this artisan house #5: stoobles for two

When I met my wife-to-be, I noticed her parents had some side and coffee tables made out of small and rather large stumps – all made by my future Father-in-law, via chainsaw. The biggest, about 2.5 feet in diameter was cracked and the top was very far from level – impossible to play a board game on, dangerous for a beverage, and I thought them (and how my my future in-laws liked them so strongly) a little weird. Not that I’d ever said anything contrarian about them – you don’t say anything to a man who owns more chainsaws than he can juggle.

I guess I just wasn’t into rustic woodwork at the time, and thought they could use a little more work to make them more table like, if not level at least.

My FIL, who does tree work as a hobby (free firewood!) saves interesting pieces of wood, cleans them up and keeps them as natural art pieces, (some people put photos on the mantle…) he also makes these functional stools and/or end tables.

In time, the usefulness of (what Rob eventually dubbed “stooble” – stool, table) grew on me, and when we got our own place, we put in an order for two.

I reunited with old friends at my High School reunion, and when one came over to visit, he (perhaps jokingly) mocked the “logs” in the living room. I got very defensive. – YEP I’d really warmed up to these rustic pieces.

All my in-laws have at least one, and they really seem to work in any design scheme, I’m even keeping an eye out for some larger logs so I can make one with my own designs. – for example, a mushroom shaped one, for my daughters Alice in Wonderland themed, “un-birthday” party this summer.

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Pablo Picasso -- http://blanchardcreative.etsy.com -- http://snbcreative.wordpress.com/