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Live edge fireplace mantel – What are the wood options

May 31, 2015 by K.Maxwell 6 Comments

A live edge fireplace mantel provides a unique alternative to the typical cut-and-polished mantel. Instead of a precisely cut and polished piece of lumber, a live edge mantel retains the natural shape and imperfections of the tree it came from. This style of mantel brings a touch of the outdoors inside and adds the innate beauty of nature to any decor. Each live edge mantel shows the natural beauty of natural wood. This unique rustic fireplace mantel style features ethically sourced wood such as redwood burl, maple, western juniper, and driftwood. Thus making it fully customized to fit the specific dimensions of your fireplace. If you want to add a touch of nature and rustic beauty to your home, a live-edge fireplace mantel might be just what you need. Let’s take a look at the different styles of natural wood mantels built from live edge wood.

Rustic mantel — Reclaimed wood slab mantel cut from a salvaged old-growth redwood harvested from the forest floor.

Juniper log fireplace mantel

Redwood live edge mantel — Live edge redwood shown in a modern fireplace design.

A juniper log fireplace mantel is a captivating addition to any home or cabin. Crafted from gnarled western juniper logs, which adds a rustic charm to any decor. Juniper trees don’t play far in the environment, being water hogs’ ranches control the population to maintain water availability. Uniquely individual, not all juniper logs make a unique fireplace mantel. Only a small percentage of juniper trees become twisted or gnarled and make incredible fireplace mantels. The balance of the logs harvested becomes limber or firewood. The multitude of knots and whorls makes these mantels an exciting focal point in any room. Additionally, juniper woods are known for their pleasing aromas, adding to the overall atmosphere of the space. The juniper log fireplace mantel balances the practical with the aesthetic appeal, making it a welcome addition to any home.

Driftwood Mantels

A driftwood fireplace mantel adds the innate beauty of nature to any home decor. Ethically sourced from select beaches and waterways of the pacific northwest. Each piece of wood has its unique story, adding individuality to the final design. Each driftwood mantle, with its weathered texture and unique character, adds warmth and personality to any living space. These mantels provide an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to traditional fireplace mantels while inviting nature indoors. Sustainably and selectively sourced, ensuring no damage to any coastal ecosystem, ensuring environmental responsibility. With their raw and rugged appearance, driftwood fireplace mantels have the unique ability to make a statement in any home, bringing natural beauty indoors.

Live edge fireplace mantel. — Traditional living room with a focal point fireplace that showcases a live edge redwood mantel.

Live edge mantel

In addition to driftwood mantels, there are several ethically sourced wood species that can make excellent rustic mantels. However, an old-growth redwood mantel can coordinate with almost any fireplace style and decor in a room. Milled from logs and tree stumps salvaged from the forest floor, live edge wood makes an excellent option for adding the innate beauty of nature into any decor. On the other hand, a reclaimed hand-hewn beam can perfectly fit into any rustic or modern decor. A live edge mantel can also add a unique touch of character to any home. Ultimately, the choice of mantel material depends on personal preference, as both styles add raw beauty along with a bit of history. Other wood species such as maple, oak, cedar, and more make great live edge mantles.

Modern live edge fireplace mantel — The sleek modern design features a custom gnarled live edge redwood mantel and shelf.

Find a mantel

Nonetheless, all of these rustic mantel options will add warmth and an inviting ambiance to your living space while giving it a unique rustic look. To find one of the largest selections of rustic mantels, visit Littlebranch Farms’ online store or studio in Nashville, TN.

Rustic Furniture Design: The Creative Process | Littlebranch Farm

January 22, 2015 by K.Maxwell Leave a Comment

Rustic furniture design

Rustic furniture design stems from a menage of design style. Wikipedia: “Rustic furniture is furniture employing sticks, twigs or logs for a natural look. The term “rustic” is derived from National Park Service rustic style of architecture. Many companies, artists, and craftspeople make rustic furniture in a variety of styles and with a variety of historical and contemporary influences.” The rustic furniture style can find its roots in the late 1800’s. It was mainly built with simple unrefined local materials. This was basic functional no glitter furniture.

Live Edge Burl wood coffee table — Buckeye burl rustic coffee table. Seemingly floating in the air is simply supported by 3 forged metal legs,

Custom wood furniture

In the modern world of custom wood furniture design, the basic definition is being stretched! “Custom furniture design is considered a specialist area of industrial design. However, the specific ergonomic knowledge that a furniture designer must apply and the specialized construction methods and pre-manufactured components that undergo constant change in the industry make this a large area of specialization…[furniture designers] are concerned with those aspects of furniture that relate to human usage and behavior, product appeal and fashion.” —www.dia.org.au

Rustic desk — Rustic office desk in redwood burl with two cabinets.

