OUR COLLECTIONS
We consider all of your projects to be a collaborative endeavor with our clients. Listening to our clients to understand exactly what they want, how they will use it and where it the piece will be placed.
About Us
At Harpeth River Furniture we are passionate in building the best Furniture and cabinetry. Likewise, we are just as passionate at studying the master craftsmen of the past. Building quality cabinetry and furniture has been practiced for eons. Thousands of years ago the Egyptians discovered the technique of laminating wood. The Shakers used basic tools to create the most beautiful joinery that appeared simple yet last for generations. Even shipbuilders, who for thousands of years built wooden boats that had to stand up to the most severe of conditions. Through gaining the knowledge of pass masters we can create the heirloom pieces of the future. In today’s throw-away society people have to be reminded that furniture and cabinetry can, and should, last and be shared with generations to come.
We believe that wooden furniture should last at least as long the tree took to grow from which the furniture is made. Just about every family has furniture that has been passed down from previous generations. People often want to show us some piece of furniture that once belonged to their grandparents. Often times it’s just a simple table, desk, or dresser that is over 100 years old. Pieces that have been lifted and moved around rooms, into new houses, and even across country hundreds, if not thousands of times. And, yet so much furniture bought today is on the curb with the other garbage in just a few years. It comes apart after just being moved across a room. The doors or drawers fall apart simply because they were used like, well, doors and drawers. They were opened and closed daily.
Heirloom furniture that is built by artisans who use REAL wood, using proper furniture construction techniques, and finished with stains, lacquers, and waxes that are meant to hold up to daily use will, in most cases, out last your lifetime. This was true hundreds if not thousands of years ago and it is true today. There really are some things that do not change.
We at Harpeth River Furniture are dedicated to the continuing tradition of making such furniture and cabinetry. Contact us today to find out more about what we do. We would love to discuss any project or piece you have in mind.
Our Passion is Furniture & Cabinetry
It all starts with the wood. Each species comes with its own character and beauty. Our job is to work with the wood to create furniture that is functional, elegant, and built to be enjoyed for many generations to come. By studying the master furniture makers of the past and present, we have learned what it takes to make furniture that is beautiful and will last. We take the time to carefully match the grain and color of the wood, create dovetail drawers, and use mortise and tenon joinery. This is the way it has been done for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Furniture built in this fashion last, as any museum or antiques shop will show. It is only when short-cuts are taken that furniture fails. If you the build furniture correctly, it will last for centuries! And, it’s the unexpected. Who says all furniture needs to look the same? As the Shakers furniture makers use to say, “Form follows function”. A chair seat should be 17” off the ground. A dining table top needs to be 30” tall. But, once you have addressed that, why not make the piece fun and unique as well.? That’s where the creativity shines. Making something that is both functional as well as original. We love that challenge.
Our Process
We consider everything we do to be collaborative endeavor. With our clients our first step is always to listen. We need to understand what they want, how they will use it, and where it will go. Then we must design it to be functional and visually appealing. Before we cut the first board we make drawings to review with the client. It’s much easier to change things on paper. It also gives the client something to study for however long it takes to “see” the piece in its place. We then provide color samples and even door samples, if needed, for clients to again “see” what the piece will look like.
At Harpeth River Woodworks each piece begins with the wood. Our endeavor is to work with the wood to craft furniture that is functional, elegant and built to be enjoyed for generations to come all while holding true to the natural beauty of the wood.
