Bret Cavanaugh Modern Design

Bret Cavanaugh Modern Design Bret Cavanaugh designs custom furniture and architectural pieces with a modern aesthetic and an old-world craftsmanship.

Having grown up across the river from New Hope, Pennsylvania, Bret has long drawn inspiration from Phillip Lloyd Powell and Paul Evans. He even has Powell’s table saw and a number of his tools in his workshop. But it’s their bold, self-sufficient attitudes, more so than the landmark furniture borne from their collaborations, that steer his own impulses. Essential as a dining table, an armoire, and

a sideboard may be, they should never be taken for granted. That mindset nurtured the seeds that grew into the Trophy Series, a collection Bret crafted specifically for exhibition at the 2016 International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City. He’d been designing and making furniture and accessories in his Milford, New Jersey, studio for 10 years at that point, but it was the prominence of the stage that seemed to finally announcehis arrival. He’s since proven to be one of the most imaginative minds working in the field. The commissions that have followed share little in common. But the intricacy of the designs and the unorthodox juxtaposition of materials, it all attests to a thoughtful, intensive craftsmanship.

I’ve dedicated a lot of my blog to studying The Trophy Series from different angles, and that was largely for my benefit...
11/15/2018

I’ve dedicated a lot of my blog to studying The Trophy Series from different angles, and that was largely for my benefit. My focus has probably never been as tight as it was while I was building that furniture. My days ebbed and flowed almost entirely with that dining table, vanity, cabinet, and sideboard. To the extent that when I returned to my workshop after I finished them, I moved around for a while in a bit of a daze. The last year had become a blur, and I didn't know what to do next. Keep reading: http://bit.ly/trophyrevisted.

My favorite salvage finds through the years are not always the most valuable. In fact, they’re rarely valuable. Instead,...
11/09/2018

My favorite salvage finds through the years are not always the most valuable. In fact, they’re rarely valuable. Instead, they’re the things that have the most personal meaning attached to them. They were stashed away by their owners, usually with no intent to capitalize on them. Maybe there was a plan to recycle them in some way down the road that was never realized. But, often, it was enough for them to just know their things were nearby. http://bit.ly/2AQ0rGV

The sycamore slab was small, but I knew right away what I wanted to do with it. The question was, could I pull off the b...
10/31/2018

The sycamore slab was small, but I knew right away what I wanted to do with it. The question was, could I pull off the base that I envisioned for it? Yes. But it was tedious work. I carved it, installed an aluminum bottom, then wrapped the whole thing in half-inch aluminum bars in the same fashion that women wear neck rings in the ancient African and Asian tradition of neck elongation. The ultimate silhouette resembles an exaggerated hourglass figure. It’s not as pronounced as it is with the mail bin, but the table, too, finds its identity in the dynamic between two contrasts: the minimal manipulation of the live-edge tabletop and its base, which mimics one of the oldest kinds of body modification around. Read more: http://bit.ly/bcmdhobart.

About eight years ago, I did a clean-out of an old garage in Washington Crossing. A simple four-slot, rectangular mail b...
10/25/2018

About eight years ago, I did a clean-out of an old garage in Washington Crossing. A simple four-slot, rectangular mail bin that looked every day of 40- or 50-years-old was one of the few things that I held onto. There was just something about it—the ways the wood was perfectly weathered, the brilliant turquoise paint, worn away in all the right spots and dulled just enough by age—that said I could never replicate this bin if I tried. So I didn’t. I straightened it out and reinforced it and happily left it at that. The rest of my time was invested below the bin, creating a stainless-steel stand. The contrast between the raw edges and the precise lines creates, I think, a pretty compelling juxtaposition. http://bit.ly/bcmdhobart

I fall in love with a home when I can see it clearly for what it once was. To the untrained eye, it probably doesn’t loo...
10/17/2018

I fall in love with a home when I can see it clearly for what it once was. To the untrained eye, it probably doesn’t look like much. And the inclination, then, would be to paint the brick white and knock down some walls to grow the kitchen and the living room. But I see the remnants of the original copper gutters on the back of the house and I want to repair them, not tear them down. The same for the molding inside. In a home steeped with inherent design, you’re never diminishing it when you can reconnect with the original vision. http://bit.ly/2PzqF5w

Some of you know me well. For the rest of you, allow me to share a little more about myself and how I am where I am. Dur...
10/11/2018

Some of you know me well. For the rest of you, allow me to share a little more about myself and how I am where I am. During one especially curious stretch of my early adulthood, I studied machinery, leatherwork, metal fabrication, and welding. I even built and manned my own food truck. I finally gravitated to furniture design largely because it allowed me to utilize my entire arsenal. Which is something that remains integral to every one of my projects today. http://bit.ly/2ycAT42

Growing up near New Hope, the furniture Phillip Lloyd Powell and Paul Evans crafted was some of my earliest influences. ...
10/04/2018

Growing up near New Hope, the furniture Phillip Lloyd Powell and Paul Evans crafted was some of my earliest influences. I even own Powell’s table saw and a number of his tools, all of which are still part of the regular rotation. But these days, I’m drawn as much to their imagination and their confidence in pursuit of it as I am their unparalleled craftsmanship. After all, it’s one thing to be respected as a technician, quite another to be revered as an artist. http://bit.ly/2ycAT42

My recycled furniture is probably not what you’re used to. My aim is not to elaborate on or accentuate an original desig...
09/19/2018

My recycled furniture is probably not what you’re used to. My aim is not to elaborate on or accentuate an original design but, rather, to build a wholly-new, polished design from a few exceptional elements. http://bit.ly/2KCvZWz

Furniture needs to be functional. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be sculptural, too. http://bit.ly/BCMDTrophy
09/12/2018

Furniture needs to be functional. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be sculptural, too. http://bit.ly/BCMDTrophy

With every original creative expression, there’s someone behind it, someone who had very specific ideas for it. Someone ...
09/05/2018

With every original creative expression, there’s someone behind it, someone who had very specific ideas for it. Someone who likely laid awake at night, wrestling with how to implement them in exactly the ways they envisioned. http://bit.ly/2PhQXIV

As a furniture designer, I’d like to think that I’m unique in my vision and a perfectionist in my ex*****on. Am I a mode...
08/30/2018

As a furniture designer, I’d like to think that I’m unique in my vision and a perfectionist in my ex*****on. Am I a modern designer in the truest sense of the category? Probably not. There are certainly modern elements to my furniture. But what I always intended to imply is that I’m not duplicating a historical design. And that’s because I have too much respect for the original designs and designers that have come before mine. http://bit.ly/2PhQXIV

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Upper Black Eddy, PA

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