Heirloom Furniture

[Prashun Patel]

I was listening to The Dusty Life Podcast this morning (it's getting better each week).

Anyway, they had a discussion about what makes fine/heirloom furniture that would "live past my and my kids' lifetime".

It got me thinking: I despise the term 'heirloom furniture'. I mean, what hubris to think that our kids or their kids or even WE are going to want the furniture we make today. I think our tastes will obsolesce long before our furniture does.

I realize things should be built with care and attention to detail and quality, but any talk or hope of 'oh your children will love that' strikes me as narcissistic and egocentric.

Don't get me wrong...I think what a lot of the guys here produce IS art; shoot, some of it brings tears to my eyes how good it is. But it's good to ME and this community, today. To predict that any of it - especially copies - will be treasured past the next couple decades just feels utterly ridiculous to me.

Anyone else?

[Lee Schierer]

I'm sure the craftsmen that made the Louis XIV, Chippendale, Cheval and other furniture makers didn't expect their furniture to last through hundreds of years either. I doubt that much of the "discount store furniture" being sold today will last 10 years much less 100 or more. When I build furniture or other items, I build them to last. Whether they exist beyond the time I or the people I made them for own them I have no control over but they are made to last a lifetime or two.

[Jim Koepke]

Somethings are really only special because, "dad made this," or "grandpa made this."

"That may be a clunky looking cabinet, but it has been in our family for three generations."

Make it well, make it last. Who knows, a future generation may use it for firewood.

jtk

[Andrew Joiner]

I'm with you Prashun. In my opinion a good design can stand the test of time, but it takes talent and luck on our part.
I've been building and designing since 1966 and seen a lot of trends. Back then who could have known desks, bookcases and TV cabinets would be nearly obsolete someday?

[Erik Loza]

Funny that you made this thread, Prashun. My wife and I were just having this conversation. Both mom and dad are going through the whole, "What do you want when we go?"-thing now and there is some heirloom furniture. Victorian-era rocking chair made by my great grandfather, a walnut bookcase, etc. They hold lots of memories for me and I would like to have them in a perfect world but the reality is that we don't have anyone to pass them down to (no kids) and we're maxed out on furniture as it is. If I took them, they would have to go right into storage and then, just take up space for years. So, I feel bad about saying no but would be dishonest in saying yes. I would rather they not just get sold in an estate sale when my folks die but the reality is, that is probably what will happen. It's a conundrum.

Erik

[roger wiegand]

I'm pretty sure my kids won't want most of my stuff, but I try to make it such that 1) it will last long enough to for it to be an issue and 2) someone in the future might want it. After all, I have a lot of stuff that was made with care by someone's great-grandfather, not my own, that I value greatly and feel profound respect and a connection with that unknown great grandpa who was a skilled and careful workman.

Yes, I've got the hubris to hope that someone, someday will look at a piece of my furniture at a flea market and say 'hey, this guy did nice work!'

Changing styles is something I can't worry about. I cheerfully inherited and now use furniture ranging from Victorian to Art Deco. What they sell today at the Pottery Barn and Ikea leaves me cold. I really wish my grandparents had embraced Art Nouveau!

[Brian W Smith]

Heck,we've got a house full of 200plus y.o. old antiques with equal amounts of stupid $$ repros .

Our 4 boys and their wives can fight over it....or the money?

Throw in vast quantities of priceless lovingly resto"d old arn.....

Payback baby!..."Ya'll deal with it",haha.

[Stan Calow]

Our kids don't want any of that old stuff. Handing down good quality furniture made sense in the old days when three generations lived in the same house and newlyweds didn't start out with a new house. Seeing tons of old quality furniture in estate sales and consignment shops put me off making any bigger furniture items.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

If it's made for a family member and well executed, it could be a family heirloom. While styles and tastes may change over time, there have been a lot of true heirloom furniture bought at flea markets, garage sales and yard sales.

If someone wants to call a piece an heirloom, so what? I would think it arrogant to pass judgement on their choice of words.

[Rick Potter]

The only things I hope are passed on are the cradles I made for each of the kids when they had their first child. There are three, and each kid got to choose the style. With three of the grandkids in their 20's now, I expect I will find out soon.

Smartest thing I did was to make them so they break down for storage.

[Al Launier]

Interesting thread. I also am not one to generally obsess over possessions from prior generations with the exceptions of things that
a.) were made specifically for me that I have a functional use for, or
b.) that were made or handed down by someone dear to me and serve as a memento of our previous relationship, or
c.) conveys past experiences/intentions that I shared with family members or friends.

Objects/former possessions that are passed on only for the sake of it having previously been "in the family" generally do not appeal to me.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

This thread kind of makes me sad. The one things I have from my grandfather are the furniture he made and the figures he carved. Even if I lived on a boat (which was in the plan at one time) I would keep those items. I believe in passing things down as inspiration to the next generation. It is not the material, it's the immaterial that makes them worth saving. My grandfather's pieces make me want to reach for higher things in my woodworking.

[Prashun Patel]

I think you're right, Ken. I suppose there's irony in my arrogance given my distaste with the arrogance of designing heirloom furniture!

I hadn't thought about it like that.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Prashun, what does it matter?

I am a hobbyist woodworker. Every piece I build is for a family member (most often my wife) or a friend. I actually mount a small engraved brass plate on each major piece with the recipient's name, date of completion and my name as the maker. Most of the pieces I make are requested by that family member or friend.

