Hardwood Furniture
Shaker Furniture: What’s the Wood of Choice?
Back in the 19 century, the original Shakers built their furniture with woods harvested from their own land, including maple, walnut, oak, cherry, beech, poplar and ash. What’s your favorite wood species for Shaker style furniture?
We’re in the middle of a Shaker furniture sale and I can’t help but notice that almost all the pieces customers have bought have been of a single wood species. We offer a choice of four woods on most of our furniture: maple, cherry, oak and walnut. Which one do you think is the favorite?
Back in the 19 century, the original Shakers built their furniture with woods harvested from their own land. According to Nancy Fischer of BuildDirectBlog, “In the east, this included pine, maple, ash, birch, cherry, hickory and butternut. In the west, walnut, cherry, beech and poplar were used”.
Today’s most popular wood (amongst our customers, anyway) for Shaker furniture is indeed one of those nine woods used 150 years ago. Hint: it’s the wood shown in the photo. OK, it’s cherry wood. I’m not sure why cherry has stormed itself to the top of the best seller list so forcefully but it is a beautiful wood. Woodworkers love it because it’s easy to work with, stains and finishes well with natural oil, and ages beautifully.
Customers love cherry’s clean grain and reddish-brown color that develops a rich patina over time. The fact that cherry wood lasts forever (as demonstrated by some of the valuable antique Shaker furniture originating in Vermont and New England) doesn’t hurt either.
Which wood do you like best for Shaker style furniture? Let us know on our Facebook or comment below.
Inquiry of the Week | Mom’s New Coffee Table
One can only assume when I popped out, kid number 5, over 22 years ago, my mother rationalized, “That’s probably enough- one of them will keep me out of a nursing home.” Well, the results aren’t in for that prospect yet (the sanity clock miraculously ticks on), though she does occasionally reap the benefits of breeding an army. One of them- awesome Christmas presents. When we get our pockets together, the Francese kids can really rev up the opportunity to give back; this Christmas, Mom was blessed with a new coffee table.
Mom’s New Coffee Table
A second-hand store enthusiast, Mom has an eclectic array of furnishings sprinkled through out her home. When it came to designing this beauty, she had a few goals in mind. First it had to match a very unique, sofa-table-esque piece she must have found at the corner of Lost and Forgotten. Of course, the sofa-table thing undeniably brings the room together but it is a one of a kind in terms of build and style. Second, it had to be large enough for five grandchildren to simultaneously play, color and read. Third, it had to withstand the sticky, smearing, careless hands of those same five grandchildren (with the inevitability of more to come).
Mom’s Small Army
We threw all that into the Vermont Woods Studios custom furniture crock pot and, in due time, served the beauty now resting front and center in the family room. The top is a natural Cherry with a rustic finish to match the antiquated look Mom loves so much. The base is Maple, painted black. I chose Maple for its durability and light color. Overtime, the Cherry will darken and serve a smooth transition from bottom to top. And finally the finish-a non-toxic, kid friendly and kid resistant, lacquer.
Mom is thrilled with her new coffee table and the results her small army is yielding. And next year? Her outdoor coffee table won’t last for long- why not some Polywood furniture that will last a lifetime!
Christmas 2013?
Best Selling Style: Shaker Furniture
For every room in the house, our best selling furniture pieces are shaker style. Top: Vermont Shaker Moon Bed. Bottom: Vermont Made Shaker Custom Dining Table, Vermont Shaker Bookcase, Classic Shaker Writing Desk
What do our best selling pieces have in common? They’re all Shaker style! For every room in the house, our Shaker furniture pieces always come out on top. Our Shaker style furniture ranges from traditional styles featuring elegant straight lines to more modern shaker furniture that incorporate contemporary round lines into the design. Shaker furniture has been made since the 1700′s, and our craftsmen have dedicated themselves to keep the same simplistic, functional, and sturdy design in every piece of Shaker furniture they craft.
Shaker Bedroom Furniture
Our online gallery features almost 100 pieces of Shaker style bedroom pieces. Although it’s a close tie between pieces that are most popular, the Vermont Shaker Moon Bed is our best selling bed. The Vermont Shaker Moon Bed features traditional tapered legs and gorgeous arching curves in the headboard and footboard. Like most pieces of Shaker furniture, this bed is most popular in natural cherry wood.
