Trystcraft

I spent the past week attempting to learn Japanese Joinery with 20 other woodworking nerds in rural Kentucky and it was a blast! With excellent instruction by Jon Billing and masterful insights from Yama san paired with an idyllic setting to camp in, superb food laid on at every meal and a great atmosphere of sharing and support throughout, I’ll definitely be back for another course.

Newest project: making this Carver style room divider between the dining and living rooms from lumber repurposed from the roof restoration. I’d always loved the screen dividers (or grilles as Norm called them), and the original plans had a small grille on the left side of this room by the entry so it had been on my mind. The room was great but just too long -54 feet from end to end. Placed here, the filtering effect of the screen really helps define the areas better and contrary to the popular trend of opening everything up, the delineation makes both spaces actually feel bigger and helps you focus on each of them without being overwhelmed. I’m really happy with how it turned out, especially seeing the light and shadow effects through the day and the character of the stained 70s wood.

Morning light in Kalamazoo.

New favorite view at the Carver house. Looking north from the original living room towards the addition, this view shows the built in light fixture that runs the entire width of the dining area and entry, occupying the space that was originally the exterior roof overhang. You can also see the bench at the top of the stairs going down to the basement and the hallway to the bedrooms at left. I removed the closets that had been added when the living room was converted into the primary bedroom, deliberately emphasizing the built up post to the right of the photo.