Talking with our Woodturning Forum Host Lew Kauffman over on FWW Discussion got me to thinking. What type of furnishings do our members like to build, or purchase? What type of furniture do you not like? Don't worry about offending anyone, we are all pragmatic folks here from what I can see.

Or, what would you love to build, but our skills just aren't there yet? And what do you feel most comfortable building?

Thanks for your feedback!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

I really like Mission style furniture. I like the pegged mortise & tenon construction. It reminds me of post & beam construction architecture. It has clean lines and shows off the wood without the need for carved feet or adornments and when coupled with contrasting woods it can be very stunning yet simple to the eye and it highlights the craftsmanship in the joinery. 

Hello John,

As you most likely know that my favorite furniture to build in Arts and Crafts style for each piece is an individual piece even if it is to be typical of the rest of the pieces such as the chairs for a parairie style table. To make a second chair that would be exactly like the first on or even the second chair for that matter.

I used to be high on Victorian pieces but, grew sour because of the repiticiaous aspects. Art Deco never did appeal to me at all so I never tried to make any. As you stated to each his own.

Thanks for your iniation of this post.

Ralph

My favorite is Shaker. I like the simplistic, functional beauty of the shaker design.

The one piece of furniture I want to build, but I'm not there yet, is a rocking chair fashioned after one of my ancestor's design- a Stottlemyer Rocker.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

In our home we have an assortment of Mission, Craftsman, Bungalow and Arts & Crafts styles of furniture, colors and designs. Being from So. Calif. where there is a very strong Spanish/Mexican flavor as well as A&C/Craftsman design and architecture, they all blend in together well. But with that, I am not a slave to any one design/style but like the variety and color palette with the muted reds, greens and browns.

Over the years I have made a number of pieces which fit into the mix along with the furniture and furnishings that we purchase. Our family room and kitchen area is very much in this style while the living room and dining room are more "country" which my wife personally likes. But with the floor plan of our home, there is a clean division so there is no problem with the transition as the color palettes are similar.

Here is a photo of the A&C style bathroom vanity that I made last year as well as the A&C style fireplace and surround that I did in 2010. I still have a ways to go to tie the rest of the room together, but we are working on it little by little.

This is a Mission style rug hanger that I made about 12 years ago for the rug that we purchased while in Arizona. The funny thing is that the rug was actually made in Pakistan, but I am sure that it was made in the "southwest" part :-)

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

I like the hanger! My mom makes quilts, I may have to do something like this for her.

Allen Worsham said:

In our home we have an assortment of Mission, Craftsman, Bungalow and Arts & Crafts styles of furniture, colors and designs. Being from So. Calif. where there is a very strong Spanish/Mexican flavor as well as A&C/Craftsman design and architecture, they all blend in together well. But with that, I am not a slave to any one design/style but like the variety and color palette with the muted reds, greens and browns.

Over the years I have made a number of pieces which fit into the mix along with the furniture and furnishings that we purchase. Our family room and kitchen area is very much in this style while the living room and dining room are more "country" which my wife personally likes. But with the floor plan of our home, there is a clean division so there is no problem with the transition as the color palettes are similar.

Here is a photo of the A&C style bathroom vanity that I made last year as well as the A&C style fireplace and surround that I did in 2010. I still have a ways to go to tie the rest of the room together, but we are working on it little by little.

This is a Mission style rug hanger that I made about 12 years ago for the rug that we purchased while in Arizona. The funny thing is that the rug was actually made in Pakistan, but I am sure that it was made in the "southwest" part :-)

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

Here is a photo of another hanger that I made for our living room about 8-10 years ago in more of a Shaker style. The quilt was made by my Grandmother as a gift for our first Christmas after we got married in 1984.

Lewis Kauffman said:

I like the hanger! My mom makes quilts, I may have to do something like this for her.

I think my Mom would really like something like that for one of her really old quilts.

Thanks.

Allen Worsham said:

Here is a photo of another hanger that I made for our living room about 8-10 years ago in more of a Shaker style. The quilt was made by my Grandmother as a gift for our first Christmas after we got married in 1984.

