How does custom furniture work?

How can I order custom furniture?

How much does custom furniture cost?

Where can I find a custom furniture maker near me?

If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions, the following post should help you out.

What is custom furniture?

Custom or Bespoke furniture is made-to-order furniture, that meets the exact specifications and wishes of the customer. It truly reflects their style and fits perfectly into their home layout. If you are looking for something special and unique, that was made only for you then custom furniture is the way to go.

Custom furniture is also a great way to make perfect usage of a space, especially for storage. Odd corners and angles in a room can be used perfectly with something that precisely fits the space. This is especially useful in small and older houses like in Amsterdam.

Checklist before you order custom furniture

Which room / space is it going into?
What are the dimensions supposed to be? Even having a rough idea at this point is a great place to start.
Do you have a preference in terms of material? What colours do you prefer, is there a particular type of wood you would like to use? Even just knowing light or dark wood helps the maker narrow the choices.
Is there a certain aesthetic style or design language you prefer? Maybe you don’t know how to describe it, do you have a picture of something you like? Bring it along to the discussion.
Is there existing furniture in your space that the new one should complement? It could be the way its built, elements like handles, or the wood type. Bring pictures along.
What kind of details are you looking for? If its a cabinet, should it have doors, drawers, or should it be open shelves?
What is the purpose of the furniture? If its a cabinet, what will you be storing in it? Often a maker will be able to help you with the exact layout better if she knows what needs to fit where.
Have you had similar furniture in the past? What did you like or dislike about it? This is a great way to flesh out exactly what the new one should or shouldn’t include.

These are questions, the answers to which you do not necessarily need to know at the beginning of the process, but we will touch upon them throughout the process of designing your furniture. So it’s good to already start thinking about them.

What does Custom Furniture cost?

This is a question (usually the first) that I get asked very often. Unfortunately the answer to this question isn’t as straightforward as naming a price. Customised furniture means every project is new and different and there are many aspects to consider while calculating what it will cost.

The design & making cost

Since I am going to be making the furniture piece myself, the number of hours that I spend on it determine the design & making cost. This includes the planning of the project, making the drawings, ordering the materials, and researching the hardware . Ofcourse the actual making of the furniture in the workshop makes up about 90% of these costs. Consider that some materials take longer to process or certain finishes take longer to apply.

The material cost

The furniture piece will obviously be made out of wood, include some sort of hardware and be finished with oil or lacquer. The material cost of the bespoke furniture includes all these aspects. As a customer you also pay for the delivery of the materials, other workshop materials like sandpaper or finishing accessories, and fasteners like screws that are used in the furniture.

The delivery & installation cost

Once the furniture is ready in the workshop, it has to be delivered to the customer. The cost of delivery depends on the size and weight of the furniture piece. I sometimes hire an additional moving company to help with large items.
The installation price of the piece can vary depending on how the furniture piece fits into the customers house. In case of a free standing sideboard it might be just an hour of unpacking, hanging the doors and installing the drawers. In case of a fitted storage solution or a kitchen, it might even take multiple days.

My philosophy about Custom Furniture

I enjoy working with customers to design and find the perfect furniture solution to meet their needs. My education in furniture design, ergonomics and carpentry ensure I have the know-how to advise and help my customers make an informed decision. I try to find a balance between cost and quality. I believe that even though good quality costs more, it is worth the investment because it is sure to last longer and will create fewer problems in usage. According to me, quality materials, strong joinery and the right know-how build great furniture that stands the test of time.
Custom furniture is a sustainable solution to furniture production since there is minimum to no material wastage. The furniture is exactly what you want, so there is no compromise on the design and you are not tempted to throw it away to replace it with something better. My know-how as a professional carpenter means I build quality furniture that will last a lifetime and can be passed down from generation to generation.
I also provide customers with wood and finish samples for them to visualise it better. If needed, I order samples from my suppliers that customers can feel and touch, and take home to consider. I also make technical drawings and 3D visualisations during the design phase. Realistic timelines and deadlines that are met is what I offer my clients. I believe in clear communication during the process and that custom furniture is a team effort between customer and maker.

Read more about my philosophy here.

If you would like to request a custom furniture piece made by me, please fill in this form with as much information as you have.

Have a look at this page to see past projects that I have completed for clients since 2021.

How to use Principles of Design In Furniture

In this blogpost I will briefly describe the principles of Design and how I use them in Furniture Design. These principles act as an aid in the process of design and can be interpreted in many ways. This post talks about how I use them, but there are many other ways as well. There are many sources that list more than these principles as well.

What are the Principles of Design?

