Furniture & Accessory Design
One of the most cherished aspects of our work is helping people with the final touches for their home. We design finely crafted furniture, curtains and portieres, unique lighting, and fine pottery, metalwork, & hardware to make your home truly special. We collaborate with other talented artisans & craftspeople to make items to our design.
We also have access to great resources and can provide the right upholsteries and other fabrics needed for your home décor projects – from plush and richly patterned materials, to simple solids and rugged leathers.
Our clients are the beneficiaries of the years of research and development that has gone into our extensive Product Resource Library. We maintain valuable information and product samples utilized in preservation, restoration, design, and decorating projects. The resource portion of our library contains the best products and services that we use for a wide range of decorating, preservation and restoration needs.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
The porch of this Bungalow received a major modification during the home’s remodel and needed the perfect handrails to both meet the needs of the homeowners, and meet city building codes. This detail shows the decorative design of the handrails, a portion of its curvilinear form, and the joinery employed in its construction. We designed the rail, and worked with a trusted blacksmith for its construction.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
Another detail shows how the rail climbs the stair, and how it is anchored to the concrete plant stands leading up the steps. The rail is crafted using true mortis and tenon joinery – the through-tenons are back-hammered and given a diamond shaped head. The diamond theme is an original design element found extensively in the home’s interior.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
From the porch is a clear view of the rail’s elegant, curvilinear design as it wraps from the stairs and connects to the bases of the porch columns.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
A detail of the iron straps, and diamond shaped through-tenon. This design appears at each of the rail’s anchoring points.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
This detail shows the forked wrap-joint that connects the horizontal rods to the vertical spires.
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Exterior Iron Handrail (detail)
Arts & Crafts Bungalow Interior Iron Handrail
We designed a complementary iron handrail for the home’s interior. The corresponding designs bring unity to the home’s interior and exterior.
Falling Leaves Copper Vases
We designed copper vases to go with our Falling Leaves roomset. The vases’ designs correspond with the principles of gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), and were crafted to integrate with the room’s interior. This image shows the form of the vase which features buttressed sides, and a fine hammered finish.
We worked with a respected copper worker to craft the vases, and made three limited edition prototypes. Two are still available for sale at $650.00 each.
You can learn more about the Falling Leaves roomset on our Falling Leaves showroom page under Hand-painted Interiors.
Falling Leaves Copper Vases (detail)
This view of one of the Falling Leaves vases shows the triangular arrangement of the buttresses around the perimeter of the vase’s shaft.
Falling Leaves Copper Vases (detail)
This view of one of the Falling Leaves vases shows the anchoring point at the base of one of the buttresses.
Falling Leaves Copper Vases (detail)
This view of one of the Falling Leaves vases shows the top of one of the buttresses with it’s circular cut-out. Note the beautiful glow of the copper’s warm brown patina.
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase
Our Falling Leaves roomset is a gesamtkunstwerk, a total work of art; therefore, we designed furniture to integrate with the room. This piece of furniture is a practical combination library table with bookcase. A work of art in itself, the piece features quatersawn white oak, mortise and tenon joinery, custom iron hardware, hand-carving, and custom stained-glass.
The library table-bookcase is one of a kind, and can be purchased for $8000.00.
You can learn more about the Falling Leaves roomset on our Falling Leaves showroom page under Hand-painted Interiors.
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase
A closer view highlights the stained-glass of the bookcase’s door, and the silvered hand-carving and hammered iron triangles that cascade down the side of the bookcase portion of the piece. The Fall season is the theme of the room, and the furniture carries the theme: The stained-glass of the door is titled The First Leaf of Fall, and the dynamic composition illustrates the impact art glass can bring to a piece of furniture. The triangles in the composition represent the leaves of a tree – the bright orange one signifies the first leaf to turn color in the Fall season. The striated amber glass represents the trunks of trees, and works strikingly with the tones of the quatersawn oak. The iron triangles represent leaves falling from a tree.
