Support Your Local Woodworker

Yes, buying a handmade piece from a woodworker is more expensive than buying a mass-produced item. But you get a work of art as well as a functional item - and for some people, in some situations, the cost is well worth it. (And you can get something made to the exact dimensions you need, which can be very helpful.) And woodworkers don't just make furniture - they also make some nice storage boxes.

Here a just a few examples of the amazing range of products you can find. I'm going to start in California and move more-of-less eastward on this short tour - although I'll bounce around a bit on the U.S. east coast.

You're just not going to find something like Harry Von Ornum's geta-boku (shoe bench), shown above, in your big box store. Harry is part of Four Sisters Woodworking in Fort Bragg, California.




Sue Spray, in Southern California, makes wood tackle boxes - how cool is that? (She makes other things, too.)




Deborah Keese and Alan Freund of Ann Arbor, Michigan make jewelry boxes and other wooden boxes.




This chest from Andrew Pitts in Virginia grabbed my attention immediately.




Even in black and white, you can tell these art nouveau bookshelves from William Doub in Deerfield, New Hampshire are knock-your-socks-off wonderful.




Marge Felder in Clarksville, Georgia, makes small wooden objects - including these keychain toothpick holders or pill holders.




Brian Reid of Maine made this stunning chest.




Crossing the ocean, we come to Karl Gill in County Offaly, Ireland, who made this unusual cabinet.




Allan Lake in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, makes some very eye-catching stuff.





Circling back around to Kamuela, Hawaii, Holden & Holden Designs has some pretty amazing boxes.




And finally, let's change hemispheres and go to Perth, Western Australia, where Neil and Pam Erasmus make both furniture and boxes.




And in Coledale NSW, Stuart Montague makes furniture - both traditional and not. You can find some of his pieces - plus other interesting work - at Naturally Australian.


[Thanks to the San Francisco Chronicle's articles on California woodworkers, which inspired this post.]

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Furniture for Storage: Chimney Cupboards or Cabinets