Harmony in Furniture Design

Harmony, also called unity, talks about how all elements in a piece work together as a cohesive whole. Whether the furniture piece is small or large, there are always multiple elements to consider such as doors, feet, handles, etc. These should be designed while keeping the others in mind, and how they all work together to form the whole piece.
This might be the style or form or colour, but also the curve or angles on different elements. I like to use wood in its natural form to emphasise harmony by celebrating the inherent beauty of wood and letting its beauty speak to the viewer.
Harmony is also very often about the proportions of different elements to each other, and my go-to is often the golden ratio – 1:1.618. Many of my cabinets, or parts within my cabinets have employed the golden ratio, most famously my Ashwood cabinets. I have shared an image below.
In interior design, a harmonious space is one where all the individual furniture pieces and elements have a consistent style or story. This does not mean that only one type of design style has to be used, but they should work well together.

Examples of Harmony in Furniture Design

Both versions of the Ashwood cabinets are designed with the same visual elements, which makes them work well together as a set

Balance in Furniture Design

Balance, refers to how the visual and physical weight of different elements in a piece work are distributed over its entirety. This can be observed well by taking a step by and appreciating the piece as a whole from a distance.
A piece may be symmetrically balanced, along a central axis. Often this technique delivers some beautiful pieces, but at times this might get boring as well.
Elements might be distributed in an asymmetrical balance, which adds interest to a piece while still maintaining its aesthetic beauty. This could be with different elements, or with the same element in a different form. The golden ratio can also be employed to create a beautiful balance between elements if it is asymmetrical.
When elements are arranged in a circle around a central focal point, it is radial balance.

Examples of Balance in Furniture Design

A beautiful example of how the shape on the front of the Highboard is balanced both symmetrically and asymmetrically.

Contrast in Furniture Design

Thanks to the numerous types of wood and its variation in colour, texture and grain, contrast is a very important element for me when I design furniture. Contrast highlights these differences, however care must be taken that this contrast is used in a harmonious and pleasing way.
Very often I also use paint or stain and other materials like glass or fabric as a contrast to natural wood. This adds a contrast of warmth, softness or colour.
I also like to juxtapose hard and soft lines, curves and straight lines to emphasise contrast.

Examples of Contrast in Furniture Design

In the tambour door cabinet I have used curves and corners as contrasting elements of design. Also white is used as a contrast colour to the warmth of the Oak.

Emphasis in Furniture Design

By using emphasis in furniture design, you use a stark element to draw the viewers attention to a particular point in the furniture. Emphasis can be created by using size, colour or texture.
I find emphasis to be a great way to add a striking feature to an otherwise not so interesting piece of furniture.

Examples of Emphasis in Furniture Design

In this custom wardrobe I made for a client, I used colour, asymmetry and light to emphasise a small element that adds interest to what would otherwise just have been a wall of doors.

Movement in Furniture Design

Movement in a piece of furniture guides the viewer’s gaze across the piece, giving him lines or elements to follow while experiencing the piece.
It might also guide a user’s hands across the piece like sweeping armrests on a chair, or a beautiful handle on a cabinet.
I find curved elements achieve this the best, although I do use curves quite rarely.
Moving elements that have grace ofcourse also are a beautiful usage of movement within a furniture piece, as illustrated by the tambour doors in my Tambour door cabinet. They guide the users eye and immediately add interest to the cabinet.

Examples of Movement in Furniture Design

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Vanessa Horig (@vanessa.horig)

Here’s a video I shared on my Instagram page which shows the Tambour doors flowing beautifully, so mesmerising!

Pattern in Furniture Design

Pattern creates visual consistency in a furniture piece, within a collection or an interior.
The element being repeated could be anything like a material, a motif, a constructional or ornamental element, or even simply a colour.
I often attribute this design principle to a rule I learnt during my apprenticeship – never use more than 3 different materials / features / embellishments within one piece of furniture. While I love to combine colours and woods and materials, it is important to do so with taste.

Examples of Pattern in Furniture Design

In the Tambour Door Cabinet I have used the same element of a square or rectangle with rounded corners throughout the design – the handles, the cutouts, the tambour track itself.

Rhythm in Furniture Design

Rhythm or repetition in furniture design is achieved by carefully repeating design elements at regular or varied intervals. This creates a tempo or a beat in the piece.
Personally I use this element very often in the form of repeating slats of wood. Slats in a backrest or headboard are elements I use often. Sometimes, to break the monotony or predictability, I add purposeful variation, something that makes the viewer take notice.

Examples of Rhythm in Furniture Design

Instead of simply using a single board as a shelf, I have used slats to create a shelf at the bottom of the Ashwood cabinet. One of these that coincides with the gap between the doors is wider and black to add interest.

How to make a Tambour Door

You might have seen my latest cabinet with tambour doors, here’s the process of designing and making it.
Tambour doors are a beautiful, tactile element to use in furniture design. Not only are they aesthetic, they are great for cabinets where the doors are open for long times and would be in the way. They are a perfect solution for tight spaces where there is no space for a door to swing open. They are elegant and an easy way to close a bow front cabinet. Depending on how the tambour door is designed and built, out of solid wood or veneered material, it can be used as a beautiful design element.

