2008 the company was awarded the first ever prestigious Sage Award by the AHFA and Cargill. The purpose of the Sage Award is to seek out, discover, and recognize true industry innovators from whom others can learn. Winners will have demonstrated wisdom, experience and leadership within the home furnishings industry in the areas of sustainable business practices, social responsibility and profitable growth.

 

“Hickory Chair has demonstrated great visionary leadership in its efforts to move beyond compliance to effective environmental stewardship,” said Bill Perdue, AHFA’s VP of Environmental Affairs. “By embracing the core values of EFEC, the company is creating a corporate culture that will emphasize sustainable business practices and focus on continuous improvement that will result in a significant reduction of its environmental footprint.”

They Made It My Way

It is such a joy to walk through the workrooms at Hickory Chair.  Every day we are entrusted with making one-of-a-kind pieces for homes of fine furniture collectors.  It is because of the talented craftsmen who have chosen to practice their skill here in Hickory, North Carolina that we can offer personalization to the pieces made here.  Currently over 87% of our pieces are made in our workroom.  The remaining 13% are made by specialists who work with stone, metal, mirrors and other media that we can not produce here.

One of the pieces that caught our attention recently was a pair of 9626-70 Small Chests.  The designer chose our Venetian Blue paint for a pair of chests and asked that we match a pearlescent ivory paint color to stripe the chest.  In addition to the striping, they gave us a leaf pattern that they wanted hand painted on the top of the chest.  After receiving approval from the strike off we began the process of finishing and decorating a pair of chests.  The transparency of the pearlescent ivory striping adds elegance to the pieces. 

 

In this next example, the designer asked that we take the James River 2131-30 Sideboard and make it less traditonal.  First they chose our Antique Ivory paint finish.  Then they asked that we apply Antique Rub Light Gold striping.  To finish the piece they supplied their own hardware along with a drawing so that our craftsmen would have a guide to install the hardware. The result truly transformed the classic piece to a modern interpretation!

   

Just as I thought that we had done it all, we received this request!  A designer had a vision for the Morris Cocktail Table by Suzanne Kasler. The client liked the form of the table but wished that it had a clear glass top and a woven raffia shelf trimmed in nail head trim instead of the wood top and shelf.  In addition, they asked that we make the height 18 instead of 19 1/4 inches, make it 24 instead of 34 inches deep and 48 instead of 44 inches in length and then finish it in Soliel finish.  Our team took on the challenge and was able to make the cocktail table just as the client had wished. 

  

We enjoy making special pieces like these for families to enjoy for generations to come.  We make the pieces at a quality level that allow them to be refinished in the future if desired.  We make them to order and make them to last.  Hmmm... sounds like this effort makes them sustainable as well!