You can learn more about the Falling Leaves roomset on our Falling Leaves showroom page under Hand-painted Interiors.
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase (detail)
Classic Arts & Crafts through-tenon and pegged joinery is given a creative upgrade with the introduction of iron pegs and bracing. This creates a very beautiful and very strong joint!
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase (detail)
The handcrafted hardware that we designed for the library table-bookcase is both beautiful and practical; it serves to reinforce the mortise and tenon joinery at the connection points of the legs and bookcase. The hardware also has symbolic meaning! The arm-like portions that end in triangles represent tree branches and their leaves.
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase (detail)
The hand forged iron bar mounted on the back of the bookcase, and resting just above the library table, acts as a place to store stationary, envelopes, and other shipping supplies. It can even hold favorite magazines!
Falling Leaves Library Table-Bookcase
This view shows the generous space for storing books and the drawer found at the bottom of the bookcase portion.
Art Pottery: Ceramic Planter
We handle site-specific needs like pottery design. In this case, we designed a planter for a living room. CJ designed the planter, which matches the decoration of the room, and worked with a respected ceramicist to craft the form. CJ then painted the design in glaze, and he and Barbara together fashioned the leather strap-work from which it hangs.
Copper Mirror Frame
CJ designed and made this hand-beaten copper frame for a mirror. We also make this style of frame for clients to display their favorite paintings.
House Numbers Copper Frame
During the Great Depression, the WPA (Works Progress Administration) was given the project to renumber the houses and streets of Portland, OR. They made these now iconic ceramic house numbers to do the job. A set of these classic numbers is given new emphasis with a hand-beaten copper frame designed and made by CJ.
Hand-Hammered and Repoussé Ceiling Medallions
CJ designed and hand made a set of medallions to adorn the half- timbered ceiling of The White Rose dining room. Pictured here is a quatrefoil rose medallion made from hand-beaten and Repoussé metal.
You can learn more about the White Rose dining room on our White Rose showroom page under Hand-painted Interiors.
Hand-Hammered and Repoussé Ceiling Medallions
CJ designed and hand made a set of medallions to adorn the half-timbered ceiling of The White Rose dining room. Pictured here is the medallions formed at the corners of the ceiling's half-timbers. The design of the corner-medallions is based on the architectural details of the home, and is made from hand-beaten and repoussé metal.
The White Rose Dining Room Sconces
We designed light fixtures that illuminate the buffet area of The White Rose dining room. They are mounted to the room’s plate rail, and are made from quatersawn white oak and repoussé pewter that is fashioned in the form of a rose. CJ did the metalwork, and we worked with a respected woodworker for the carriages. If you need specialty lighting, or simply want the beauty of one of a kind hand crafted lighting, we can help! You can learn more about The White Rose dining room in the Hand-painted Interiors section of this site.
The White Rose Dining Room Sconces
A rose of repoussé pewter grows up the central carriage of the fixture, while curved armatures carry the light out and over the plate rail to illuminate the surface of the room’s built-in buffet.
The White Rose Dining Room Sconces (detail)
This detail of the sconces shows the repoussé pewter side panels representing stylized waves. The title of the frieze in this room is Roses & Rain, and the sconces were designed to integrate with the greater theme of the room.
Wrought-Iron Fence (detail)
This is a detail of a wrought-iron fence that CJ designed. The vertical spires rise in a stylized floral form, and finish with a traditional twisted spiked finial. Two branching leaf forms flank the central stem of the flower. The prototype shown here was crafted without welding by a trusted blacksmith using only traditional and time-tested joinery. Joints include: Mortise and tenon, collaring, and rivets.
Wrought-Iron Fence (detail)
The fence’s branching leaf is shown with the collar joint that secures it to the spires, and the rivets that anchor it to the horizontal rails. The two rivets attached to the upper portion of the spire are used to attach the stylized floral form.