Designing a Tambour cabinet

Understanding the anatomy of a cabinet with tambour doors is essential to designing a beautiful cabinet.

These kinds of cabinets have an extra side panel on the inside to prevent the contents from coming in contact with or blocking the door.
The lid and base will have the routed track (1) for the door to slide in, and the front corners often have a face frame (3) to cover the gap left by the door.
The cabinet can can have one or two back panels depending on whether its free standing or against a wall. The inner back panel that seals off the storage area is a must.

Keeping all these factors in mind, the cabinet can be designed.

Designing a Tambour door

There are many factors that need to be considered while designing a tambour door for your piece of furniture. These will have an effect on the aesthetics as well as the usability of the cabinet.

What material is the door made of? Solid wood is a common option but using veneer meticulously adds the option of creating images that span the entire door.
How thick and wide are the individual slats going to be? The thicker and wider the slats the bigger the radius of the track in which the doors will run. Narrower slats are more work and lumber, but look more elegant. A good width is around 15mm.
Thicker slats could make the door very heavy and difficult to use. If the slats are too thin the door could be too flimsy and rattle during usage. A good thickness is 12mm.
Will the front of the slats have a profile or are they going to be simple and flat? Make a couple of trial pieces so you can get an idea about the effect the profile will have on the overall look of the door.
What kind of handle are you going to use to open and close the door. Remember the more difficult it is to open and close the doors, the stonger the handle needs to be. Dont make it too small and delicate.

Making a test piece

As with any moving part in a furniture project I would recommend doing a test for the tambour door with some scrap plywood.

Make sure to use the same thickness and width that you want to use in the final door. Attach the slats to each other from the back using tape, this holds the slats together like the canvas would hold the final door together.

Rout a test track in a scrap piece of plywood to test the doors. The radius of this track depends on the thickness and width of your slats. For example, the door I built has slats of 24mm wide x 12mm (with rebate 6mm) thick and the track needed to have a minimum radius of 5cm. To reduce the thickness of the slats you can add a rebate to the front and back. This will also hide the track from view once the door is in.

Make sure the test door slides easily around the corner without getting stuck. If need be, increase the radius of the track (if your cabinet design allows it) or reduce the thickness of the slats. You need to find a balance between the two.

Routing the tambour track

Once the thickness of the slats and the fitting radius for the track has been decided, a routing jig for the track can be made. The best material for this is a thick piece of MDF. I prefer to use a jig that is the size of the entire track so I can rout without having to reposition the jig, making it more precise.

By using a pattern routing bit with a copy ring on the top (see image 1) this track can be transferred to the cabinet lid and base. Correct positioning of the jig for routing and maintaining a consistent routing depth is crucial here. The track in both top and base have to coincide perfectly so that the door can slide easily once the cabinet is assembled. Make sure the cabinet is square while gluing it up.

Use the test door made from scrap plywood (4) to test the track again. It might interact differently in a different material. And at this stage it is still possible to make changes to dimensions of the individual slats.

Don’t forget to rout an entrance/exit for the doors!

making the tambour door

Here’s an overview of how I made the tambour door.

Once you have routed the track and assembled your cabinet, you can measure the exact length of each door. The number of slats you will need is the length divided by the width of your slats. I recommend making the door slightly longer and cutting it to length later.
Measure the final height for the doors. Make the individual slats for the door (1) in the desired width and thickness, leaving about 5cm extra in length. Make about 10% more slats than you need, because not all will be perfectly straight or some will have knots and other imperfections.
Make a frame (2) for the slats to fit into by screwing pieces of plywood onto a base. The frame is the size of the door. Using this frame, sort and arrange the slats keeping in mind the final appearance of the door.
Add a chamfer, roundover (3) or any other profile to each slat. Sand the profile and the sides of each slat and make them dustfree to prepare for glue up. Rearrange the slats back into the frame, this time face down.
Push the slats together with a clamp to close gaps, and add a plywood strip at the end to hold them in place. Using a hammer and a block make sure the slats are all lying flat and there is no unevenness. Now, using tape, mask off (4) the edges of the door, where you do not want the canvas to adhere to. This includes the area where the rebate will go later.
Next the canvas is glued (5) onto the back. This process is similar to veneering. Spread glue (I used white PVAC glue) all over the back of the slats and attach the overlarge canvas to the back. Nice and flat, avoid gaps, creases and bubbles. You can apply pressure using a piece of MDF and a vacuum bag (I used clamps and cauls, worked perfectly fine) Once the glue is dry, cut the canvas cleanly off the unwanted area, the masking tape should help at this stage.
I would recommend unclamping after an hour and cleaning squeeze out between the slats and letting it rest vertically (6) so the slats dont stick to each other.
Once the glue is dry, you can cut the door (7) to final width. Recheck the height needed from your cabinet and make it about 3mm shorter, you don’t need the door to scrape the top of the upper track. Make sure you cut it nice and parallel. Cut the door to length only once it is in the cabinet.
Cut the rebates (8) for the door on the table saw or table router and test the door in your cabinet. Does it run smoothly? If not, try some of the following tips.

