The Handmade Table

08/26/2025

We don't often make pieces like this but this one turned out so nice I thought you might like to see it. The material used was from a circa late 1700's hand hewn log.

05/19/2025

This is a closeup of one of the doors with very, very rare natural character.

05/19/2025

This is a full picture of the cabinet. It was made from extremely old siding boards from an 1830's carriage house. The character you see was from all natural weathering. It took some work to bring out the natural patina and beauty.

05/19/2025

Just completed this amazing cabinet and took this equally amazing photo I thought you might enjoy seeing

03/15/2025

Just made this wonderful antique wood counter top

03/01/2025

This table is a great example of the idea that furniture made from antique materials are not all rustic.

The piece you see here was made from very, very old maple that was part of what is known as a "box house". A box house was a way of constructing a house where the foundation and floor were laid into place and then a giant wooden box was built on top of the floor. This was done by placing large planks of wood horizontally, one on top of the other, until the overall height of the walls was reached. There were no openings for doors and windows which meant one had a giant wooden "box" at that point. When the box was built the roof, 2nd floor and the gables were installed. At that point the builder cut the door and window opening into the box, installed the siding and interior paneling. The net effect was that the owner had an airtight wall with actually some insulation value.

My best regards,
David Grant Howard

Browse additional pictures of this table in the comments.

Kindly send a message for details. If you would prefer to call, we would be happy to assist you at 865-296-4552 or you can reach us by email at [email protected].

So, with that material to work with, this table was made and now calls home a house on the side of a hill somewhere in the Bahamas.

02/27/2025

02/26/2025

What a great table this turned out to be.

It is made from solid mahogany which is very, very unusual to find in antique wood. I am really not sure what the origin of the boards was but I bought them from an old Mennonite farmer who had them in his barn and unfortunately, he could not tell me where they came from.

Too bad about not being able to get the history but that happens sometimes.

So about the table. It is 108 inches long and about 44 inches wide. The base is a design given to us by the client which we scaled up to match the scale of the table.

My last comment about it is that it was VERY heavy!

My best regards,
David Grant Howard

Browse additional pictures of this table in the comments.

Kindly send a message for details. If you would prefer to call, we would be happy to assist you at 865-296-4552 or you can reach us by email at [email protected].

02/19/2025

One design strategy I like a lot is the juxtaposition of the old and the new.

That combination seems to fit into a lot, but not all, design motifs and has the effect of "softening" the newness of a more traditional/modern look. Carefully done, showing off the unexpected, whether subtle or bold is an attention grabber. Although the original intent for this was to create a table, this configuration is actually a desk. That is plain enough to see but worth pointing out as it could have just as easily been a table.

A little information about it is that the piece was made from a very old threshing floor table top married with an unusual glass base. This table sold some time ago of course but I thought you might enjoy seeing what we did with this.

The thrust of this post, and many of my other submissions, is to stir the creative pot so to speak and help my followers develop their own sense of what can be done by bringing in elements of different ages and time periods to create a very different but aesthetically appealing look.

Have a great snow day those of you that are in the path of the storms today.

My best regards,
David Grant Howard

Kindly send a message for details. If you would prefer to call, we would be happy to assist you at 865-296-4552 or you can reach us by email at [email protected].

02/18/2025

The best way to open the story of this table is that I delivered it myself.

The customer and I had developed a relationship over the time of the design and construction, and since he was relatively close to us, I made the decision to deliver it so we could meet. The delivery was easy, but getting it into the house was a huge deal. In the end, it took six of us to get it into place, and that was without the bases being attached.

The table itself was made from pine boards that were part of an early factory building. As you know, we do not stain our pieces, so what you see is the original patina, which is quite beautiful and very unique. The table is 55 inches wide and 108 inches long. The base we put under it was made by combining two pedestal bases scaled up to match the size of the table.

My best regards,
David Grant Howard

Browse additional pictures of this table in the comments.

Kindly send a message for details. If you would prefer to call, we would be happy to assist you at 865-296-4552 or you can reach us by email at [email protected].

02/14/2025

Greetings everyone,

One objective with my posts is to get fresh and up to date photos of pieces we made out for you to see. This is a desk that came out of the shop yesterday and will ship tomorrow. One has to be on your toes to be sure the fun stuff gets through photography before it gets out the door.

So, what you see here is something we just made for a client. Note that it has a waterfall sides and a solid front. (This is to hide electrical wires, plugins and so on.) It has holes in the top for electronics and an optional riser for a computer monitor. The desk, or something similar can be made in any dimensions needed. The dimensions for this one were very specific as the space it needed to go into was confined.

My best regards,
David Grant Howard

Browse additional pictures of this table in the comments.

Kindly send a message for details. If you would prefer to call, we would be happy to assist you at 865-296-4552 or you can reach us by email at [email protected].