Craig Thomas White

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United States
York, ME
Craig Thomas White

Designer & craftsman of custom furniture and cabinetry.

12/06/2025

Chases Pond Kitchen in York, Maine. A crisp “Japandi” style kitchen in rift sawn white oak finished in clear matte lacquer.

11/25/2025

Pepperell Way Kitchen in York, Maine. Cherry, birch and waterborne lacquer.

11/23/2025

Oceanview Kitchen at Gerrish Island, Maine. Sapele, honduran mahogany and ammonia fumed bronze.

12/19/2022

Art Deco drinks cabinet in white oak, mixed metals and green velvet.

A fun piece to work on. And by ‘fun’ I mean challenging. Most furniture darkens naturally with time, exposure and use. It darkens further when an owner decides to cover damage or wear with chocolate brown stain. 👎🏻 It isn’t always possible to fully reverse that staining but you can walk it backwards - a bit - and find a tone that’s pleasing and appropriate. I went for the mellow old glow of well cared for antique furniture. A little red, a little amber… and there you go. No more brown.

The hardware is an interesting mix of solid copper, brass and steel. Love that door pull.

The interior was missing its liners. I took liberties and fabricated upholstered panels in vintage green velvet.

Nice little piece. Weighs an absolute ton.

08/27/2022

Philippine Palace Chair. Late 19th century. Red Narra Wood & Cane. Finished in traditional varnish and hand rubbed with wax.

It was a challenging restoration. Fabricating new parts to match the old. Sourcing worthy material with which to fabricate parts. Resisting the urge to remove tool marks. (Imperfections are the beauty in all great antique furniture.)

When I look at this piece I can see the influence of several cultures and the transition of period styles. A rare and beautiful bird, for sure. She's homeward bound...

05/31/2022

The Dolden-Petry Cabinet.

82” x 28” x 20”. Locally sourced Cherry and natural linen. Hand-rubbed Schroeder varnish.

I remember talking with a friend about the pandemic. Specifically, had the pandemic impacted our businesses. I said, “No.” And then I waited more than two months for a $15 replacement part to arrive. Whattayagonnado…

Like the Saarinen inspired table before it, the Dolden-Petry cabinet is made from Cherry harvested from family property in New Hampshire. Lovely stuff. If I were forced to choose one material to work with for the remainder of my years, I’d choose Cherry harvested in New England.

At its core, the cabinet is pure Nakashima - a triple sliding door cabinet with style notes from a conoid room divider. The case top is dovetailed to the sides, the cabinet back is frame and panel, the doors move effortlessly on wooden slides and the whole business floats over a deceptively simple base.

The cabinet will join its companion dining table in Boston tomorrow. Ultimately, they’re headed to the clients mid-century home in Palm Springs.

Thanks for listening and have yourself a fine afternoon…

05/10/2022

Jardiniere. Mahogany, ebony & vintage copper.

I found the copper basin in my parents collection. Maybe not antique but definitely old, it was well on its way to verdigris. I thought it might make an interesting liner.

The stand is mahogany. Such a fantastic material to work with. The pins are made from ebony.

I had no drawings or plans for this piece - just a beat up old copper basin, a decent selection of mahogany and an idea. Sometimes no plan is the best plan...

03/09/2022

Shop photos of a recent restoration project.

This 19th century partners desk arrived mostly intact. It wasn't a restorers definition of a 'basket case' but there were pieces in ziplocks bags and others entirely missing. And if there's a bad way to repair something, I found it. Hammered over nails, sheet rock screws, hot melt glue and tinted urethane. Sometimes I wonder if objects can exact karmic revenge on their previous owners...

Because the desk was far removed from original condition, we opted to refit drawers and doors from their partners configuration to one that benefits a single user. Doors and drawers that swing to one side, that is.

I tell clients that my goal is not to gloss over history but to embrace it. To deliver a fully restored piece that looks like a well respected antique.

I love the interplay of colors, textures and tone. New leather on an old surface. Bright brass hardware against old, mellow oak. Nicks and dings under silky smooth varnish.

The desk ships home this week. It's been an interesting project.

12/22/2021

Delivering the to it's lovely new home overlooking the York River. The case is black lacquered Ash, the interior European Beech, the glass is hand-poured plate called River Ice (totally appropriate) and the hardware is hammered aluminum, made here in the shop. A fun project for a great client...

10/09/2021

Might be awhile before proper images of this table bubble to the surface so 'shop photos' it is...

I've been working with a couple from Boston (Dorchester, specifically) who inherited the lumber from an old Cherry tree that once stood on family property in New Hampshire. Must have been one helluva tree - the slabs are enormous. Field sawn native Cherry is unique. Unlike commercially available kiln dried Cherry, it's color is vibrant. And it's grain is peculiar. Almost unruly. There's wind shake and natural fissures to side-step, so the waste factor is pretty high. Fruit woods, left to grow as they like, tend to twist and turn. Working with this material is a challenge, basically.

To conserve material, I opted to resaw the best lumber into veneer. The table top is what I'd consider the A grade veneer. The B grade used for the underside. Commercially available cherry lumber between. It makes for a stable sandwich. All of that mated to a white Saarinen tulip table base.

The finish is Schreuder alkyd varnish. The coats are brushed on, leveled flat, then wet sanded to 2000 grit. Automotive compounds round out the glossy sheen. It's a bit of work but the results are beautiful and durable.

The remainder of this tree is being used for a large credenza. That project is in the shop now. Rendered in the Nakashima Conoid style, it should be quite a thing. More on that later...

08/30/2021

That business about the cobblers kids going barefoot - it's true. And so is cabinetry and furniture makers making do with, well, less than stellar storage solutions. I'm pretty low on my own to-do list. Anyhoo. I (finally) made a rod tube rack. It's for the rods I use most, fresh and salt.

Lots of ways to store rods and tubes but I prefer the open design of an umbrella stand. It accommodates a wide variety of shapes and diameters as well as the occasional wading staff. Traditionally joined. Made of Cherry with a quarter-sawn frame and panel White Pine interior. Finished with linseed oil.

Easy in, easy out. A place to drop the favorites...

07/02/2021

The Garrick Dining Table. An unusual project built with unusual materials during an unusual time. The table is 48"R expandable to 66" and 84" by way of two 18" leaves. The material is primarily salvage grade timber. The yellow pine base coming from some unknowable 19th century seascoast area mill renovation - the white pine top coming specifically from the demolition of an early 19th century home in Kennebunkport, Maine. The finish is linseed oil under a traditionally worked Schreuder varnish. The result is something special - warm toned, soft to the touch and easy to live with.

Photographed in my workshop and home but now serving its full purpose in York Harbor...

Address

York, ME
03909

Website

http://www.craigthomaswhite.com/

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