How to get the tambour door to run perfectly

Here are a couple of things that I did that helped me to get the doors to run super smooth. The aim is to be able to open and close the doors with just two fingers.

Sand the track very well- the bottom ofcourse and even the sides. No fuzziness, no tear-out or unevenness that could block the slats from running smoothly.
If you rebated the ends, made sure the door is running on the end of the slat and not on the rebate. There should be a 2-3mm reveal between the cabinet bottom and the end of the rebate.
Use a shoulder plane to get rid of any uneveness left behind by the sawblade or router. Sand the rebates until smooth.

Chamfer the ends of the slats. This decreases the surface area that is rubbing against the bottom of the track and will prevent the slats from catching anywhere in the track.
Finish the dados as well as the inside of the track with whatever you are using on the rest of the cabinet; Hardwax oil, lacquer, etc. Make sure that it is a thin layer and there is no build up of finish anywhere.
Lastly using simple candle wax or paraffin, coat the pins of the slats and the track lightly. A thin coat to act as a lubricant should do, prevent build up.

You will find many videos of the process and final product on my Instagram page. Please feel free to get in touch if you need any more tips or have any questions.
Leave a comment below if you found this post helpful and subscribe to my blog for more how-to’s.
Good luck!

What is Fast Furniture?

And why I build slow furniture…

Fast furniture, as the name suggests, is mass produced furniture that is made quickly with cheap materials that do not last long.

Just like with trends in the fashion world, big interior firms are also releasing new collections with every season, inspiring consumers to change the look of their home more often. And ofcourse, these new products have to be delivered quick and must seem like a casual purchase. This leads to an increasing amount of fast furniture – cheap, poorly made pieces only meant to last a few years until the customer decides to give his interior a makeover.

Some scary numbers around fast furniture

Every year, Europeans throw away around 11 billion kilos of furniture.
Only about 10% of that furniture is recycled, while the rest ends up in landfills or is burned.
Unlike other types of waste, the amount of large household items being thrown away has actually increased in recent years.
60% of the mass-produced furniture sold in Europe comes from China.
On average, low-quality furniture only lasts about 7 years.

What can you do against fast furniture?

Maintain your furniture, if you dont know how, hire a professional. It’s cheaper than buying new furniture.
Repair damages wherever possible instead of throwing the piece out.
Upcycle items, or donate them to secondhand stores. You might even find something for yourself there.
Invest in good quality sturdy furniture that is built to last, and pass these on to your kids.
Need something for a short duration like for visiotrs? Try to borrow or lease the items. Join neighbourhood groups.
Look for furniture made out of sustainable materials that can be recycled or refurbished easily. Avoid particle board and MDF. Avoid compound materials that cannot be separated for waste management.

Why I build slow furniture

As a furniture maker and designer I believe in the power of bespoke design. Each person lives differently and has their own unique taste and ideas about beauty. There is no one-size-fits all solution. I enjoy working with customers to design and find the perfect furniture solution to meet their needs. My education in furniture design, ergonomics and carpentry ensure I have the know-how to advise and help my customers make an informed decision. I believe that even though good quality costs more, it is worth the investment because it is sure to last longer and will create fewer problems in usage. According to me, quality materials, strong joinery and the right know-how build great furniture that stand the test of time.

I believe contemporary designs never go out of style and my furniture can be handed down from generation to generation. I build furniture that will last a lifetime and criticize throw-away lifestyles that large brands promote. I strive to use certified wood from sustainable sources and work with sustainably manufactured lumber products.

Bespoke furniture is a sustainable solution to furniture production since there is minimum to no material wastage. The furniture is exactly what you want, so there is no compromise on the design and you are not tempted to throw it away to replace it with something better.

A lot of my larger pieces can be dismantled for transport, so customers can move with their beloved furniture and there is no need to demolish. I try to minimise waste during my production phase, and optimise material usage with the help of good planning.

And yes, slow furniture takes time to design and build well. As with anything good in this world, it’s not cheap. But definitely worth it.

Custom Furniture for Clients

As part of my job as a furniturer maker and designer, I undertake custom projects for clients. Together with the client I discuss functionality, look, shape and size, and then design the best solution for them. Based on budget and aesthetics I suggest various materials and send them a price offer with all the details. I then build the furniture in my workshop and install it at the customers house.

With my experience and knowledge about design and woodworking, I deliver quality furniture that is designed and built completely according to the customers’ wishes. With an emphasis on sustainability, I am to deliver furniture that is built to last a lifetime.

