Profile: Luke Austin – Furniture Maker……

I had the opportunity to talk with Luke Austin, a California-based furniture maker for FOLK Magazine’s blog about his career path, his love of wood and what clients should consider before pursuing custom-made furniture.

I have been lucky enough to work with Luke on at least three different projects for clients and each time, he has impressed me with not only his cool demeanor but more importantly his ability to look at a piece of wood and tell you what it should be.  I jokingly call him the “Wood Whisperer” as he is completely attune and is able to unlock the potential a piece of wood has to present the best piece of furniture possible…..

But then I am bias….why else would have used him for most of my projects?  As I dream of new ways to use Luke and his wood whispering abilities, why don’t you go check out his profile on FOLK?

Have a great weekend!

[photography: Photo by Adza]

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Luke’s Woodshop…Custom Coffee Table

I had the great fortune of meeting Luke Austin while working on the Calvert Court project.  He is a fantastic furniture maker and restorer that we used to bring the house’s original floors and cabinets back to life.  Plus he is funny to boot and to be honest, you spend so much time in cramped space with your contractors and vendors, the last thing you want is someone you don’t like.

I currently kicked off the last phase of a long term project and was in desperate need of a coffee table.  The client already has a couch he wishes to keep and is good condition.  However, his current table can only be described as “sad”.  And what was more sad, I couldn’t find anything on the market that the price point I wanted to spend that was not just as sad as the coffee table he currently possesses.  As luck would have it, I needed to stop by Luke’s work room to drop off a project and ran across these….

They are side tables that one of Luke’s patrons commissioned.  While I personally think the video console tops and the ability for the inside shelf to hold pint glasses are a fun touch, they are not exactly my client’s aesthetic.  However, the general shape was interesting and with a few modifications, I thought it would be the perfect coffee table.

A quick conversation with my suggestions created this…

The video console glass has been replaced with smoked black/grey glass panes that will sandwich my client’s rotating photography prints.  The legs are slightly more angular and the area formerly for pint glasses was shrunk to accommodate remotes and magazines. We are doing a two-tone treatment with dark stained walnut on the outside and varnished unstained walnut on the inside.

I am super excited for the project and the client is chomping at the bit to get this puppy started which is always a good sign.  As a general rule, I am finding that doing custom pieces for my clients is a great option that isn’t as price prohibitive as people think.  Additionally, in some ways it is cost effective since trying to find the “perfect” piece takes man hours – hours that I charge for – so once you factor that in, your great deal may not be all that cost effective.

Okay, I need to suit up as I am crawling under a deck today to look at foundations.  Not glamourous but the “design dork” in me is quite excited.  Now let’s pray I don’t encounter snakes, rats or the angry skunk because I will scream like a school girl – just keeping it real folks!

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