Woodwork at the Interior Design Show

This past weekend, at the Interior Design Show, there were a lot of pieces made from our favourite material: wood. It was exciting to see craftsmen and women using that age-old substance in new ways.

Some students from the Ontario College of Art and Design had projects on display.

Half Japanese by Bahar Ghaemi

The Continue Desk by Francesco Angiulli

I spoke with Francesco Angiulli and, of course, asked him how he made The Continue Desk. He made the bent plywood himself with a vacuum-bag process. He made the shelf by cutting off a piece of his curved sheet, attaching it at the back and wrapping everything in the final veneer.
Nearby, another group of students from Sheridan College’s Craft and Design Program had their works set out. Greg Bauer’s Braced Cabinet is made from white oak and steel. The steel made the cabinet look modern, while the oak kept it looking warm.

Braced Cabinet (white oak and steel) by Greg Bauer. The steel legs join the top (inset)

Another Sheridan student, Dylan Vankleef, employed white oak in his project. Vankleef’s Lounge Chair has great angles on the arms and legs, held together with box joints.

Dylan Vankleef's Lounge Chair made of white oak and leather using box joints (inset)

Finally, from Sheridan, is Alastair Martin’s white ash Pedestal, with exposed tenons that add a subtle decoration to the top.

Pedestal by Alastair Martin with exposed leg tenons (inset)

Nearby, among shiny news faucets and fancy carpets, I came across a stack of stickered boards. Old stickered boards. Urban Tree Salvage had a stack old growth pine from Toronto’s old Queen’s Warf. The warf was filled in the 1860s and uncovered in March 2006 as construction started on a condominium. Urban Tree Salvage also has some furniture pieces on hand.

Pine boards that are more than a 100 years old from Urban Tree Salvage

Ash stump with bolts from Urban Tree Salvage, probably better as a side table than a stool

Another project made of reclaimed material was created by a young woodworking duo called the Carroll Street Woodworkers. Their coffee table is made of lath from old plaster walls. Something new from something old.

Coffee table made of old lath by the Carroll Street Woodworkers. Credit: cswfurniture.com