Copeland's Audrey Dining Set has a simple, mid-century modern look that's elegant and sophisticated.  It's handcrafted here in Vermont of solid, natural walnut wood.

"Functional beauty" is often how designers describe mid-century modern architecture and furniture styles.  Check out Copeland's Audrey Dining Set, for example.  It has a simple, modern, utilitarian look but it's elegant and  sophisticated at the same time.

Handcrafted here in Vermont of solid American black walnut wood, the Audrey dining table has an "X" shaped trestle base that allows for maximum leg space.  The chairs are streamlined and ergonomically designed for comfort. 

Audrey dining room furniture is 100% made in America (here in VT actually) from sustainably harvested wood and can be customized online to best fit your dining space.

For more details and photos of mid-century modern design, check out Stephen Cole's website at MidCenturyModernist.com and Andrew Van Leeuwen's blog on 10 Forgotten Lessons of Mid-Century Modern Design.

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This tree house looks a lot different from the one in my back yard. Architect Scott Anderson of The Anderson Studio of Architecture and Design created a zen-like dwelling incorporating a live-edge side table, root-ball bases on the coffee table and natural finishe into the green decor.

In browsing through my weekly Houzz Tour I came across this incredible tree house designed by architect Scott Anderson of The Anderson Studio of Architecture and Design.  Fellow green furniture fans, check it out! 

I send my thanks to blogger Becky Harris for featuring the South Carolina, Kiawah Island retreat on Houzz, the world's latest and greatest interior design website. 

I love the tree house's clean, green, Zen-like decor.  "The great room feels like some sort of natural habitat; besides the great views, a live-edge side table, root-ball bases on the coffee table, plants, natural finishes and plenty of open space connect the space to its surroundings" notes Becky.

As live edge furniture makers and natural finish afficionados we stood up and cheered when we saw this green respite in the trees of Kiawah Island.  Congratulations to Anderson Studio for achieving the ultimate in tree house decor!

And speaking of tree houses, I couldn't close without mentioning James Roth, cofounder of The Treehouse Guys in Warren, Vermont.  Roth and his company have built 34 wheelchair accessible treehouses in private camps and public parks across the country.  Have a look at some of Roths amazing works of art that let everyone, "no matter their physical ability, experience the joy of what it’s like to ‘climb’ and be at the top of a treehouse.”

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Vermont woodworkers: this is a no-brainer. Vermont Fine Furniture & Wood Products Design Competition is a great opportunity to gain recognition and notoriety for your work.

Calling all Vermont woodworkers and fine furniture makers.  The 9th Annual Vermont Fine Furniture & Wood Products Design Competition wants YOU.  The festival which has been dubbed one of Vermont's Top Ten Fall Events by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce is a great opportunity to gain recognition and notoriety for your work.

Join some of the world's finest woodworkers and furniture designers and compete for best:

• Custom Studio Furniture
• Production Furniture
• Custom Woodenware and
• Carving and Sculpture

There is also a special category where students and apprentices can compete.  The Woodworking festival takes place September 29-30, 2012 in Woodstock, Vermont and the Design Contest entry forms are here.  If you're not already linked into the Vermont woodworking community, we recommend you become a member of the Vermont Wood Manufacturing Association, VWMA first.  That gets you a discount on entry fees and insider info on all things wood in Vermont.  We hope you join with us, VWMA and the "best of the best" woodworkers who are letting the world know that Vermont's the Fine Furniture Capital of America.

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Lyndon Furniture's modern, minimalist Dover Glass Top Dining Table

Congratulations to our friends at Lyndon Furniture who were featured in a Wall Street Journal article today, The New American Minimalism. 

The article is about how classic American furniture companies like Lyndon Furniture and Copeland Furniture are bringing back the simple elegant characteristics of the 1950's mid-century modern design.

There is a tremendous variation in what people call modern, minimalist furniture but we've tried to capture it in a broad sense on our Modern Wood Furniture Collections page.  These collections are all 100% Made in America (right here in Vermont actually) and in my opinion their designs are best described as timeless… but "modern" works too. 