Below are a few projects that I have undertaken over the last couple of years. Feel free to get in touch for your own projects! See more projects on my portfolio.

Don’t know where to begin? Here are some guidelines for what you should know before you order custom furniture.

Corner cabinet above Desk

Amsterdam, 2023

Bookshelf

Amsterdam, 2023

Inbuilt Cupboards

Amsterdam, 2023

Hanging Cabinets

Amsterdam, 2022

Kid’s Desk

Amsterdam, 2022

Kitchen shelf

Amsterdam, 2022

Cabinet doors and shelves

Amsterdam, 2021

Scandinavian Interior

Kitchen, Kitchen shelf and Staircase railing
Amsterdam, 2021

Summer School on Japanese Carpentry – A Bench around a Tree

In June 2022, I received a scholarship to attend a Summer School on Japanese Carpentry organised by Domaine de Boisbuchet and Michelangelo Foundation. It was a 10 day workshop that took place on location at the Domaine and I attended it along with 11 other students from all over Europe.

Domaine de Boisbuchet is a utopia close to Bordeaux in France where Design meets Art. It is an international centre for workshops, research, and education on sustainably innovative design and architecture. Created in 1986, it is located in the southwest of France on 150 hectares of protected nature and ecological agriculture.

The Michelangelo Foundation is an international non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, that celebrates and preserves master craftsmanship and strengthens its connection to the world of design.

I am sincerely honoured to have been given this opportunity, I learnt so much and met so many interesting people.

Read Part 1 here

Part 2 – A Bench around a Tree

The second part of the course was conducted by Japanese designer Wataru Kumano. Having worked with Jasper Morrison in the past, he set up his own design office ‘kumano’ in 2011, and now works with interiors, furniture, and product design.

The aim was to apply the joinery techniques we learnt in the first couple of days, to build an outdoor bench that Wataru had previously designed. The bench had 6 joints, which meant each student would make one half of a joint, making the bench one large group project where all the pieces would come together to form one object.
We started by brainstorming which 6 joints those would be, and assigning them to groups of two students. Each student picked a joint they were comfortable with or found interesting to work on.

Choosing a site and Picking Rocks

Once we had decided on the individual joints, and who would be making them, we scouted the grounds of Boisbuchet for an ideal site where the bench would go. Wataru had envisioned the bench to be installed around a tree, and we wanted it to have a connection to the daily activities of the Domaine, while still being slightly set aside to provide the user with some privacy and tranquility.
The site we chose was a spot next to the living quarters of the Domaine, opposite the restaurant. We chose a large Robinie tree that was part of a clump of trees. It stood at the edge of a field where horses often grazed. You could watch the sun rise behind the rolling hills beyond the field, with the Japanese House to the left and the Old Mill to the right. As the sun travelled through the sky, the shade of the trees would protect the users, only letting the evening sun warm the bench again. We all loved the site!

As part of the foundation of the bench, we needed 9 flat rocks to sit underneath the posts of the bench. This is how old japanese shrines are built, and in our case prevented the legs of the bench from standing in water. We went down to the stream to pick some flat rocks from the river bed and carried them back to the site. Each post would stand on a flat rock that would sit in a shallow pit filled with pebbles.

Making the joinery

We returned to the workshop and each team of two laid out and started work on the chosen joint. Three teams were joining two beams each to make three tables, and three would become the benches. Marion and I chose to make a simple Bridle joint, which would be pegged with two dowels. I chose to make the male part, while she made the female. We used all the techniques we had learnt in the first half of the course to saw and chisel the perfect joint.

We made Oak dowels by hand in order to lock the joint. We first cut smaller sections of Oak and then shaped them into almost round sections with the kanna. To get a perfect cylinder, these pieces were then hammered through a hole in a metal plate which shaved off the last uneven bits to give us a round 8mm dowel. We then assembled our joint and locked it with the dowels. Using our kanna we smoothed the joint and the dowels until everything was flush.

The workshop was a busy space, with all teams rushing to complete and assemble their joint. Some joints were more complicated than others, and took a little longer to make. However they truly represent the intricacy and technique of traditional Japanese joinery.

Assembling the bench

While some teams were still busy finishing their joinery, some of us started preparing the elements that would connect the tables to the benches. Circular posts with a circular tenon would support the benches like legs. Rectangular posts with a tenon would sit between bench and table acting as spacers and connecting elements.
We laid out the mortises on all 3 benches and 3 tables together so they would be aligned. The mortise for the circular posts was drilled with a large forstner bit and then the material in between was chiseled out by hand. For the rectangular posts, the mortises were cut entirely by hand.

A last couple of finishing touches like a drip nose to help rainwater to drip off better were added. We also finished the surfaces of table and bench with the kanna to ensure a nice smooth surface that was pleasant to touch and splinter free.

