Wild and Woody

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When making my own furniture, I try to capture the power of saplings that have fought the good fight—battling for light and nutrients; surviving frost, gypsy moths, lightning, browsing deer, and Boy Scouts. I want that forest epic, which is written all over the bark, to be able to be read by the people who see my furniture.

Secondly, I want to bring humor and illusion to my work. I want some chairs to dance, others to look like they're about to be reclaimed by the forest. Many tweak the nose of high-style furniture by sporting Queen Anne legs and Windsor backs—all formed by natural growth rather than by the lathes of the royal carpenter.

Finally, I strive to instill a quiet grace and beauty in my work—a chair or bed is an opportunity to marvel at the airy curves and exploding forks made by the trees. I want to set this 'beauty apart from the forest and celebrate it. That's what I try to do and—just sometimes—it happens. With the information that follows, you can pursue the same rewarding, if elusive, ends.

Choosing Wood

Use wood that's available. Cut it yourself, and talk to local tree surgeons, developers, or the highway department. Because I sell my rustic furniture, I prefer to cut live hardwood saplings so I can avoid the insect and fungal damage that generally afflicts fallen wood.

Pick wood with character. Look for interesting bends and unusual bark patterns. Such embellishments make for a more intriguing finished piece but require a more complicated process. It's a tradeoff: Certainly the easiest furniture to make is from the straightest pieces, but it can also be the least exciting to view.

Think about the scale of the work. Probably the single distinguishing characteristic among rustic furniture makers is the difference in the scale of designs and the proportion of woods each uses. The relationship between the size of upright posts and the horizontal rails is, to my mind, an essential deter minant of beauty in the finished piece.

Use dry wood. For a first effort, you might try dead standing or even fallen trees. As a rule, however, you'll want to get green wood. Once you have done so, size it roughly into rungs, posts, etc., and then let it air-dry indoors a minimum of three months. Dry rungs sound like drumsticks when knocked together. (It's less important that the posts or uprights be bone-dry.) To minimize the drying time, try to cut wood in the winter months when the sap is down. This also minimizes the chances of the bark falling off.

Planning Rustic Furniture

To get started, I suggest you copy or interpret a favorite piece of conventional furniture. Take a kitchen chair to the woods or the woodpile and find twig twins for all the parts. Interesting choices and changes will soon present themselves. You'll find yourself developing opinions and preferences. In short, your own "style" will begin to emerge.

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