A friend sent me this picture of Patrick Stewart doing a one armed push-up and while that is an impressive feat, my eye was immediately drawn to the floor, which is rift white oak. Now I want to find out more – is that Patrick’s house? Who made the floor? Who designed the space? Could the lumber have come from…
I have been on hiatus for the past few months and during that time I have done considerable thinking on this topic as it relates to design. The more I looked at beautiful designs, whether commercial, hospitality or residential the more I saw form trumping function unnecessarily. Naturally, my design orientation centers on flooring because Frank Miller Lumber produces the…
Recently the sales team at Frank Miller Lumber received an invitation to quote on a large quantity of quartersawn white oak for use in the Middle East. Naturally, any chance to quote a possible order for shipment into an area to which you rarely ship is exciting. The pricing surprised the joinery company making the inquiry, even though it was…
If you followed me on Instagram you would find that during my world travels I love to take pictures of beautiful automobiles. Of course, the U.A.E. is a virtual cornucopia of high-priced exotic cars ripe for iPhone cameras. Along with the Bugatti Veyron I have always coveted the Bentley in all of its forms. I thought recently of parallels between…
On a recent trip to the U.A.E. I found out that New York University is opening a new campus in Abu Dhabi this year. Frank Miller Lumber has quoted some quartersawn walnut and cherry that may be used in some of the flooring there. When this caught my attention I did a bit of research and found that NYU also…
I am often asked in my architectural presentations about my preference between engineered and solid wood floors. In this blog I try to steer away from polarizing topics, but I decided to express my personal opinion on this question. While there are different levels of quality in engineered floors as there are in any composite product, I always return to…
To independent architect/interior designer Jae Chang, modern design is about taking something classic and proven and making it contemporary, habitable and inviting. When he was approached to design and renovate a Madison Avenue apartment for a fellow architect, he leapt at the chance to transform the outdated, underused space into a modern, functional, showcase apartment. Located near the historic Morgan…
Last week I came across the 2010 RPA (Resources Planning Act) Assessment. This the report generated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture reflecting the state of the America’s forests now and into the future. This report comes out every 10 years and it is interesting to note that in 2000 the report painted a rosy picture of America’s forest resource. …
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER I am often reminded of a cartoon I saw years ago of a Gatling gun salesman trying to talk to a Commander on a medieval battlefield where a war is being fought with arrows and swords. The Commander says something like “I don’t have time to talk to a salesman, I have a battle to fight”. Getting…
When I lecture about Quartersawn American hardwoods I get to tell the wonderful story about sustainable forest management at the same time. Before I can make the case for Quartersawn hardwood as the most durable and beautiful form of hardwoods it is important that I talk about the carbon footprint of bringing that hardwood to market. As a tree grows…