Shaker Dining Furniture
It’s easy to see why the Vermont Made Shaker Custom Dining Table is most popular among our customers. It is simple in design, sturdily built for years of use, and is built to order so it can perfectly match your kitchen or dining room. Like it says in it’s name, this dining table is customizable. What does that mean? Customize your table size in 12 solid top sizes and 18 extension table sizes. Customize your table top shape to be rectangular, oval or boat shaped. Customize your table in natural cherry, maple or walnut wood.
Shaker Living Room Furniture
Shaker furniture, renowned for it’s sturdy design, is a perfect style for living room furniture. When putting your life collection of books or antique display plates on a bookshelf, it’s important to feel confident that it will remain sturdy. Our Shaker style hardwood bookcases are crafted to last a lifetime (guaranteed). They will remain strong for years to come, so you can feel certain that your precious belongings will be safe. Our most popular bookcase is the Vermont Shaker Bookcase. It is crafted in a small workshop near Vermont’s state capital, Montpelier, using sustainably harvested hardwoods with a non-toxic finish.
Shaker Home Office Furniture
The Classic Shaker Writing Desk is our most popular piece of home office furniture. It is available in three distinct leg styles: flair (shown as the product’s main image), tapered or mission style. You can see these three styles by clicking the gray question mark next to the leg style option. Further customize this piece by choosing from three sizes, and three drawer options. This shaker style desk is a great option for a home office or business.
Good News For You
All of our Shaker style furniture is on sale! You can buy our best selling pieces at a great price. The more you buy, the more you save. Take 10% off one piece, 15% off two pieces, or 20% off three pieces. It’s the perfect excuse to buy a bed and nightstands; dining table and chairs; bookcase and end tables; or a desk with a few file cabinets. All of our furniture is handcrafted in Vermont with natural wood. Receive free shipping and a lifetime guarantee during this sale! Copeland Furniture is an exception to this Shaker furniture sale; however, the Copeland Sarah Shaker Collection is always priced with a low price guarantee.
Start browsing our online gallery today. If you have any questions our fine furniture specialists are available by phone, live chat, or email.
Dominion Bedroom Furniture: The Week’s Best Seller
Copeland’s Dominion Bedroom Furniture set was our best seller last week. Think maybe it’s because this picture is so cheerful? Who wouldn’t want their bedroom to look like this, especially when coming out of a long winter — heading into Spring.
Copeland’s Dominion bedroom furniture set was our best seller last week. I love this picture, but the cool thing about Dominion is that you can customize it online to look exactly like this (above) or give it a totally different style. The photo above shows this high end bedroom set in natural cherry wood, although you can change the color online and add one of 3 stains: cognac cherry, saddle cherry or smoke cherry. For example, here’s a photo of the same Dominion bedroom in saddle cherry, which is darker than natural cherry and looks similar to walnut wood.
You can modify Copeland’s Dominion chests with different style tops and drawer pulls. Customize any dresser, chest or night stand to fit in with your existing Shaker style or modern contemporary bedroom furniture.
You can also customize the Dominion bedroom set by changing the shape of the top of each chest or dresser. In the photo above the chest on the left has a top that’s flush with the sides of the case, whereas the chest on the right has an over-hanging top. It creates a whole different look!
Furthermore, if you choose small, round mushroom shaped drawer pulls along with the flush top (shown left), you’ve got a variation of traditional Shaker style furniture. But by selecting brushed nickle bars for drawer pulls and pairing them with the over-hanging top, you’ve created a much different, modern contemporary look for the same chest.
Dominion beds are also highly customizable. Copeland offers 4 main bed styles: the regular Dominion Bed (with choice of 4 different headboards), a storage bed version of it, the Dominion Bed with Leather Headboard (choose ebony, coffee or white colored leather) and a storage bed version of it.
Check it out! This is your chance to design your own bedroom furniture and have it handcrafted especially for you, by Vermont craftsmen. Copeland furniture is affordable too and offers a great value for your money, plus we guarantee it for a lifetime. So what are you waiting for?
