I may be weird, but I love change. Especially when it comes to the rooms I live in. I’m notorious for rearranging the furniture just because I can. (Woe to the person who lives with me, and who happens to come home late at night – in the dark – after I’ve moved everything.)
I come by this need to move things honestly. My mom was the same way. Every season, we’d move the living room furniture to take advantage of spring breezes or winter warm corners. Yet, her moves weren’t all practical. Sometimes…seeing something in a new spot makes that piece feel new again.
However, buying furniture today is a lot more complicated than it used to be. For example, 20 years ago I wouldn’t have considered whether the wood was sustainable or not. I would have bought a piece of furniture simply because I liked it.
Today, I do think about the manufacturing process. I also consider the cost versus rate of return on investment. In other words, will this piece of furniture be able to stand up to years of living with me and my animals? Could I hand it down to my son?
Maybe it’s age, but I can assure you that my days of cinder block and wood shelf bookcases are long over. Today, I want beauty, high-quality and uniqueness in the furniture I choose to live with (and move around).
The Joinery in Portland, Oregon, provides all this and more. I mean, just look at these pictures. Is this beautiful furniture or what? How talented must these people be to create such functional works of art?
Sapporo Bed
But like a beautiful person with no inner substance, well-crafted furniture can’t just be pretty on the outside. It has to be pretty inside, too. The Joinery does not disappoint.
Dovetails. Splines. Mortise and Tenon. Half-Blind Dovetails.
These are enough to make any furniture connoisseur shiver with pleasure. (Don’t worry, if you don’t know what these are, the folks at The Joinery are happy to tell you – in detail.)
For me, these are the things that make furniture last. No nails or staples here. This type of construction has you saying “ooooh” when you open this drawer or sit in that chair. It’s what creates the stability so the piece doesn’t “wobble” or wear out before you’re ready for it to.
The styles range from mission to Shaker to Asian-inspired to the new modern influenced by mid-century designs. The most amazing thing I think The Joinery does, however, is provide a lifetime warranty. Owner Marc Gaudin has always believed in the quality of the furniture produced first by his hands and now by the hands of his 22 craftsmen.
This means you could buy a piece today and take it back 20 years from now for repairs. Amazing. Who does that these days for furniture? Most furniture isn’t designed to even last 20 years! And, since accidents happen, The Joinery also offers at-home fix-it kits.
Cantilever Desk
Beautiful outside, beautiful inside, well-made…and crafted with over 75 percent FSC certified wood. Man, they had me at sustainable.
In a nutshell, FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified means the woods they use come from forests that are being managed in a sustainable and conservative way – a way that concerns itself with future growth, not simply present-day profits.
The Joinery was the first company of its kind in Portland to pursue this type of wood for its furniture. By the way, the pursuit of FSC wood use isn’t just on the big stuff. Even the knobs are made with this type of wood!
The Joinery is also a member of the Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities, a program of Sustainable Northwest that helps rural communities develop economies on forest restoration and ecosystem management. Wood from HFHC comes from family forests and mills in the Pacific Northwest.
The Joinery has also begun using metals in some of its furniture pieces. These all come from reclaimed sources.
They take sustainability one-step further: their shop is 100% fueled by wind power and uses Smart Energy to reduce greenhouse gasses.
Of course, this kind of quality and attention to detail does come at a price. But when you’re buying something that could last a lifetime and beyond, isn’t the extra cost worth it? Check out The Joinery at the upcoming Energy Trust Better Living Show.
Originally posted 2009-01-29 10:00:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
