ABOUT HENRICI

My love and appreciation for wood began when I was a child. I was fascinated with the beautiful grains of the cross cut of a large oak, for instance. I’d tinker with scraps of wood from one of my dad’s projects, and “constructed” a bench out of an old log.

As our family grew at a very fast pace (4 lovely daughters in 5 years) there was little time to work on my skills and build the many ideas I had swimming around in my head.

From time to time, I would come into possession of a unique piece of wood that I’d proudly show to my wife. I’d enthusiastically tell her of all the things I planned to do with it. She’d look at me and say, “All that with just that one piece of wood?” So with the odd piece of precious curly maple, or deep, thick walnut I’d craft jewelry boxes and picture frames which I’d give away or present to her as gifts.

However, I wanted to do something bigger and more special. We moved to another property within the city that had an outside shed; unheated and very small, but to me it was a dream come true. I thought of all the projects I could work on with my DeWalt miter saw and my brand new Trade Master table saw which I had “purchased” through Air Miles points. I built Adirondack chairs and fashioned unique outdoor cocktail furniture with scraps of leftover 4×12 pine that I scavenged from my father’s home renovation. I was having fun. At the time my wife co-owned a small wedding décor company and I built structures and pillars from sono tube and used plywood to achieve a Roman pillar look. Then I lathered it with plaster. It sufficed.

Another relocation led us to a smaller home in a quiet town. However, it sadly had no shed; only a single car garage. In addition to the car, we needed to house a freezer, 6 bikes, all the shoes, boots and winter snowsuits that we owned. Slowly, the car was relegated to the driveway and the garage became a dusty workshop and wood storage facility. I began to collect wood and tools through friends, contacts, newspaper ads and Kijiji. The mess I made in my new-found workshop was a delicate bone of contention.

Night after night was spent crafting outdoor loungers from African teak, and bookshelves to house our overabundance of reading material-all from locally harvested walnut.

My wife went back to work as a teacher and decided she needed a large L-shaped desk. Determined to buy something inexpensive, much to my chagrin, she shopped at generic office furniture suppliers but could not find something substantial enough for her purpose. So I built her two desks that fit into an adjustable L-shape and 2 large bookcases to match. She was thrilled.

Eager to continue the process, I decided to start my biggest project yet-a kitchen table which would hold 12 people. We always loved to entertain our large extended family and friends, but disliked the idea of hauling out removable leaves every time we needed to extend the table. So in that garage I crafted a table with large folding sides, which went from 6-12 people by merely lifting up each side. This table is the center of our home and bears the battle scars of our children’s stick figure drawings to complicated algebraic equations, as well as the burned out spot where a too-hot pot was set. Although I know I should sand it down, I can’t. This is who we are.

During the table’s construction, my wife would be afraid to open the man door to the garage because of all the sawdust flying around. Before the kids left for school each morning she would blow off their snowsuits with a hair dryer because they were so covered in dust. Finally, she simply said, “Get this stuff out of here!” So I borrowed an old tobacco strip room from a friend’s farm and tried to continue what I had begun. However, there was nothing like being home. It’s where I belong and who I am.

Finally we bought a home in the country with an electrically serviced shed. This place was great. The kids could have their dog, and I could have a shop. BUT, as anyone with children knows, the shed soon filled with pool toys, bigger bikes, lawnmowers and the like. I needed an addition. It was built as I continued to experiment with designs and finishes and accumulating better equipment. The old basic Air Miles stuff found it’s way back to Kijiji.

With the new home, came the desire to have a king size bed. We slept on the new mattresses on the floor for 11 months as we searched for something we liked. It wasn’t available. We wanted a steel bed, with raw live-edge coordinating tables. My wife left the designing up to me, as she was knee-deep into her teaching career. I commissioned a local artisan, Lammert Brons, to make a tubular steel bed, and bases for live edge tops for coordinating nightstands and a bench. He built us a 527-pound masterpiece, which we love to this day.

Requests for the live edge and steel furniture have come in from friends who have seen the pieces first hand. This is where I want to be. Loving wood and letting it live on in the lives of people. Each piece of wood is unique and tells a story all on its own. Whether it is harvested from an ancient wood lot, from underground root systems, or from along a well-travelled, salted road, it has it’s own personality. Making into something that lives on is up to you.