Copeland Furniture's Modern Mid Century Astrid Bed

One of the aspects I love about minimalist furniture — and it's cited by San Francisco designer Kimberly Ayres in the WSJ article– is that "the basic yet refined lines (of minimalist furniture) allow more whimsical furniture pieces (and accessories) to stand out."   We've had several of our interior designer clients say the same thing — that our handmade, solid wood pieces provide "grounding" for creative and colorful decor they can change and update to keep a fresh look. 

What do you think?  Send us photos of your decor showing how you've used modern minimalist furniture in your home or workplace.  We'll post them on our Facebook for more discussion.

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Walnut lovers: this one is for you! The Copeland Catalina Collection: solid walnut wood furniture for your Mid-century Modern Dining Room.

Copeland Furniture, just down the road from us in Bradford, Vermont is famous for it's modern, contemporary solid wood bedroom furniture.  A couple years ago, Copeland introduced the new Frank Lloyd Wright® Collection of authentic reproduction prairie-style furniture designed by America's foremost architect.

Well, now Copeland is introducing another new series of high end furniture, The Catalina Walnut Dining Room Collection. 

If you're already a fan of Catalina's mid-century modern bedroom furniture, home office furniture, and TV-media furniture, I think you're going to love the dining furniture collection.

The tables, chairs and buffets are all in sync with Catalina's retro-modern shapes and sensibilities, relying on  simple, elegant lines that have just enough curve– but not too much.  Walnut is the only wood used for the Catalina collection and it is available in both natural wood (as shown) or in a darker slate-on-walnut stain.  Dennis and Manjula are working feverishly to get all of the Catalina dining collection pieces up on our website and ready for purchase by week's end.  In the meantime, if you have any questions, give us a call.

All Copeland's furniture is 100% American made, right here in Vermont.

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Home offices aren't necessarily in a separate room anymore.  This one saves space with a large desk that could double as a kitchen table.  Less space means lower carbon footprint.

I am ashamed to say that my home office decor is deplorable.  You can see it in this video taken last year when I had 6 other people working in it with me.

So with our Green-up Your Workplace Challenge coming up for Earth Day, I decided to look for green design ideas to spif it up with eco-friendly home office furniture, lighting and accessories.

I started looking for ideas at HGTV and was delighted to find they are showcasing over 125 home office design ideas submitted by homeowners and interior designers. 

They've got modern home offices, eclectic home offices, traditional home offices, contemporary home offices, arts and crafts home offices, cottage home offices, tropical home offices, English country home offices, transitional home offices, mid-century modern and even Mediterranean home offices.

I hope they add a green home office project with all natural, all American made wooden office furniture: desks, file cabinets, credenza, occasional tables and chairs (maybe even using reclaimed, recycled barnwood).  Then add in organic cotton rugs, draperies and upholstery, energy efficient electronics, light bulbs, light fixtures and maybe even FSC certified wood flooring.  That would be a good project to post on Earth Day, HGTV.  Just a suggestion.

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We've been working with Ben Copeland and his crew at Copeland Furniture for several months now and have most of their furniture up for sale on our website at Vermont Woods Studios. 

Although Copeland offers a variety of American furniture styles including Shaker, Mission and Craftsman, it's their modern, contemporary furniture that's making the biggest splash with our customers.

The Copeland Astrid Bedroom Furniture Collection is at the Top of our Best Seller's list this week.  Check it out.  It's design is very minimalist with a 1950s mid century style: straight lines and deeply splayed George Jetson style legs.  Astrid bedroom furniture is available in cherry, maple and walnut wood.  The perfect style statement in modern contemporary midtown and uptown apartments in Manhattan, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC and points beyond!

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Apartment Therapy is one of our favorite interior design websites.  They're always finding some new, creative way to beautify your home and make it a relaxing respite.

I love their motto:  "saving the world, one room at a time".  Check it out for gorgeous photos and ideas about achieving simplicity, luxury and affordability in your home.

We're always pleased when Vermont Woods Studios gets a mention from Apartment Therapy because our missions seem synergistic.  This week they featured our Vermont Made Shaker Style Furniture Sale on their Weekend Guide– I guess because it's simple, luxurious and affordable. 

So, if you made a New Years resolutions to de-clutter and organize your apartment, check our natural, sustainable Shaker bookcases and file cabinets sale.  2012 is your year to go green and go home!

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