Rustic furniture design process

Designing custom rustic furniture is what we do. We’ve chosen to specialize in natural live edge wood slab “rustic furniture” style. At Littlebranch Farm we have chosen to sustainably source our materials, predominantly comprised of organic materials that have had a prior use and won’t end up in a landfill. It has been said that boundaries breed creativity, and specialization creates superior products. This may be true but we believe boundaries are meant to be stretched. We are committed to finding the boundaries and stretching the outer limits. Our wood furniture is made for human interaction. The natural beauty of the live edge wood slabs, root and logs that we use, combined with expertly designed functionality is the signature of our handcrafted custom rustic furniture. Whether it is a live edge wood slab rustic dining table or a custom rustic vanity or rustic office desk.

Come visit the Littlebranch Farm Studio in Nashville Tennesse, call us on the phone or email us. We’ve started the conversation, and we’re extending the invitation. Let’s talk about custom, quality crafted rustic furniture.

Rustic office Desk with Redwood Burl Top and Redwood Root Base | Littlebranch Farm — Rustic desk with redwood burl top and redwood root base.

Live Edge burl wood bed — Live edge redwood wood slabbed.

Reclaimed and Salvaged Wood: Responsibly Sourcing Materials

December 17, 2014 by K.Maxwell 2 Comments

Reclaimed and Salvaged Wood

Here at Littlebranch Farm, our reclaimed wood furniture is crafted using lumber that is cut into live edge wood slabs, used in our natural wood countertops and rustic dining tables, and root and stump bases, used in our rustic vanities, are all reclaimed and salvaged wood. This wood has seen some initial use prior to becoming rustic furniture. Much of this wood has been lying around since before the 1960’s. Some of the wood that we use originated as dead and fallen trees and now have a second life as rustic furniture. We’ve worked hard to responsibly source the wood that we use in crafting our custom rustic furniture.

Responsibly sourcing wood slabs

What does that mean, responsibly sourcing? The ICC defines responsible sourcing as “a voluntary commitment by companies to take into account social and environmental considerations when managing their relationships with suppliers.” We like to think of responsible sourcing as caring about the community that we live in and caring about the consequences of our actions inside of that community.

Ethically sourced root bases salvaged from the forest floor.

Sourcing reclaimed wood

Even though this is obviously not sustainable, many companies in the United States source their materials in this fashion. We do not do this. We have chosen to only use wood that is native to the United States, thereby putting our actions toward building & developing the responsible wood market on our home turf. Can a company care for the community in which it exists, be environmentally responsible, and be successful? We think it can. We see business as a function of the community, as an opportunity for cooperation that can positively affect everyone.

Reclaimed wood furniture

Littlebranch Farm loves working with reclaimed and salvaged wood and being the leading source of rustic furniture in Nashville, TN. Why do we work with live edge wood in our custom reclaimed wood furniture? In addition to the value of community responsibility and environmental consciousness. Salvaged and reclaimed wood is the best material to work with and the best material for achieving our aesthetic goals. The unique qualities of this material are unlike anything else. Each finished piece of rustic furniture is designed and handcrafted with the purpose of celebrating the amazingly unique qualities different in every tree slab, log, root, or stump. We recycle wood from the forest floor and transform it into dining tables, rustic fireplace mantels, rustic vanities, and natural wood countertops for your home.

Salvaged wood

Reclaimed wood furniture. This custom built-in custom entertainment center. Mid-century decor or rustic modern decor.

Forest data in the United States shows that “About 30 percent of the 2.3 billion acres of land area (745 million acres) in the U.S. is forest today as compared to about one-half in 1630 (1.0 billion acres). 300 million acres of forest land have been converted to other uses since 1630. Predominantly because of agricultural uses in the East. The forest resources of the U.S. have continued to improve in general condition and quality. Measured by increased average size and volume of trees. This trend has been evident since the 1960s and before. The total forestland acreage has remained stable since 1900.”

Littlebranch Farm Studio Tour Nashville, TN

November 26, 2014 by K.Maxwell Leave a Comment

Littlebranch Farm Studio Tour, Nashville, TN, and the adventure begin at the showroom entrance. You’re now in live edge furniture heaven. Immediately to your left is an eight-foot rustic dining table made out of walnut with a metal industrial base with rustic dining room chairs, both standing atop a beautiful American Dakota area rug. Turn to your right, and you’ll see a large sectional sofa, a rustic piece from King Hickory’s upholstered furniture.

Littlebranch Farm Studio Tour Nashville, TN

We’ve chosen to carry premium home decor lines such as King Hickory upholstered furniture and American Dakota rugs. Thus, giving you simply the best southwestern and rustic home decor choices. If you look up, you’ll see rustic lighting (chandeliers) made from mule deer antler, fallow antler, elk antler, and some made from metal, barn wood, and rawhide. As you explore the room, you’ll find everything from rustic vanities to rustic beds. Go all the way to the left, and you’ll find a room with our copper sinks, copper farm sinks, and copper bathtubs. Rustic fireplace mantels display next to one of our two rustic office desks. Make sure to look at our natural wood coffee tables scattered about the room.