Vermont Road Trip: Dorset Custom Furniture
Meet the master craftsmen of Dorset Vermont. From left: Bill Laberge, Bob Gasperetti, Steve Holman and Dan Mosheim. These guys are world class expert furniture designers and woodworkers. Their beautiful creations grace the Green Mountain State as well as public and private homes, businesses and galleries the world over.
Dorset is one of the prettiest hamlets in all of Vermont, so Dennis and I were happy to make the trek to Dorset Custom Furniture last Friday. For us, the main attraction wasn’t the quaint New England Village architecture or the view of the Green Mountain Forest. It was to meet with Dan Mosheim and three more of Dorset’s famous custom furniture makers. I guess it’s no coincidence that four of the country’s finest craftsmen have set up shop in this idyllic spot. Dorset is quintessential Vermont at it’s finest and it’s natural beauty inspires artists and craftspeople from all walks of life.
Once we found our way to the slice of paradise that’s home to Dorset Custom Furniture we caught up with Dan, his wife Kit, and their sons Will and Sam. The whole family is involved in the arts, creating not only furniture but also jewelry, musical instruments and sculpture.
Dan had invited three other powerhouses in custom furniture to meet with us: Steve Holman of Holman Studios, Bob Gasperetti and Bill Laberge. We were brainstorming ways to collaborate in shining a light on Vermont’s long legacy of creating sustainable, high end, custom furniture. Dennis and I extended an invitation to the Dorset crowd to show their furniture at Stonehurst, our new fine furniture gallery so we will be working with them to make that happen before our grand opening this summer.
If you’re wandering around the world of Vermont arts and crafts before that, be sure to drop by Dorset and visit these fine furniture craftsmen in their studios. I think you’ll find that in commissioning a piece of their custom furniture, you are acquiring much more that a functional piece of art. I’m not sure how to describe but it has to do with getting in touch with a level of authenticity that is often missing in our lives. I think you’ll just have to go to Dorset and check it out for yourself. Then tell us about your experience on Facebook. Happy travels!
Vermont Dining Furniture Styles
Vermont Shaker is one of our most popular dining furniture styles. This table is shown in solid cherry wood, with a clear natural, hand-rubbed linseed oil finish. It’s representative of Vermont’s reputation for simple, elegant craftsmanship.
We work with fine furniture makers from all across the state of Vermont, representing their work for sale in our online furniture store as well as in our small Vernon, Vermont showroom. In getting to know these craftspeople and their work we’ve seen a unique “Vermont Style Furniture” emerge which is quite different from furniture made in North Carolina, Pennsylvania or any other furniture region of America.
I’ll take Vermont dining furniture for example, since it’s on sale this week. I think most furniture aficionados would categorize our dining furniture as belonging to one of these styles: Shaker, Mission, Arts and Crafts, Craftsman, Modern, Contemporary, Traditional or Transitional. In spite of the diversity of designs and the personalization that each craftsperson adds to their furniture, there are some commonalities that add up to the unique “Vermont style” that’s become so iconic.
First and foremost is the natural, wood character of the furniture. Vermont craftspeople tend to eschew the dark stains often seen on trendy furniture, preferring instead to focus on the natural beauty of the wood. Second is the embracement of simple, elegant styles such as the Shaker, craftsman and mission styles.
Although this Modern American Dining Furniture is very different in design from the Shaker furniture shown above, the both share a high level of craftsmanship, solid cherry wood construction and a hand-rubbed oil finish. Both dining sets represent the “Vermont style” and are guaranteed for a lifetime.
Whereas once fine Vermont made furniture was embellished with intricate hand-carvings, now the trend has been reversed. I think the advent of CNC routers was the main driver of this reversal. It became so inexpensive to produce carved detail with CNC machines in China that– in many customers’ minds– those details became less representative of fine craftsmanship and more indicative of mass production.
Vermont has always been about authentic craftsmanship and what we see here in the Green Mountain State is a consistent focus on quality, integrity and natural beauty. That’s what continues to set Vermont style furniture apart from products coming from other states and countries. What do you think of Vermont style furniture? We’d love to know. Tell us in the comments below or on our Facebook.
New Dining Furniture: Which “Wood” You Choose?
