We're Nuts for Walnut!

Can you believe it's October already?! We've been busy bees here at the shop; getting ready for Christmas, stocking up on antique treasures, and as always we've been working away on a variety of custom pieces.

Lately we've had a lot of requests for pieces built in walnut. Walnut is a great choice for furniture or cabinetry because it's very durable and has an attractive grain. With proper care, walnut pieces can last many lifetimes.

This entertainment armoire is made of a birch surround with plywood walnut doors (we always always trim our plywood with real solid wood for longevity). The birch is painted a creamy white, the doors were left natural and have been treated with oil. This piece really showcases the beauty of walnut. The simple contemporary lines draw attention to the textures and colour of the natural wood doors and drawers. To keep with the linear and contemporary feel of the design, the vertical wood grain of the doors continues into the drawers.

Because of its durability, walnut is a great choice for any high-usage piece of furniture. We made this custom walnut island and gave it a dark walnut coloured stain. The perimeter of the surface has been embellished with a subtle hand-painted design.

Down below there is a slatted shelf for open storage and "hidden" drawers just underneath the top surface for place-mats and napkins. In collaboration with our customer, the legs were reproduced from an antique newel post, and were hand-turned on a lathe by our amazing woodworker. We feel this design and choice of rich wood perfectly suit the William Morris aesthetic of this Halifax kitchen. What do you think?

Just Showing Off a Little

I'm just taking a break from unpacking and pricing some of this year's Christmas stock (I know, I know, how dare I utter the word!) to show off some gorgeous pieces we recently built. Check it out:



These two matching pieces are custom and are built of solid walnut with soft-closure drawers. They have an Asian influence with extremely clean lines. I think they really showcase the exquisite skills of our builder and designer. Stunning! They're just awaiting hardware before they can be delivered.

The customer is using them for bedroom side tables, but these pieces could easily be used as a set of dressers placed side by side, or individually in a hallway or dining area as a side table.

We're really proud of these pieces, so we think it's OK to show off a little ;). What do you think of them?
-Alyssa

A ROOM OF ONE'S OWN

This is a bedroom that has long awaited a caring and thoughtful touch. An addition was built several years ago which included this ample size master and ensuite and a large family room below. After an exhausting time renovating the couple lacked energy and time to furnish and finish these beautiful new spaces. We were more than happy to help! Henhouse was called upon to create a room that was relaxed and elegant but also friendly, eclectic and cozy. Shown here are the foundations of this room so far; a new upholstered headboard and skirt, toss cushions, benches, side tables and lamps. With the exception of the lamps all were designed and made by henhouse. Lamps from Bellissimo. Stay tuned for the final result once it has been filled in with rugs, drapery, art, soft furnishings, family photos and personal touches...
Walnut dressers as side tables, so elegant and classic.

YOU'RE SO VAIN

This functional beauty is destined for a happy customer's bathroom. Made entirely of walnut wood with a rich walnut stain, our signature dovetail joinery and those oh-so-easy soft closure glides, this piece is destined for admiration for years to come.
The 2" thick counter top will be installed once situated and will feature an integrated raised concrete bowl by a local Halifax company. As you can see, each drawer accommodates plumbing with ample usable and accessible storage.

OCEAN TIDES

Although we have not seen the house this coffee table is going into, we are led to fantasize that this hefty table is destined to hold its own in one of the many dreamy ocean side homes that dot our Nova Scotian shoreline.
Our customer chose from our many blue hued samples a layering of two distinct blues that have been rubbed back to show wear and tear that give the overall look a faded appearance. The top surface is rough pine boards that have been stained and waxed to look weather-beaten and relaxed.

COZY CORNER

For this particular project we worked with a couple who live in the heart of the city where the house are old yet charming and their interior spaces cozy yet TINY! This couple needed a small spot in their kitchen to sit down and enjoy their coffee and paper. We worked with them and designed this small built in nook and chose for them upholstery fabric that was soft and interesting. The stripe on the main cushions and the quilted pattern on the toss cushions work well with their original brick hearth and are kept in the rich burnt orange tones; both are from Kravet fabrics. We also designed this petite round pedestal table in birch and gave it a rich warm cognac antique stain. We were all pleased with the results!

ROUND AND ROUND THE FAMILY TREE

This sunny round dining room happily dictated the shape of this table we built for homeowners here in Bedford, NS. Just off the kitchen, this relaxed household needed a table that was elegant yet family friendly with a mix of kids and grandkids coming and going. Able to accommodate 6-8 we designed and built this piece in pine and took finishing cues from a family heirloom close by. The antique hutch is made from mahogany, so we used the same tones and blended stains to achieve a rich warm red/brown in our table. The round braided carpet, also from henhouse layers the warmth of this room.

