“From the Forest to Your Home” – Custom Furniture by Rick Hensley of RockyTop WoodWorks

Do you have just the right amount of space for a custom furniture or built-in project but only a rough idea of what you want? A RockyTop WoodWorks customer found himself in this situation.

Rick Hensley of RockyTop WoodWorks at CustomMade.com poses with his Inset Display Cabinet

Here is an excerpt from the review the client wrote for artisan Rick Hensley:

He creates everything from rustic to extra fine.  And I do mean creates.  He can use your detailed specifications, or just point him in the direction you’re thinking and turn him loose.  You’ll be amazed at the final product.  The photo of the inset display cabinet is the cabinet he did for me.  It was a ‘turn him loose job.’  He just came out and took some quick measurements of the hole in our wall.  Our instructions were to use walnut and we wanted a few shelves.  A month later he brought out the finished cabinet, perfect fit, perfect look, perfect piece!

Take a look at that inset display cabinet in its new home.

Inset Display Cabinet by RockyTop WoodWorks at CustomMade.com

Whether you have a rough idea or a particular vision in mind, Rick can bring your project to life in his Tyler, TX, workshop from reclaimed and sustainably harvested native woods of your choice.  A woodworker with over 30 years of experience, he builds furniture only from trees removed due to construction or felled by storms, which he mills and dries himself.

Have a project that starts with a photograph?  This quarter sawn white oak replica antique hall tree was created based on a client’s picture.

Replica Antique Hall Tree by RockyTop WoodWorks at CustomMade.com

Norm’s bookcase is also a replica.  The original was made from mesquite, but this one was made from antique walnut harvested over 50 years ago.

Norm's Bookcase by RockyTop WoodWorks at CustomMade.com

Rick specializes in creating furniture in the Arts and Crafts and Mission styles, which emphasize the natural beauty of the building materials and showcase the handcrafted construction of the pieces.  The flat surfaces of the Mission style hall tree highlight the figured oak, and Norm’s bookcase was finished without stain to let the natural wood colors shine through.  In this rustic Arts and Crafts dining table, the hickory tabletop is trimmed with red oak reclaimed from an Indiana barn and walnut corner blocks.  The grain, knots, and contrasting colors give this table great character, and the through mortise and tenon joinery of the base and benches attest to its skilled, handmade construction.  The hickory and walnut are native East Texas woods that were milled and dried by Rick.

Rustic Arts and Crafts Dining Table by RockyTop WoodWorks at CustomMade.com

If you’d like your own customized Arts and Crafts dining table or any other custom furniture piece, get in touch with RockyTop WoodWorks and discuss your needs.  Rick says: “My desire is to build you that special heirloom you have always wanted. From the forest to your home.”