One of the definitions of "heirloom" is a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations. I hope the pieces of furniture I make are "heirloom" quality. Only the recipients and future generations can determine the value of a piece of furniture I have made and whether or not it is worthy of becoming an heirloom. I am late enough in my life that I won't be around to see for myself.

I fail to see how I am being "narcissistic or egocentric" if I use the term "instant heirloom" when commenting on somebody else's piece they have crafted. If, however, I used the same term referencing something I built then I would agree with you that I was being narcissistic or egocentric.

Maybe my understanding of the proper use of those two words is wrong?

Prashun, I really am not trying to be argumentative or offensive.

[Prashun Patel]

I'm not taking it as argumentative, Ken. I welcome the challenge. I was conceding in my previous post. No offense taken.

[Andrew Hughes]

Ya know what's weird my wife and I have bought several second hand tables in the past.Both were defiantly made by some woodworker possible home shop.We liked the simple design I thought it was good solid work. One table went to our daughter the other I don't even remember were it went.
At the time I was working full time in the roofing industry.
Ive been threatining to make us proper dinner table the one we have now came from a store.Another piece someone gave to us.
Ive made at lest 20 or more tables for others.The cheapest one was about 800 the most exp was 4,500
But i have something from Ethen Allen.
I would like to suggest a book The unknown craftsman a insight to beauty.
Sam maloof thought it was a good book to read.

[Andrew Joiner]

I made a bookcase for my stepdaughter 20 years ago that she requested. I had minimal tools and no shop at the time so I got creative. I used through wedged mortise and tenon joints so it could be knocked down to move it. I was proud of it and gave it to her as a gift.

After 10 years the bookcase was stored outside in the weather. It had served it's purpose I guess so it was in the way. I saw it out there for a couple years rotting away. It made me sad. I said nothing because it was a gift and I had to "let it go". It did make me realize that it's rare for people to care about craftsmanship or design.

After that experience it's easier for me to suggest Ikea or Walmart stuff for some people. It doesn't hurt my feelings to see particle board left out in the rain.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

People are talking about two different things in this thread. One is whether we are building things that are worthy of being appreciated and preserved by the next generation. The other is whether we are leaving a next generation that is worthy of the work that went into the things we are leaving. Both are important, and both have to be present to have something preserved for multiple generations.

[Marty Schlosser]

Hey, Andrew,

Just a few thoughts on what you stated regarding "nearly obsolete" furniture. The last TV cabinet I ever made (circa 1982) was very easily repurposed into a licquor cabinet. Bookcases are still great family photo and knicknack display cabinets, and desks are still very useful around our home (my wife and I both have our own, which see daily use)... but they could find their way into the bathroom where they'd become, perhaps, a make-up table. But just not for me.

I guess that what I'm saying is that a nice piece of furniture, well designed and constructed from quality materials should be useable for many, many years. And, if necessary, repurposed.

To answer Prashun, comment regarding the term "heirloom", I'd have to disagree. But then, perhaps it's because I'm a bit of an old codger and when I grew up, that term denoted quality.


I'm with you Prashun. In my opinion a good design can stand the test of time, but it takes talent and luck on our part.
I've been building and designing since 1966 and seen a lot of trends. Back then who could have known desks, bookcases and TV cabinets would be nearly obsolete someday?

[Andrew Joiner]

Hey, Andrew,

Just a few thoughts on what you stated regarding "nearly obsolete" furniture.

.
Right Marty. That's why I said nearly obsolete. I've reconfigured a few things I've built in the last 20 years. All of them involve TV's or desk top computers. I guess "obsolete for the original use" would be more accurate.

[Roger Feeley]

Even if a piece of furniture isn't something you want, you can still use the wood. I have a collection of what I call, "archived wood" from my family.

-- I have wood that came from the house my mother was born and grew up in (she died last year at 103).
-- I have wood that came from the barn on the ranch where my father grew up in Montana (he died in '89).
-- I have my fathers first desk broken down. It was an old printers table and is about the worst desk you can imagine but it's all quarter sawn oak.
-- I have the crib my daughter slept in (no longer meets safety requirements so I broke it down).

I've used a little of it. I used wood from the houses to make Christmas tree ornaments for my family a couple of years ago. Note: turning 100 year old wood is hard. That stuff is brittle!

There would be no used for the crib now that safety standards have changed but I hate to throw that stuff away. I archive the usable pieces of wood and hope for the day when I can find another purpose.

On a related note: I met a guy once who has the wood paneling from the house where Vincent Price was born and raised. They were tearing down the house and he saved the walnut paneling.

I don't know what I will do with the other stuff.

[Mike Henderson]

My dad was a machinist during WWII. I have some of the tools he used and treasure them just because they are tools he used. I hope to be able to pass them to someone else in the family who will find meaning in owning them.

I hope that members of my extended family will want to keep the furniture I've made after I'm gone.

Mike

[William Adams]

The thing is, everything represents a choice --- when you make something of lumber, that lumber ceases to be available for other uses --- it can't be a part of a house, it can't be in some other project, it can't be burned to keep someone warm (for a while yet, anyway), so it behooves us to make something which is worthy of the resources which it consumes.

I'm fortunate to have one thing of my paternal grandparents (their reel lawnmower --- I've even used it to cut the grass).

[Brett Luna]

I'm not very far into furniture making but I think the best I can hope for when I build a piece is to give it the bones of an heirloom, even if it's only considered one within the family. Future generations will flesh them out as they see fit.