Building Furniture

Approach architects and interior designers with your
portfolio and they’ll guide you.

People want the sort of stuff they see in magazines and
catalogs, so get the Pottery Barn catalogs and stuff like
that. The catalogs and magazines define taste in
furniture for most of the market.

Hate to admit this, Cedarman, but I’m just not too much on the cedar bandwagon. You never see it in stores, as Loren suggests you look, and the places I see it most is at large flea markets and some craft shows. Maybe it’s because I live in SE Tennessee close to NC, and you live in VA, so the stuff is just everywhere. I traded off 6 – 10 foot logs of old growth cedar, (guy planked one up for me so he got five), for 7 – ten foot long pieces of 1 inch thick old growth walnut. I just felt the 7 planks were worth more to me than 5 logs of cedar. He planked it all up and made a walk-in closet for his wife. Never see the light of day. And the one log is still there I kept, thought I might make some bowls, just doesn’t do much for me.

Your designs are fine, but make it out of something else is my suggestion. When is the last time you saw an Aderondack chair (I know that’s spelled wrong), in cedar in a World Market, Home Store, or any other place like Pottery Barn or even a Cracker Barrel? But I bet you saw them in oaks of all types, pines, poplars, butternut, etc.

Try other woods…

-- Paul, Tennessee, http://www.tsunamiguitars.com

Adam, your furniture looks fine. The photos of your furniture on the blackfeather sight load extremely slow. You might want to have your web person look into finding another way to have them post.

Also, if you put the http:// in front of your web addresses you will get a lot of lookers from Lumberjocks, which will help the placement of you sites with the search engines.

-- Tim-- http://www.tmuli.com

i think paul summed it up well. it seems like every time i see cedar it is always outdoors or rustic type pieces. are you wanting expand your designs in that genre or go for something different? the lead off picture (dining table and chairs) on your website is interesting. when i first saw it, my impression was that it was a rustic style piece. it just automatically has that look due to the material used. then after looking at it a little more closely, it’s not really a rustic piece. if you built that set out of any other hardwood it would be a very nice, clean looking dining set. it looks well designed and built, but in my opinion, the material choice (cedar) really distracts from it. i can’t help but think if that set were built out of a more traditional hardwood, it would appeal to a broader range of people.

i guess the most important thing is, what kind of venues are you selling through, and how are you doing at it? look at the people that are buying your pieces, are they the market you’re trying to hit?

Adam let me start by welcoming you to LJ. I looked at your sites and between that and your name your obviously a fan of cedar, but looking at your OP I don’t see anything that says you are looking to work with cedar. So to try to get back to your original question I’d say find free or cheap wood to start playing and doing things with. Worst thing that happens is you make something and it goes awry or you end up making something decent and give it away, best case is your able to get some use or money out of it. Then as you build your skills, portfolio, and reputation hopefully you can get people to pay you to make them things. Be safe have fun and good luck.

-- It's made of wood. Real sturdy.--Chubbs Peterson