Rethinking Old Soft Furnishings

Hi everyone, happy Thursday! It's kinda gloomy out there today, so we thought we'd show off some of our cheerful and fun re-upholstered pieces.

All of the soft furnishings that we have in the shop are vintage pieces that have been completely re-done. We love the style and quality craftsmanship that can be found in older soft furnishings.

Vintage footstools re-done in bright geometric Kravet fabrics.

Treasure hunting is one of our most favourite things to do, and we seek out old soft furnishings with good bones that can be given a second life! With some creativity, and a lot of skill from our upholsterer, we create these beautiful and unique pieces. The pieces have all new innards and are covered with new fabric. This ensures that they will look and feel like new while maintaining their original character and sturdy structure.

Small vintage sofa in a beautiful Kravet ikat, we're smitten!

Rustic chic- we love this bench with its new burlap-covered seat.

Kravet is one of our top picks for fabric suppliers. They offer such a variety of styles from many top designers. They have something for everyone, and the quality of their fabric is fantastic! If you're ever in need of fabric for your own projects, come and talk to us about it. We can help you choose a fabric and order it for you at 15% off the regular price!

Come by and have a seat in some of our soft furnishings, we'd love to see you soon!!

Hi! It's September already, can you believe it?! I sure can't.

Today we're sharing some photos sent in by one of our customers. We don't always get to see things in situ, so it's really exciting for us to receive photos! There's a really big difference between seeing a piece in the store or in the workshop and seeing it in someone's home.

This customer needed a dining table, chairs, and stools for her beautiful summer home on the Northumberland Strait.

Above is an 11ft (!) Harvest Table from our Oxford Collection. This piece was built with a cherry tabletop and a birch base that has been hand-painted and antiqued. The clean and simple lines make reference to Shaker style furniture. The ladder back chairs, from our supplier in Toronto, are a perfect match and are available through henhouse.

These stools were ordered though henhouse and work really well as seating at the island. They carry elements of Shaker style and help to tie the eating area to the kitchen workspace.

Here are some elegant swivel stools from the same supplier. They look great and they're really comfy too!

Thank you S for sending in these photos :)

If you have furniture or decor items from henhouse take a photo and share it on our facebook page! We'd love to see how you made our products a part of your home!

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Inspired! Antique Furniture of Quebec

I'm starting a new category for the blog called "Inspired!". I'll post regularly with images and info about things that are inspiring us hens at the moment.

Yesterday I found myself taking a look in some of the books that we have hanging around the shop. These books are a great inspiration for anyone looking to create custom pieces with that rustic old-world vibe. The images below are from the book Antique Furniture of Quebec by Michel Lessard. Here are some of the pretty things I've found, and some of the facts that I learned.

This pine carved armoire is framed with moulding, and has a sweet cutout base with a shell carving in the centre. According to the book this piece dates back to the late 18th Century. I think it it's the perfect blend of masculine shapes with more feminine details.

This piece is a stunner! Another pine armoire from late 18th Century Quebec, but this time the hand-carvings are much more detailed. The mix of geometric shapes and organic forms is beautiful. This piece has been stripped of its original paint.

Before the 70's in Quebec it was common for people to "revitalize" furniture by stripping it down to the wood and waxing and polishing it. Unfortunately the stripping methods were very hash and would destroy the wood surface and grain.



This armoire has hand-carved doors, and has been stripped on the outside. Even though the book says that stripping is bad, I kind of like the contrast between the bright red paint and the natural wood colour. What do you think?

Have you felt inspired by a special piece of furniture lately? Share your story with us in the comments, we'd love to hear from you!

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

TABLES, TABLES, TABLES SALE!!!

Light and lovely sawbuck table from our Oxford line. This petite size is perfect for a desk, entry way, or hall table. Larger in size with an entirely different finish it is the perfect modern table for a chic household.
A sweet breakfast nook. This pedestal table is from our South Shore Line and comes with an optional leaf.

Dining tables on sale now until October 30th at 15% off and guaranteed delivery by December 25th, just in time for your holiday dinner! Call, come in or email for further details.

TABLES, TABLES, TABLES SALE!!!!

Wow!! Never done before we thought it would be nice to promote all of our wonderful dining tables for this upcoming holiday season. We make many styles of tables in both our Oxford Line and our South Shore Standard Line with many finishes and woods to choose from. Above is a detail of one of our South Shore legs.
A dreamy honey yellow table that is so fresh and bright, a shining star on Christmas night!
One of our Oxford tables in two different finishes with a smooth top above and a rough-cut top below, both accommodating self-storing leaves and seating up to 12 in total.
The Details: Come in and choose a dining table from our two standard lines from now until October 31st and receive a 15% discount with a guarantee it will arrive in time for your Christmas dinner.

It's easy; Browse on our website or come into our store and decide which style you like then speak with one of our helpful staff and we will be happy help you choose from our many finishes and wood samples. Once the details are chosen, we can then provide you with a total price. Place your order and pay a 50% deposit before October 31st and we will start selecting the wood, crank up our planers, sharpen our routers....all in time for December 25th!

CAFE AU LAIT

We discovered these chairs from a source in Toronto this year and I have to say they are beautifully made with a soft bleached out finish. They remind us of Parisian cafes where you can sit and linger over coffee and a croissant and watch the world go by. Pair these with our South Shore or Oxford Harvest tables. Priced at $195 each.