BATH AND BEAUTY

This new custom designed hutch by Henhouse is so adorable. It's our new favorite design because it is so versatile. It would be perfect for a bathroom housing bath linens, toiletries, etc. Great for a small condo for dishes and glass ware, or for an office housing books and mementos. We decided to paint the exterior in a crisp soft white and the interior is painted a delicious shade a blue called "Raindance" from Benjamin Moore. On our floor now.
Just arrived! Tokyo Milk is back in stock! A beautiful bath and paper line out of Denver Colorado who are dedicated to a sweet smelling and stylish product line. We love their vintage imagery on their packaging, each soap and lip balm box is hand glittered for that extra special touch, special kissing messages inside each lip balm. We now carry their sweet card line too!

Pedestal side table solid birch wood by Henhouse.

RED HOT ARMOIRE

This RED HOT linen armoire was carefully designed by selecting elements from our standard south store collection to suit this customers lifestyle. made out of pine with a hand painted pagoda red antique finish.

beautiful big red pine armoire 40"w 18"d 78"h at $2925.

HOW TO DESIGN YOUR OWN HENHOUSE BED

At henhouse we specialize in custom furniture, which means we can build you practically anything! That being said, deciding on a custom piece of furniture can be SUCH AN OVERWHELMING TASK!! It is quite a challenge to imagine what you want your piece of furniture to look like, deciding on the features and function of your piece, the dimensions, the hardware...

For this purpose, we have created two standard furniture lines, the South Shore and Oxford collection. You can order directly from the catalog or use the designs and dimensions as a jumping off point for creating the ultimate custom piece of furniture. While we have provided set dimensions and features in these catalogs, they are not set in stone and we can accommodate any space or specifications. In other words, think of our designs as a blank colouring sheet that you get to fill it in.

We would like to show you what our process looks like: The first step is to select your piece of furniture. One particular customer chose the South Shore Sleigh bed (SSSB) with a low footboard and made out of solid pine. They then selected the colour and style of finish, a green hue with a heavy handed antiqued look (we also have samples in our store that you can choose from). Presto! After a few weeks of building and finishing, the end result is a one of a kind, unique and long lasting piece of furniture finished to blend in perfectly with the rest of your decor. How neat is that?!

South Shore Sleigh Bed in Pine wood with painted finish - $2340

THE CHAIR PEOPLE

Selecting chairs for a table can be quite a daunting task, and an expensive one at that. Perhaps an obvious choice is to select chairs in the same finish and style as your table. However, we see chairs as an opportunity to break some design boundaries and shake things up a bit. Mixed woods and stains? Why not?! Upholstery? Great idea! The most important thing is to make sure that, like all pieces of furniture, the chair is built to last and made with quality materials.

This is why we believe Jamco to be a good fit with our own hand built dining tables. A Canadian company based out of Mississauga ON, all of their chairs are made out of solid beech frames and use mortise and tenon joinery. Besides making beautiful chairs for home use, Jamco also outfits many restaurants with chairs and tables, demonstrating their product's longevity and endurance. Visit Jamco online or stop by our store and peruse through their expansive catalogue where you can view different styles, types of finishes and seat options.

Chair style featured: Jamco Napolean 151 and 150

LOOK WHAT WE MADE!

One of our latest creations - a custom armoire made out of beautiful solid birch, finished in a chestnut stain. As always, the drawers are dovetailed, providing the ultimate support and indication of longevity. Funky hardware fitted by anthropologie (our favorite new place to score unique and decorative hardware).

Birch Armoire $2575, can be made in other types of woods and finishes

THE SOUTH SHORE SERIES (part 1)

Welcome to the first part of our South Shore Series, a collection of posts dedicated to our latest kitchen and home project. This project was no small undertaking; a brand new kitchen outfitted with 'the henhouse treatment' (our signature antique finish), four bathroom vanities, built in bar, window seats, desk,, custom hand finished floor and loads of beautiful antiques which needed some good old fashioned elbow grease and refreshing...needless to say it has been a busy few months for us!

We have been beyond lucky to work on a project such as this...how could you not be inspired by all of the colours and textures along Nova Scotias breathtaking South Shore?! It has been almost a year since we began working on this home and we are ever so excited to share with your our process, from the installation to the transformation and everything in between. Enjoy!