Custom burl wood furniture

Rustic bathroom vanity — Simple eastern cedar logs are used in crafting this rustic vanity that is complete with a redwood burl wood mirror. The river stone wall and rustic lighting frame the rustic log vanity. Burl wood furniture

Custom Rustic Furniture

After you’re finished looking around the showroom, ask for a tour of our expensive woodshop. This is where we handcraft our rustic live edge furniture. Check out some of the projects going into production. There are huge stacks of tree slabs, primarily of the redwood, walnut, and maple species to your left. There’s a large amount of twisted juniper ranging in size from a few feet to logs that are l4′ long to the left of the live edge wood slabs. You’ll find the metal racks at the far end of the shop where we store the rustic root and stump bases for our rustic tables and rustic desks—Littlebranch Farm’s custom furniture maker handcraft high-quality rustic furniture. Littlebranch Farm Studio Tour, Nashville, TN, can be seen in real-time at 901 2nd ave south.

Burl wood furniture — Rustic style natural wood coffee table features a salvaged lace burl wood slab supported forged metal legs—floating table. Unique burl wood furniture This live edge table is sold, please contact us about our live edge and rustic furniture.

Live edge wood Furniture

March 9, 2014 by K.Maxwell 5 Comments

Live edge wood Furniture

In the coming weeks, Littlebranch Farm live edge wood furniture will make a major move. Not only will we be moving to our new location in Nashville, TN. In June 2014, we will also open a beautiful new gallery. Where clients and customers can visit to see our beautiful custom rustic furniture and our entire operations.

slab wood countertops — Natural wood countertops with warm natural live edge wood and deep complex burl wood grain patterns. Our custom furniture makers also design and craft live edge wood furniture.

Nashville is an ideal location for Littlebranch Farm, as many of our customers visit Nashville, TN. Our studio/gallery is located in the SoBro district and just a few blocks from lower Broadway and the Honky Tonks. Allowing our customers to take advantage of the many attractions that this great city offers. Also known as “Music City,” Nashville is home to songwriters and musicians worldwide. A plethora of music venues and concerts every day provides options for music lovers. Rolling Stone gave Nashville the title of “Best Music Scene.”

Live edge dining table — While this rustic dining table is functional, it is also historic. This wood slab was cut from a salvaged sinker log cut in the late 1800s.

Live edge slabs

Great places to visit in Nashville include:

1) The Country Music Hall of Fame

2) The Grand Ole Opry

3) The Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson

4) The Parthenon

5) Ryman Auditorium

6) ‘Bars or Broadway.

Nashville’s food scene is unparalleled, with major endorsements from Food and Wine and Food Arts Magazine. Bon Appétit Magazine labeled Nashville as the “coolest, tastiest city in the south.” Nashville’s art and culture scene included the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville Children’s Theater, Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum, and Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

Handcrafted rustic bed built with old-growth redwood live edge wood slabs. These live edge wood slabs are milled from redwood root salvaged from the forest floor.

Over the next 6-8 weeks, we will renovate our new site and gradually moving our equipment and live edge wood to the new location. Our new site will enable us to store and catalog hundreds of beautiful wood slabs, root bases, and logs in our adjoining warehouse/studio. Clients will be able to work closely with our custom furniture maker in their live-edge wood furniture design process. Our showroom will also showcase examples of our work, including rustic dining tables, rustic bathroom vanities, natural wood countertops, twisted juniper furniture, and rustic fireplace mantels. We also build rustic beds using live edge burl wood and juniper log beds. We will also carry lines of rugs by Amerian Dakota, lampshades, Antler furniture and lighting, copperware, and decorative wood slab art.

An Evolution of Rustic Log Furniture

May 6, 2012 by K.Maxwell 4 Comments

Custom rustic log furniture is the original style of custom wood furniture by custom furniture maker Kelly Maxwell. He also teaches how to build a log bed.

Custom rustic log furniture

Hi, everyone! I’m Cathy…. Kelly’s wife. ‘Incredibly busy’ is an understatement for Kelly these days, so I thought that I would take over management of the Littlebranch blog with a goal of posting at least once a week. Rustic furniture has evolved over the past ten years. At Littlebranch Farm, we take pride in our commitment to not only staying on top of rustic furniture interest-trends but also to being trendsetters for innovative and creative rustic original pieces.

natural wood desk crafted around the natural live edge redwood burl slabs. This artistic redwood burl desk features redwood burl slabs and redwood root base. This rustic desk is in Oklahoma City, Ok

Custom wood furniture

In 2001, log furniture, mainly rustic log beds, was very popular. We would take four or five log beds to various shows, and we would sell out. Rustic cedar log beds, from simple to wild, were favorites. Interest in log-based, stump pedestal vanities exploded as customers wanted a beautiful ‘attention-getter’ for the home. Other log-based items, including rustic dining tables, rustic accent tables, and twisted juniper lamps were also top-sellers.

