Regional Furniture

Written By Robin Wade

regional furnitureMore and more I cherish the nuances of life.  Being a southerner you have to love accents.  And I always enjoy hearing a Californian explain that they don't have an accent!  Ha!  This morning a friend from Alabama, that lives in New Orleans, Michigan and Argentina emailed this pic, thinking it was a "cajun swing".  Any Alabaman know's this unique piece of furniture was originally designed and developed in North Alabama in the early '70's.

I think each part of the country is proud of and holds strong ties to their uniqueness, wherever they can find it.  And it seems furniture is a good example.  Thinking about american regional furniture this morning, my first thoughts were of adirondack chairs.  But with my second cup of coffee, combined with what friends might suggest an extra dose of a.d.d, my mind whirled through;  rustic furniture's wonderful sticks and twigs, one of my personal faves - mid centery modern that I grew up bumping into as I was learning to walk, shaker's plain and functional furniture following (or leading) their rigid spiritual journey), Williamsburg  - which seems to have closer ties to Southern London than it does Virginia, then I took a deep breath in an appreciation for the wonderful Greene and Greene style of exposed joinery.

If you have an appreciation for a style of regional furniture, or if you have a pic of your favorite piece of regional furniture please share.

 

Robin Wade
Robin Wade Furniture is a celebration of nature—a melding of a forward thinking commitment to the environment and a quiet, harmonious design aesthetic. From his "slow studio" in North Alabama, award-winning wood artist Robin Wade designs and crafts one-of-a-kind handmade furniture. Years before a piece is ready to enter a client's home or a gallery, the process begins—naturally—with the tree. Sustainably harvested, each specimen of hardwood is flitch sawn into natural-edge wood slabs, debarked by hand with a draw knife, and stacked to dry, usually for years, before the final cure in the kiln. From here, Wade and his team use both hand and power tools to bring Wade's vision to life, and then finish each piece with a hand-rubbed oil blend. Each organic furniture creation by Robin Wade Furniture balances the raw, natural beauty of environmentally, locally sourced hardwoods with minimally invasive, clean lines—a juxtaposition Wade calls both rustic and modern. “I haven’t yet found a better artist than nature,” he says.
robinwadefurniture.com
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