Before carrying the bench out to the site around the tree, we did a dry assembly in the workshop. We decided where we wanted the tree to be, and checked if everything fit together as planned. It was lovely to see the bench come together, and we marveled at how large it looked. The best part was that it was delightful to sit on and our entire group could fit on it at once!

Installing the bench

The site was prepared before the bench was installed. We cut the grass around the tree, and mapped out where the legs would sit exactly. We dug shallow holes and filled them with gravel to stabilize the rocks that would carry the bench. The stones were leveled so that the bench would be straight once installed.

The next morning we ceremoniously carried the individual parts of the bench out. Each member of the group helped carry it out and it was like we were proudly presenting our work to the world.
Once at the site, we placed the benches on the stones, positioned the tables across the benches and connected them using the handmade Oak dowels. This process went surprisingly quickly, and the bench was very sturdy once everything was connected.

We spent the last couple of hours at the Domaine enjoying the bench we had built in the last 4 days. We invited other residents of the Domaine to sit and use the bench as well, drinking juice and coffee and experiencing sitting under the large Robinie tree.

What I loved the most about the design of the bench was the fact that it was so versatile in its usage. I observed how different people used it in different ways depending on the situation; some straddling the bench, others sitting sideways, some using the tables to sit on, others using the tree as a backrest. The bench even allowed for a comfortable nap, or just watching the countryside with your feet up, listening to the birds and the gurgling of the river downhill.

On the last morning I sat in the warm light of the sunrise with my cup of coffee, just trying to take in every detail of the landscape around the bench. It was a wonderful view, and it gave me a lovely sense of tranquility. Indeed a beautiful end to an enriching and unique experience.

Occasionally I see a video or picture on Instagram of the bench in use by other workshop attendees at the Domaine. It fills my heart with joy to know that we could contribute to life on the Domaine in such a beautiful way. It’s always nice to see people using things you have made, and this remains the best part of my job as a furniture maker!

Picture credits – Vanessa Hörig, Pietro Migliorati and Simon Searle

Furniture Joinery Systems

This post talks about a couple of joinery systems I use while building furniture of different types. These can be permanent glued joints or knock-down joints that can be reopened for easy transportation and moving.
Each system has it’s own pros and cons and areas of application apart from being differently priced. Careful selection of the correct joinery system ensures strong furniture that is built to last. I have mentioned some use cases and examples of how I have used them in my work.

Lamello

Lamello biscuits made of ca. 4mm thick Beech wood are elliptical in shape and come in different sizes. They can be used at intervals to connect 2 pieces of wood, using a lamello router to make the appropriate cuts in the material. They can be applied to join solid wood and wood based boards in simple butt joints or mitred joints. They add strength with additional glue area and help to align the workpieces forming an invisible, strong joint.

I have used Lamello biscuits in various projects like the Garden rack, the Tea Cabinet Blue as well as some parts of the Sideboard.

More information on Lamello.com

Domino

Domino dowels are a hybrid of round dowels and traditional wooden tenons. They are flattened pieces of beech wood in different thicknesses and lengths, to be used depending on the dimensions of the workpiece. They are used to join panels, but also for frames and wooden structures as a replacement for a tenon-and-mortise joint. It creates strong, invisible joints with the help of glue. The pockets for the domino dowels are made with a special Domino router machine.

I have used Domino dowels extensively in the base structure of the Ashwood Cabinets, as well as other projects like a staircase railing and balcony railing made out of solid wood.

More information on Festool.com

Clamex

Clamex connectors are similarly shaped to wooden Lamellos, but are made of plastic with a small lever on the male part to lock the two. The two components can be closed and opened multiple times, making the clamex a great connector for knock-down furniture. The lever is accessed through an almost invisible 6mm hole. Clamex connectors can be used on wooden boards for butt joints as well as mitre joints and are extremely useful while gluing mitre joints due to their immense strength. The groove for the Clamex connectors is made using a special Clamex router by hand or on a CNC machine.

I often use Clamex connectors when assembling large mitred cabinets like the Sideboard, or for ease of dismantling like in the CD Shelf. Clamex connectors can also be used to join 2 parts of a furniture like I did in the Tea Cabinet.

More information on Lamello.com

Joinery systems developed by industry leaders help cabinet makers speed up processes making furniture more affordable and accessible to everyone. Traditional joinery techniques take longer to produce and sometimes do not have applications like being knock down. There are many other methods and hardware that have been developed, the ones above are the systems I have experience with and trust. They make for strong, reliable joints that create furniture that will last a lifetime and can be passed down from generation to generation.

The images below show examples of how I have used this joinery.

The Process of Cabinet Making

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Sketches & Iteration

Most of my ideas and concepts usually begin with a simple sketch. If I am excited by it, I explore variations in proportions, size and composition. I include details and find the best way to join two or more materials. I flesh out the joinery and the sizes of cross sections of various elements like legs or aprons.

