An ideal wood floor

An ideal wood floor.  What it means to me.

Our indoor environments should be cozy and nurturing, that satisfy the soul, mind, and body, and I believe that we should strive to accomplish this with a significant level of sustainability. These things are intricately connected.

How does this translate to wood flooring ?
What is a sustainable wood floor?

Above all wood flooring should be a joy to walk on. It should have warmth, beauty, and a timeless character. Ease of maintenance and repair ability of the finish are a necessity. Dimensional stability should be a design element. Material choice, assembly, and installation should be treated with care and intention. It should be built to last. Materials should be respected.

What would this floor look like?

I think that the floor that best represents these characteristics was and is Parquet de Versailles. Conceived in 1684 by Louis XIV it is still in active use today.

As an experiment my friend Konrad Sauer and I conspired to replicate Parquet de Versailles. It was an idea born in the middle of a fishing trip. Our intent is to contemparize installation but maintain all the elements of the original. Parquet joined traditionally to last 100 years or more.

Nothing is more sustainable than longevity.

OneTree Bench

For almost a century this old growth Bigleaf Maple from the Cowichan Valley stood witness to the events that shaped Vancouver Island. It needed to come down in October 2014 for health and safety reasons. Now we invite you to celebrate this tree through an exhibit of exquisitely made from its wood. Come see this impressive community project that celebrates a 100-year tree through the creations of 42 artists from Vancouver Island and across Canada.

OneTree is a collaborative exhibit project of the Robert Bateman Centre, Live Edge Design, and wood artisans from across Canada. Together, we will share the history, beauty, and natural story of this OneTree across multiple platforms.

This bench is my contribution to the exhibit. It runs until January 14.

South Easthope Mutual's old tree into new woodwork

South Easthope Mutual in Tavistock decided that they had out grown their office space in Tavistock Ontario. They had enough space to build in their empy lot beside the old buliding. In the middle of this lot sat an old butternut tree. As it happened they approached me to do some woodwork/furniture in their new office with this old tree. The problem was that butternut is becoming an endangered species because of a blight causing canker. There are serious restrictions on removing heathy trees. This tree could not be removed and the project could not move forth until a biologist determined the health and exact species. As it turned out this tree had a few structural issues and it was determined to be a hybrid and not an indigenous butternut. The project moved forth.

I did one whole wall in butternut in their heritage room and a mantle in the entrance. There will be a coffee table to follow in a further blog post. This butternut was a joy to work with. 

Chopsticks

Chopstick making is just a fun diversion from larger projects.

How to make chopsticks- a photo essay

Large maple rounds from Toronto

This was another interesting project that I did for a customer in Toronto. They had a huge maple in their back yard. The tree had to be removed. The largest of the three rounds that I made into tables was 7 feet across.

White oak counter top

This was a commission to build a countertop to match a new kitchen cabinet installation. It turned out that a natural white oak matched perfectly.