Kitchen islands are a huge asset in any kitchen that can accommodate them. Offering ample workspace and extra room for cabinets and appliances, the island often becomes the heart of a kitchen, especially one in which the residents entertain. They say that a party always finds its way to the kitchen: once there it orbits the island.
Our client on this project was a designer helping some friends with the interiors and furnishings of a new construction home in Needham. The dining room, and indeed the whole house, is a beautiful meeting of classic and contemporary details — see the coffered ceilings and elegant light fixture — so she knew that the table would need to strike the same balance. Tables that would fit this bill are difficult to find, to say the least, and they’re simply not built to the same standards of quality and beauty as Cannon Hill pieces.
Our client on this project got in touch with us because he was moving into a new condo in Brookline, and he wanted a new dining table to fit — and set — the tone of the space. The building is one of those beautiful buildings with intricate penny tiles and oak paneling in the halls; our client wanted a piece that would feel appropriate to his more contemporary styling and decor. It can be a tricky thing to update the interior of a unit in a way that doesn’t jar visitors as they step in from the hallway. Our client pulled it off, and we’re happy and proud to be a part of the process.
When our client on this project approached us, she started with a few crucial pieces of information: first, that this table was going into a beach house, and that she wanted to keep that beachy feel; second, that she was after clean, unfussy lines; and third, that there would be no other wood in the kitchen that we would need to try and coordinate with. It’s great when clients come to us with important context for the table, because we can incorporate all these considerations from the very start of the build.
When we work with live-edge slabs, they often have sizable cracks — known as “checks” — at the ends. These checks aren’t any sign of quality issues, and they don’t create any problems in the finished project. We use inlays called “bowties” to keep the cracks from widening over time as the wood expands and contracts with environmental changes.
One of the unavoidable facts of furnituremaking is that there will be waste in the process. Whether it’s off-cuts from our tables, shavings from our planes, or sawdust from our sanders, we spend our days turning pieces of wood into smaller ones. We feel a responsibility to make the most of every piece of wood that enters our shop, and we’re loathe to throw any out. In fact, we run a program under which we give off-cuts that aren’t going to make it into our projects to other local woodworkers.
Because we make all our furniture to order after a thorough design process, here at Cannon Hill we can tailor every aspect of our work to the relevant specifics of each project. Our clients on this one were after a deep, dark color that would come to a full, consistent appearance but also preserve the grain and texture of the material. After all, when you’re going to the effort and expense of building — and buying — solid wood furniture you want to be able to tell what it is.
We like to say that here at Cannon Hill we specialize in showstopping furniture that can command attention in a room — pieces like this one are the proof positive of that capability. This table measures out at over 16 feet long, and required almost the whole Cannon Hill team to deliver. As proud as we are of the table itself — quite a bit, it should be said — this project also points to our abilities after the build itself is over.
Sometimes, a client will come in with a very specific design idea in mind, and it’s up to us to turn that idea into a custom piece of furniture that can anchor a room in their home for decades, or generations. This live edge walnut dining table is the product of exactly that process. Our client wanted to see a square steel beam pass through a chunky walnut plate to create an “X” base of a type very different than what we often build.
This table is a fantastic example of the sort of handmade custom furniture we spend our days making here at Cannon Hill. Our clients approached us with a number of inspiration images, and we worked together to unify those images into a single table design. This project obviously draws heavily from the work of famous 20th-century furniture makers, but we endeavor to put our own twist on everything that goes out our door.