Making The Hard-Wood Decision
Your first attraction to a hardwood dining table is the color of the wood. When shopping for a new dining or kitchen table, you probably have a color or wood type in mind before you have thought about a size or a style- and that’s okay! When it comes to tables looks matter. Our online gallery mostly shows our furniture in natural cherry wood, but our tables are available in 4 types of wood: cherry, walnut, maple, and oak. Below you will find a little bit of information about each of our wood types and how they look.
Cherry
Cherry wood is commonly identified by it’s beautiful reddish color that improves with age. Natural cherry wood starts out as a light red tone, and darkens to a richer tone over time. Cherry is one of the sought after hardwoods for furniture in the United States.
Walnut
Walnut wood is easily recognized because of it’s dark chocolate brown color. Black walnut wood is the only dark North American wood, which adds to it’s appeal as a rare, luxury type of wood. Walnut wood has become one of the most popular wood species for organic live edge tables.
Maple
Maple wood is much lighter than cherry or walnut wood. It is a white looking wood with a slight reddish-beige undertone. Maple wood typically has an understated straight grain, giving maple furniture a smooth finish. Maple is a perfect wood for a table because of it’s strength and resistance to shock.
Oak
Oak wood is very classic. People have been making furniture out of oak wood since the beginning of time, and is most often used for craftsman-style furniture. Oak is a lighter wood, similar to maple, but has a more pronounced grain. It is common to find contrasting grain on a piece of real oak furniture. This rugged wood has very subtle color change over time.
Hardwood Dining Tables
All of these woods are very strong and make durable tables, so you can’t go wrong. Our hardwood dining tables are skillfully crafted for style, function, and generations of use. Each piece is made with sustainably harvested hardwoods. Once you decide which type of wood best fits your home and your aesthetics, use the drop down menus in our online gallery to choose between natural cherry, walnut, maple or oak wood.
During our Winter Dining Room Furniture Sale, you can big on a new dining furniture. Save 10% on one piece, 15% on two pieces, or 20% on three or more pieces of furniture. Plus, each piece is backed by a lifetime guarantee and we will ship it for free!
Shop for your new dining room furniture securely, easily, and conveniently from our online gallery. If you prefer, contact us at 888-390-5571 to order by phone or discuss your questions about our Vermont made, fine wood furniture. Our fine furniture specialists are also available through our live chat option or by email.
* Copeland Furniture and Polywood Furniture are not included in the Presidents Day Furniture Sale as they are always priced with a low price guarantee.
Handmade Dining Tables: Online Customization
This Vermont Modern Pedestal Table can be customized online in solid cherry, walnut, maple or oak wood. It’s one of our many handmade dining tables, shown here with a round solid-top. Need more room sometimes? Use our drop-down menus to select an oval extension table instead.
We have a couple new handmade dining tables that have been getting great reviews lately. This one’s the Vermont Modern Pedestal Table and it’s shown here in solid cherry wood. I love it! Such a simple design, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to pull this off with elegance. The proportions have to be just perfect and the curves (as they say) have to be in all the right places.
All of our dining tables are built to order and can be easily customized online or in the showroom, but for some reason this Vermont Modern Pedestal Table is becoming a favorite for customization. We’ve built it in solid cherry as well as solid maple, walnut and oak. You can easily customize the wood online using the drop down menus and many people do, although we are always at the ready if questions or concerns come up. Monday, a customer decided to choose cherry wood for the legs and maple wood for the top. That’s something we have to do by phone or in person but it’s no trouble at all.
Now about size. You can select from 5 standard solid top table sizes (36″ diameter, 42″diameter, 48″diameter, 54″diameter, and 60″diameter) online. For extension tables, we offer the same 5 diameter sizes, each with an 18″ leaf. If you still can’t find the right size, give us a call and we’ll customize your dining table to fit exactly into your space.
Here’s the same Vermont Modern dining table in a rectangular shape. Customize it with a solid top or as an extension table in solid cherry wood (as shown) maple, walnut or oak wood. You can even create a custom 2-tone dining table like the customer who specified a maple top and cherrywood legs.
One last thing. Most of our handmade dining tables can be customized in the shape you need as well. The Rectangular Vermont Modern Trestle Dining Table is customizable online with the same four solid wood choices (cherry, maple, walnut and oak), 13 different solid top table sizes and 11 different choices for extension table size.
