handmade
Vermont Fine Furniture Design Competition: Seeking Entries
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.
Happy Fourth of July From Your Vermont Furniture Friends
All of us here at Vermont Woods Studios are wishing you a safe and happy Fourth of July.
The staff is taking today off to enjoy with their families but our 4th of July Furniture Sale is on 24/7 if you would like to shop or make a purchase. We'll be back in the showroom tomorrow to work with you directly and answer any questions you may have.
Happy Fourth and thanks for your continued support of our work!
Handcrafted Furniture Favorites From Apartment Therapy
Many thanks to Jason Loper of Apartment Therapy for including Vermont Woods Studios in his list of Ten Favorite Handmade Furniture Stores in AT's weekend Shopper's Guide.
We're excited to be a part of this prestigious group of handmade furniture stores.
Check out Apartment Therapy for all things "home decor" including before and after makeovers, design for small spaces, green living tips and design on a budget. And eco-friendly, handmade furniture, of course!
Lyndon Furniture: The Real (American Made) Thing
Ken and I traveled up to Lyndon, Vermont today to meet with Lyndon Furniture. We carry all of Lyndon's line of Shaker, Mission, Modern and Traditional hardwood collections.
That's Lyndon's owner and founder in the middle, Dave Allard.
Dave started Lyndon Furniture over 30 years ago, building his first woodworking shop from timber he cut on his family farm and had milled locally. Since then his business has grown and earned a reputation for producing high quality, eco friendly furniture that lasts a lifetime.
One of the things I love most about Lyndon Furniture is that when times got tough and all the other American furniture companies fired their employees and went to China to cash in, Dave Allard and Lyndon Furniture stayed right here in Vermont. They remained true to their employees, their community, their integrity and their quality. I see that integrity in their furniture.
It's interesting because we're seeing another mass exodus of so-called "American furniture companies" now. But it's from East to West. They're all hurrying back to American from China now that Chinese wages and trans-oceanic shipping are so costly. But I have to wonder how long they'll stay.
I think it's safe to say, though, that regardless of global economics, Lyndon Furniture will remain right here in Vermont making high quality, handcrafted furniture and contributing to their community. It's the Vermont way.
Cherry and Walnut Wood: Custom 2 Tone Furniture Designs
Americans are rediscovering Vermont made furniture. Maybe the trend is due to recent awareness campaigns by the news media about how buying USA made goods stimulates the American economy.
Or perhaps it's because the organic food movement is migrating into other aspects of our lives. In addition to thinking about where our food comes from we're now beginning to think about where our furniture comes from. And where our clothing, computers, appliances (you name it) come from.
Both the American-made and organic movements are reflected in the Vermont furniture brand.
But I think one of the main reasons Vermont made furniture is experiencing a renaissance is that it's customizable. This Copeland Berkeley Bedroom Set is a good example. The Berkeley Collection features a 2 tone cherry and walnut wood design that you can customize online with your favorite shade of cherry wood.
Many of our other Vermont made furniture collections offer 2 tone wood combinations, for example the Modern American Collection. These bedroom, dining and home office furniture sets are shown in cherry and walnut but they can also be customized in any other 2 tone combinations of maple, walnut and cherry wood.
Most Vermont furniture makers embrace the idea of customizing your furniture, be it with two tone wood combinations, specialty sizing or complete custom design from the start. Learn more about custom furniture options on our website.
Modern Minimalist Furniture
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.
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.
Copeland’s New Catalina Walnut Dining Furniture: Coming Soon!
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.
Custom Bookcases With Glass Doors – Best Sellers This Week
Maybe everyone is wishing they were more organized as they're struggling to finish up their taxes this week. I don't know, but we've had a lot of calls from customers wanting to buy bookcases. Specifically, real solid wood bookcases with glass doors.
This one is our Cherry Moon bookcase which can be customized online. It's available with glass doors, wooden doors or no doors. There are 5 heights you can order online with our standard width of 39"W and depth of 15"D. Further customization can be done by phone or in the showroom.
I'd guess we probably have about the most customizable selection of real wood bookcases anywhere online. Check out these links if you're looking to be more organized at tax time next year:
* Bookcases with full length glass doors
* Bookcases with half length glass doors
* Bookcases with full length wooden doors
* Bookcases with half length wooden doors and
* Bookcases with no doors at all.
All bookcases can be customized online, in the showroom or by phone to best fit your space. Give Shannon a call and she'll show you how.
American Made Bedroom Furniture On Sale Today
Here's your big chance to save on our 100% American made, real solid wood bedroom furniture.
Manjula and Dennis have been able to offer our best prices and greatest savings, using a "buy more, save more" strategy. This saves us on shipping costs and we pass that savings on to you. Here's how it works:
- Save 10% off any single piece
- Save 15% off two pieces or
- Save 20% off 3 or more pieces
Plus Free Shipping and Delivery!
That's as good as it gets when you're shopping for the real thing: fine, handcrafted American made, solid wood furniture.
Check out our selection of over 40 styles of Vermont made beds, nightstands, chests, dressers, and mirrors in your choice of natural Cherry, Maple, Walnut, or Oak solid woods. You'll find classic and timeless Vermont styling, handmade with uncompromised craftsmanship, and solidly built for generations of use. Bedroom furniture you will appreciate and enjoy forever. And you can sleep tight knowing your new bedroom furniture investment is backed by a lifetime warranty.
The sale starts today and ends at midnight on April 17th.
Copeland furniture is excluded from the sale as it is always priced with a low-price guarantee.
Modern Shaker Furniture: This Week’s Best Seller
This week's Best Seller was our high end, Modern Shaker Furniture Collection. Like all of our wooden furniture, this collection is handmade in Vermont of natural solid hardwoods.
One of the nice features of Modern Shaker Furniture is that each piece can be customized online with your choice of either soft, rounded corners and edges or straight streamlined edges and eased corners.
Whenever we're working with parents of small children, we always mention this collection as it's a kid-friendly choice with the rounded design and absence of sharp edges. It's also just a classic Shaker design that's earned a great reputation over the years. The Modern Shaker Furniture Collection is an eco-friendly, healthy choice for families too, with natural wood (real solid cherry, maple or walnut) and a hand-rubbed linseed oil finish that has no formaldehyde, VOCs or toxic off-gases… everything you need to get a good night's rest!
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