Made in Maryland: Home furnishings
Today, furniture from all over the world is easy and often inexpensive to come by, but there remains a demand for quality furnishings made by hand. Maryland is home to dozens of businesses producing hand-crafted, often one-of-a-kind furniture, mirrors, lighting and other items for the local market and beyond.
11:27 AM EDT, April 25, 2012
Furniture designer practices fine art
If you take a peek into furniture maker Bill Hergenroeder's shop in Cockeysville, you may be surprised at what you don't see: no computer-assisted drawings or other high-tech design aids. He prefers the simple life.
1:46 PM EDT, March 15, 2012
Artisans show off concrete style at Luke Works in Baltimore
A decade ago, artisan Mark Melonas was piecing together a living teaching sculpture at the Baltimore School for the Arts, doing some freelance graphic design and staging exhibitions at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
1:28 PM EDT, March 15, 2012
Info: Where to find Luke Works
Founder and lead designer: Mark Melonas, whose nickname was Luke, has a design and sculpture degree from the University of Maryland and a master's in furniture artisanry from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. But he began working in the basement of his family's Howard County home, making furniture with his father. He cast his first custom-designed sink in the kitchen of his Bolton Hill apartment 10 years ago. Today, the company he founded specializes in custom concrete and wood products.
December 18, 2011
Made in Maryland: Niermann Weeks' mission is crystal clear
Chandeliers were the first thing Joe Niermann designed. And it was five years before he sold one. Now the bejeweled iron and crystal silhouettes are his signature.
2:36 PM EST, November 17, 2011
Made in Maryland: Giving trees a second life
Jim McMartin and Jim Beggins make their living creating beautiful pieces of furniture from the wood Mother Nature leaves behind, and she was particularly careless with her trees this fall.
4:14 PM EDT, October 12, 2011
Bosley Mouldings is in the family mold
I wish I had met Bosley Wright three years earlier.
4:07 PM EDT, September 7, 2011
Baltimore artists give homes the finishing touch
Commonly known as faux finishes, decorative painting techniques have been used for thousands of years. The approach can give new life to old furniture or give the appearance of any number of finishes.
1:01 PM EDT, August 12, 2011
Family forges history at Baltimore ironworks shop
Upon entering the G. Krug & Son blacksmith shop, I was handed a pair of safety goggles and immediately knew I was in for a treat.
12:07 PM EDT, July 8, 2011
Russell & MacKenna Furniture: Maryland's cottage industry
For a little over a century, starting with the end of the Revolutionary War, Maryland craftsmen were producing some of the finest home furnishings anywhere. Inlaid bellflower furniture, painted furniture, repousse silver, case clocks and other goods made in Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick and elsewhere during this period are still admired for their design, quality and craftsmanship.
August 12, 2011
Made in Maryland: About the series
Today, furniture from all over the world is easy and often inexpensive to come by, but there remains a demand for quality furnishings made by hand. Maryland is home to dozens of businesses producing hand-crafted, often one-of-a-kind furniture, mirrors, lighting and other items for the local market and beyond.
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