Not enough choices? Check out our other customizable handmade dining tables too!
Presidents Day Furniture Sale: Best Seller Alert
This Vermont made Shaker Moon Bed is our best seller for this week’s Presidents Day Furniture Sale. It does kind of look like something George Washington might have slept on while traveling around New England during the Revolutionary War, doesn’t it?
Happy Birthday to President Washington, President Lincoln and all of our favorite American presidents! We celebrated Presidents Day yesterday at the local (and world famous) Harris Hill Ski Jump so today we’re back working with customers who are taking advantage of our Presidents Day Furniture Sale.
The beautiful Vermont made Shaker Moon Bed is our most popular item this week. It’s a classic Shaker style bed and it’s often vying for first place in our Best Seller line up with the Cherry Moon Bed. Both beds are handmade by a small group of craftspeople in a Montpelier workshop using real solid cherry wood that’s sustainably harvested. The beds feature an incredibly soft, hand-rubbed, natural linseed oil finish and they’re guaranteed for a lifetime.
Matching dressers, chests, mirrors and nigh stands are also available in the Vermont Made Shaker and Cherry Moon Bedroom Furniture collections and everything is on sale through tomorrow at midnight for 15% off.
Not needing bedroom furniture today? Our store wide Presidents Day Furniture sale offers the same 15% discount on almost* all our Vermont made furniture including Dining Furniture, Home Office Furniture and Living Room Furniture. Shop online or give us a call today.
* Copeland Furniture and Polywood Furniture are not included in the Presidents Day Furniture Sale as they are always priced with a low price guarantee.
New Furniture Designs
The beginning of the year is a busy and exciting time for us, as we’re adding new furniture designs to our online gallery. We just finished adding new bedroom and dining room pieces. We are also excited to announce that we have expanded our line of live edge dining tables! Below you can read about our new pieces of fine wood furniture. We’d love to hear what you think! Comment below, or let us know on Facebook.
New Bedroom Furniture
The Sutton Platform Bed and the Sutton Platform Bed With Reclaimed Headboard are two great additions to our line of solid wood beds. They perfectly blend in with our existing Live Edge Bed. The only difference between these three beds are the headboards, making it easy to customize this bed to fit your style. The solid wood headboard, live edge headboard and reclaimed headboard choices perfect match the stylish platform base of the bed. Create a bedroom set by pairing a bed with the Sutton 1 Drawer Nightstand and the Sutton 6 Drawer Dresser, which feature the same platform base. All of these pieces are available in your choice of Cherry, Maple, Oak or Walnut wood. Please view the individual pieces to see the live edge and reclaimed wood options.
New Dining Furniture
Our new hardwood dining furniture is inspired by Mid Century Modern designs. The pieces are the Addison Boat Top Dining Table, Addison 4 Drawer Buffet with Glass Doors and Addison 4 Drawer Buffet. The most iconic attribute about these pieces are their splayed, round taper legs. The wood boat top dining table is available as a solid top table or an extension table, giving you the option of 11 table sizes. The buffets feature four centered drawers and two wood or glass doors. Behind the doors are a total of four adjustable shelves, one being a wine shelf. The brushed nickel pulls adds an extra modern flair to these natural wood buffets. Customize these pieces in your choice of natural Cherry, Maple, Oak or Walnut wood.
New Live Edge Tables
A huge trend in the furniture industry right now is live edge furniture. Each wood slab is unique, making your piece one of a kind. We have added three new live edge tables to our online gallery: Metropolitan Dining Table – Live Edge, Boston Trestle Dining Table – Live Edge, and Boston Dining Table – Live Edge. Each of these tables feature an organic live edge top. The best part about the live edge tables are that they match any style home. If you want a modern take on a traditional shaker style table, the Boston Dining Table may be your first pick. The tapered legs add a shaker feel to this design. The Boston Trestle table has the durability of traditional craftsmanship with a touch of modern style. The Metropolitan Dining Table is the most modern design of the three live edge tables. It features a clear, powder-coated steel base. These metal legs create a modern industrial look. In my opinion, the best part about all of these table designs are the simple bases. Each base or table legs are understated, allowing the natural live edge top to stand alone in it’s beauty.
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