I can play with adding colour, or using multiple types of wood in one piece. I sketch out ideas for hardware that I would like to use or the placement of handles and hinges. I also analyse all the use cases and see if the piece is functional.

Hand drawn sketches help me visualise my designs

I use computer software to make 3D models of my designs

CAD Drawing & 3D Model

Once I am happy with how the piece is going to look and what details to add, I make a CAD drawing using a computer software. This helps me iron out the proportions, the functioning of moving parts, flesh out details and play with colours and finishes.

In addition I have a working drawing to reference while building the piece and can calculate material needs and costs. When working with a client, the 3D model and drawing make it easier to explain the project, and for the client to imagine the piece.

Hand-Picked Material

Wood is a natural material and has beautiful nuances and differences to its appearance. No two pieces of wood are the same, and the art of wood selection lies in choosing the perfect raw material to fit your furniture.

The best way is to actually go to the lumber yard and look at what is available. As far as possible, I try to choose material that comes from sustainable and responsible sources.

I hand picked the material from my local lumber yard, Amsterdamsche Fijnhout

Full Scale Drawing

A full scale drawing always helps to understand proportions and allows tweaking while seeing real life thicknesses of materials and referencing textures.

Here I drew both cabinets side by side on a piece of cardboard. This helped me feel confident about the proportions I had chosen on the drawing software. I could compare how the two cabinets related to each other and whether they work as a set.

Breaking Down Larger Panels & Logs

Once the raw material that I had selected at the lumber yard was delivered, I had to break down the large sheets and solid wood planks into usable sizes. This is when the cutlist I had prepared in the design phase comes in handy.

At this phase it is crucial to pay attention to the wood grain for both veneered panel as well as solid wood. I cut my panels for the doors and carcass with extreme attention to how the final grain layout would look later. In case of waterfall edges, the cut pieces must be marked to avoid confusion. For the solid wood I used on the legs, I made sure I had the right orientation of rift vs quatersawn so that I had a more delicate grain showing on the outside. Structurally, the grain also plays a huge role while laying out joinery.

I also made solidwood 5mm edge banding that I would use to seal the edges of the plywood.

Large boards and logs need to be cut down into component parts

Edgebanding

After the veneered boards were cut to final size, the 5mm thick solid ash edge banding is applied to protect and seal the plywood edges. This is done with wood glue and tape, working fast and pulling the tape extremely tight to avoid unsightly gaps between board and edgeband. The aim is to have a seamless, even board as an end product.

The glue is left to dry for atleast 24 hours before the edgebanding can be trimmed to the thickness of the board. There are multiple ways and methods of doing this, I use a table router with a flush trim bit, and do the last 0,5mm by hand with a card scraper. This gives me more control and I have a perfect finish.

Cutting Mitres & Testing Waterfall Woodgrain

After trimming the edgebanding, it’s time to cut the 45 degree mitred corners of both the cabinets. I had to take care to cut precisely and carefullly to achieve a nice clean edge after gluing up.

Mitred edges are perfect to show off grain, and I made sure to have a continuous ‘Waterfall’ grain around around every corner.

I also marked out and routed the joinery for the central divider at this point, since the machine would not be able to fit into the interior of the cabinet once it was glued together.

Mitred corners on cabinets showing a continuous waterfall woodgrain

Hinges

I wanted to use simple black butt hinges for the cabinets since they were easy to install and had a very simple look. I liked how the black bar broke the pale yellow of the Ash. I first did a test fit on some spare offcuts to see how they worked and how deep I had to cut into the sides to fit them perfectly.

In order to rout the pockets that would house the hinges, I made myself a plywood jig that I could clamp onto the side and use a router with a copy ring set to the correct depth to rout the pocket.

Testing Different Stains

I wanted to experiment with contrasting the pale yellow of the Ash on the outside with a strong black stain on the inside. In order to find the perfect product, I tried out many different samples until I was happy with the result.

In the process of bespoke furniture, I test different stains to achieve the desired result

I made two slatted solid wood trays to sit between the legs of the cabinets

Solid Wood Base

The cabinets stand on a base made from square sections of solid Ash wood. They also have a small slatted tray at the bottom to keep various items like magazines or books, or simply just cushions.

I cut the pieces to length and marked the places where I would cut the joinery. I cut all the joinery making sure to check for correct grain orientation. For the tray I prefinished the slats before gluing it up. As for the legs, I first glued up the entire frame and then applied the oil. This has mainly to do with accessibility of smaller parts and making sure the joinery and finishing are neat and clean.

As part of the design principle of contrast and asymmetry one of the slats is wider, and would also be stained black to emphasize this irregularity.

Dry Fitting

At this stage I temporarily put the entire piece together (called a dry fit, due to lack of glue used) to make sure everything fit, and also to get a better picture of what the final cabinet would look like.