Rustic log furniture — Handcrafted rustic log beds

Over time, interest in log furniture as the focus opened the door to more innovative designs, including free-form live edge wood, burl wood slabs, root bases, contemporary metal design, and custom rustic furniture.

Burl wood furniture

The use of free-form live-edge in black walnut slabs, maple burls, redwood burl, curly redwood, and quilted maple burl has attracted buyers. The beauty of these pieces lies in the free-form edge itself, as well as the gorgeous grains of the wood species. A single accent piece can truly be the focal point in any room, bringing warmth to any setting.

Burl wood slabs are leading items these days for an array of furniture, including rustic desks, dining room tables, coffee tables, accent tables, and natural wood countertops. Our customers are often awe-struck when they see a wood slab for the first time and realize the charm that it brings to the home. We’ve also seen greater interest in the incorporation of the live edge slab into the work/office setting. A desk or conference table built from live edge redwood or black walnut creates an atmosphere that anyone enjoys.

Natural wood furniture

Root bases can even ‘stand alone’ as a focal point or as a base for that unique piece of art that one wants to showcase. Our root bases come primarily from western cedar and redwood. The character of the wood displays grain patterns that are simply gorgeous and the growth patterns bring intricacies that only nature can display.

Contemporary rustic table features a straight grain redwood slab on a twisted burl wood root base. Simply a classic rustic dining table

About a year ago, we began incorporating contemporary metal design into our custom wood furniture. From a 12-foot solid slab black walnut wine-tasting table to metal base bar stools, we’ve seen a clear interest in a sleeker and more modern look while retaining the beauty and warmth of natural wood. A recent job was for an office desk with a marbled black walnut live edge top for a college professor.

Natural wood rustic log furniture

rustic dining tables — Contemporary rustic table crafted from large slab black walnut. The featured table was custom designed and crafted for a wine tasting room in Tunica, MS and is 12′ 5″ long and over 5″ wide. The metal base completes the simple elegance of this natural wood table.

When it comes to cabinetry in a rustic home, customers realize that they do not have to settle for traditional designs. Custom rustic cabinetry can incorporate live-edge wood doors, mesh-panels, hand-forged hardware, live-edge countertops, and blending of two or more wood species. Favorite woods include recovered barn wood, knotty hickory, knotty alder, cedar, old-growth redwood, black walnut, cherry, and maple.

distressed rustic barnwood cabinets — Handcrafted custom recovered barn wood cabinets

Rustic wood furniture

So… to wrap up…. rustic furniture truly has evolved over the past ten years. We look forward to the future as we stay on the cutting-edge of rustic furniture design. More so, we look forward to continuing to build custom, one-of-a-kind items that bring joy and satisfaction to our customers!

Natures Rustic Furniture

February 6, 2011 by K.Maxwell 3 Comments

Nature’s rustic furniture is becoming increasingly popular as a way to bring the beauty of the outdoors into your home. Whether it’s a rustic log chair, a handcrafted wooden table, or even a unique tree branch bench, rustic furniture provides an earthy, natural look and feel to any space. But with so many options on the market, it can be hard to know what to look for when selecting the perfect piece. This blog post will provide you with the top tips for choosing the right rustic furniture for your home.

Natures Rustic Furniture

Choosing the appropriate rustic furniture for your home is an important decision. It’s essential to determine the room size and other factors such as window, door, and flow. For example, live edge dining tables have grown in popularity over the past few years, but how to determine the size? A good rule of thumb is to allow three feet of space between the wall and the table on all sides. So, I have ten feet by sixteen feet dining room; thus, ten feet by four feet dining table is the best fit. When selecting a rustic live-edge coffee table, consider legroom and the room’s flow. Rustic decor is an excellent option for any home as it focuses on natural elements such as wood, stone, and metal. This style creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere.

live edge wood table — Handcrafted live edge dining table features salvaged old-growth redwood.

When purchasing rustic furniture for your home, it is essential to consider the space size and the decor style you are aiming for. Natural wood furniture brings a natural, outdoorsy feel to your home. Often inspired innately and can be used to create a cozy and inviting atmosphere. When selecting live edge furniture, the best quality comes from furniture makes that specialize in working with live edge wood and natural materials. While some specialize in furniture such as tables or chairs, others are full-spectrum natural wood furniture makers. Check out the artist, and how long have they been in business, and do you like them as purchasing this style of furniture, a long-term relationship?

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Live edge fireplace mantel – What are the wood options

Juniper log fireplace mantel

Driftwood Mantels