Lewis Kauffman said:

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

http://www.awcreationsandwoodcrafts.com

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

I am a fan of Shaker style. As Lew I like the simplistic yet functional pieces. I also like the Arts and Crafts style. I do like to try different pieces. I have never built anything in the Art Deco style. There are aspects of it that I like.

I am also a fan of the federal style.

I don't know that there are any styles that I just really don't like.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

First: Comfy after that appearances.

I don't have a style I prefer.

There are styles I don't prefer.

A couple of years ago I started making Windsor chairs.  I find them to be simple yet elegant.  Also, there are enough variations and types of Windsor chairs that the challenges are not going to end any time soo.

Because almost all of the work is done with hand tools I think one of the things that appeals to me is the quiet.  That may be a sign of old age.  Don't get me wrong, I have not abandoned my power tools.  I have a project with over a dozen different cabinets in the shop right now.  Not much hand tool work on those.

Mission and Craftsman styles are my favorites. 

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

We have a few different pieces in our house. I am working on ( very slowly ) a Queen Anne Table for our living room. The Victorian style is something we both like. I also really like the Greene and Greene style. Simple elegant and speaks for itself when done right. If I were to redo my house, I would probably go with a mix of craftsman and mission style, with some Greene and Greene accents.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Interesting responses folks. I love the variations and diversity in styles on our site.

For myself I'd have to say straight lines, clean curves and flowing grains, my favorite wood is Walnut and Cherry and I love 60's Modern and 50's.

A nice example of Vintage Modern

I also love Danish Modern

The Rockers I am doing right now with the help of Hal Taylor have Danish written all over them. Thick hard woods, strong joinery, and a lot of oil.

Colonial is rolling up to be my next favorite. I think a few years ago folks were having a hard time differentiating country and colonial and it kind of got mixed in with country and lost it's power amongst the masses.

I love simple colonial, sure I love the ball and claw as much as the next guy, but the simplistic almost shaker like furnishings of the colonial appeal to me the most.

This dresser, is within my reach to build, when you start throwing in small carved corbels and twists, you loose me. Not only do I find it too busy, but I can't build it either.

The above furnishings are not my creations.

Below is a chest I made a couple years ago, I love this style, and I want to do more

I could see myself really enjoying period furnishings. I like trying to replicate the original build as much as possible, and as I get more and more in depth with my hand tools, the way it's made is really going to play heavily into what we do in the future.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

I am a fan of arts and crafts style. I love the exposed joinery and creative feel. I also like Shaker style furniture for its perfect simplicity.

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Adam Welker
Red Car Construction and Fine Woodworking

Beautiful chest! Tiger maple is becoming a favorite wood of mine and that is a wonderful example.

John Morris said:

Interesting responses folks. I love the variations and diversity in styles on our site.

For myself I'd have to say straight lines, clean curves and flowing grains, my favorite wood is Walnut and Cherry and I love 60's Modern and 50's.

A nice example of Vintage Modern

I also love Danish Modern

The Rockers I am doing right now with the help of Hal Taylor have Danish written all over them. Thick hard woods, strong joinery, and a lot of oil.

Colonial is rolling up to be my next favorite. I think a few years ago folks were having a hard time differentiating country and colonial and it kind of got mixed in with country and lost it's power amongst the masses.

I love simple colonial, sure I love the ball and claw as much as the next guy, but the simplistic almost shaker like furnishings of the colonial appeal to me the most.

This dresser, is within my reach to build, when you start throwing in small carved corbels and twists, you loose me. Not only do I find it too busy, but I can't build it either.

The above furnishings are not my creations.

Below is a chest I made a couple years ago, I love this style, and I want to do more

I could see myself really enjoying period furnishings. I like trying to replicate the original build as much as possible, and as I get more and more in depth with my hand tools, the way it's made is really going to play heavily into what we do in the future.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops

Thanks Adam!

Adam Welker said:

Beautiful chest! Tiger maple is becoming a favorite wood of mine and that is a wonderful example.

John Morris said:

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Adam Welker
Red Car Construction and Fine Woodworking

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Wounded Warrior Project and Homes For Our Troops