There is always a possibility to change a detail at this stage, or correct a mistake. Trying to do so after finishing is extremely difficulty, not to mention the lost time of having finished something that doesn’t fit together, or that you are not happy with.

I also wanted to test fit the cabinet to make sure that I liked the idea of having a black interior and light exterior. After this I could dismantle everything and move on to the first round of finishing.

The cabinets are dry fit together to make sure everything is right, and to get a first impression

The insides of the cabinets are stained and oiled before gluing them

Staining & Finishing the Insides

I could then finally sand and prepare all the necessary material for the first round of staining and finishing. This included the inside of the cabinets and the slatted tray at the bottom of the leg frame. The rest would be sanded and finished in a later stage.

In order to avoid getting black stain on the outside of the cabinet, I had to protect it by sticking paper on it with tape. This is again a time consuming process, but definitely extremely important to be able to finish the insides in a timely manner. Edges that will later receive glue have to be covered with tape as well, as seen here the mitre edges.

The surfaces were stained twice and oiled once, or oiled twice if they were to stay the natural Ash colour.

Gluing Up

Once the oil has dried and hardened on the various components, they can be glued up in their final assemblies. In some cases, it takes place in multiple steps like with the base of the cabinet. Here I first glued up the tray at the bottom and the cross ties that support the cabinet. As a second step I connected these two parts by gluing the 4 legs to them.

Care has to be taken to glue up in the correct order and orientation and cauls are used to protect the furniture from pressure marks from the clamps. Cauls also evenly distribute the pressure from the clamps. Corners are checked to see if the structure is at 90 degrees, and any excess glue squeeze out is cleaned up.

Fitting the doors, making sure that the reveals on all sides are equal and the doors swing smoothly

Fitting Doors & Shelves

Once the carcass of the cabinets was ready, the glue having dried for atleast 24 hours, I could start fitting the doors.

The hinge pockets on the doors had been routed along with the pockets on the sides of the cabinet. I could now fit hinges to both cabinet and door and then work on removing material on the doors until they fit perfectly.

Fitting the doors essentially entails making sure the doors have an even reveal (gap) on all sides, towards the carcass as well as towards each other. And ensuring that they open and closed well. In my case, this was a 3mm gap, which I checked with a 3mm spacer.

This is quite a time consuming task, and requires a lot of back and forth until the desired result is achieved.

Once the doors were running smoothly, I cut the shelves that go into the cabinet to size and fitted them as well.

Handcut Dovetail Drawers

The last feature of the Ash cabinets was one handcut dovetailed drawer for each cabinet. For this I measured the exact dimensions of the available space and prepared my 12mm solid Ash stock.

The dovetails are scribed onto the sides of the drawers, first sawn by hand, and then the material is removed with a sharp chisel. These dovetails are then referenced onto the corresponding front and back of the drawer and then cut out as well.

The entire box is then carefully fitted together, removing material wherever needed. Dovetails are a very strong method of making a corner joint, and no hardware is needed. A slot or rebate is made at the bottom to fit a base into the drawer.

Once the individual pieces are sanded and oiled, the drawers can be glued together with the help of clamps. Again, care must be taken that all corners are perfectly square.

I used handtools like chisels and saws to make drawers with dovetailed corners

The drawer got a simple pull out of leather

The handmade handles for the doors are made of black leather wrapped around a wooden dowel — The drawer got a simple pull out of leather

Leather Handles

For this project, I wanted to make handles for the drawer and doors myself. I wanted to experiment using a new material and decided to use black leather.

To keep the minimalist harmony of the black hinges, I made the door handle in the same look and size by wrapping the leather around a 6mm wooden dowel. An extra length was then attached to the side of the door. I only made one handle per cabinet.

For the drawers I just made a simple long tug of leather that is attached to the interior of the drawer.

Final Finishing & Assembly

The last step was to disassemble all the doors, handles and shelves, and do one last round of sanding.

I then finished all surfaces with two coats of Osmo Hardwax Oil, making sure to really rub the oil into the surface to get a nice smooth finish.

I then reassembled the cabinets, doors and handles. And finally I could attach the cabinet to the base.

Final stage of assembly of cabinets, doors and handles

I use a camera and tripod to photograph my products in natural lighting

Product photoshoot

I enjoy staging and taking pictures of my products quite a lot. I use a simple set up of a white paper or HPL sheet as a back drop and natural lighting from a window.

I use accessories like books, bowls, cups, glasses or alcohol bottles to add life and colour into the images. These objects also help to illustrate the functionality and size of the piece.

In order to showcase the Ash cabinets, I took lots of pictures of the various details and features, but also of the two cabinets side by side.

You can see final images of the Ashwood Cabinets, view the Portfolio Page
The Ashwood Cabinets are available for sale, for more Info visit my Webshop

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