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See Tony O’Malley tomorrow in the Buildoff!

Posted in Uncategorized on February 16th, 2010 by admin – 1 Comment

Tony O'Malley built-in

Starting tomorrow, February 17, 2010, Fine Woodworking author and CustomMade.com subscriber, Tony O’Malley will be taking part in a 3-day building competition – the Buildoff.  He’ll compete with Gary Striegler at Fine Homebuilding to make a mudroom built-in.  (Apartment Therapy readers might remember Tony from the post on his amazing Home Library with Window Seat.  Wow.)

You can join them for a live video chat from the set tomorrow.  Check out more information about the Buildoff here: http://www.finehomebuilding.com/item/11021/a-countdown-to-the-big-buildoff

P.S. Make sure you check out Tony’s post on custom cabinetry for your flat-screen TV – he’s got some great ideas!

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Design Challenge 2010 – Deadline Extended!

Posted in Uncategorized on February 12th, 2010 by admin – Be the first to comment

We’ve been truly amazed by the incredible entries received so far for the CustomMade.com Design Challenge sponsored by Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. In fact, we’ve enjoyed seeing these designs so much, we’ve decided to extend the challenge one more week – the new deadline is Friday, February 19!

Plus, we’re going to let everyone vote on the top FIVE entries instead of the top three – there are just too many great designs, we had to add room for the best of the best.

Using Google® SketchUp (or other 3D modeling software), entrants are invited to submit their design for a piece of furniture that illustrates what they’ve been looking for but have been unable to find in the marketplace. Enjoy the process of designing your own furniture and win the chance to have that very piece custom made.

The winner will work with one of our talented woodworkers to have their piece custom made for them using Rockler tools and supplies (up to a $1000 value)! Winners will be announced on Friday, March 5, 2010.

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATES

Judging Criteria:

Judges will select and announce the top five entries Monday, February 22, 2010. Those five will then be voted upon by the general public to select the winner. In selecting the top five entries, judges will consider the piece’s creativity and potential to demonstrate the beauty and craftsmanship of custom made furniture. All entries

  • Must be an original, unbuilt design of a single piece of furniture suitable for home or office
  • Must be determined to be achievable by an experienced woodworker with limited modifications

Submission Details:

Important Dates:
  • Entries Accepted: January 18, 2010 – February 19, 2010
  • Voting for Top Five Entries: February 22, 2010 – March 2, 2010
  • Winner Announced: Friday, March 5, 2010

Please read the OFFICIAL RULES AND REGULATIONS for all the details.

————————————

Rockler Woodworking and Hardware

Rockler Woodworking and Hardware is the official sponsor of the 2010 CustomMade.com Design Challenge. Celebrating its 55th anniversary as a family-run business, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware is the nation’s premier supplier of specialty hardware, tools, lumber and high-quality woodworking products.

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The Lure of Figured Wood

Posted in Uncategorized on December 29th, 2009 by admin – Be the first to comment

Tiger maple, Birdseye maple, Curly cherry, Flame birch. Guest contributor Bob Kloes of Kloes Custom Furniture shares with us what it is that makes the furniture made from these woods so unique:

Tiger Maple tabletop

Tiger Maple tabletop

“Most all the furniture I have built and sold in the last 10 years has been made from one or more of these woods. Some of the best and most valued pieces in America’s history have been made from these woods. When built and finished correctly, the furniture made from these woods are like nothing else on Earth. The figure of the wood adds depth and makes it appear like you are looking into a deep pool of water. You want to touch it.

The cost and labor in making furniture from these can be much more than the same piece made in plain cherry or maple.  Just finding these special woods takes lots of time and effort.  I can buy 1000’s of feet of curly maple, but to make the best piece I need to pick and choose my material slowly. I have to match grain and color and even the shape of the figure from board to board. I can spend several days laying pieces out so everything comes together just right.

Curly Cherry keeping chest

Curly Cherry keeping chest

I want wide pieces for the sides and tops, including tabletops.  But, when using wide boards, you have to make sure they are properly dried and finished, so the boards stay flat and won’t crack.  And working figured lumber entails the use of special cutters that must always have the sharpest possible edge. Everything involved in working and finishing these woods takes time and expertise to get the best out of the lumber’s figure.  But the finished product is something that no store or large furniture factory can give you; beautiful, hand built, custom furniture for a lifetime of enjoyment.”

Bob Kloes

www.bobkloes.com

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CustomMade.com and Rockler Announce a Partnership

Posted in Uncategorized on December 22nd, 2009 by admin – Be the first to comment
Our New Partner, Rockler Woodworking

Our New Partner, Rockler Woodworking

This week we announced a strategic partnership with Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. You can read the press release –as picked up by Forbes– here.

Some have been asking us what a strategic partnership between two of the larger players in the industry means to the custom woodworking industry.  We wanted to partner with an organization that believed in the same thing that we did:  The value proposition in buying something custom. We believe that as more and more consumers realize the value they can get by purchasing custom, the market for these products will grow exponentially. Together, we are going to put a lot of hard work, time, and resources behind making this vision a reality.  Please, before you decide to buy something that was cheaply made, consider CustomMade.

Browse our galleries and see what our woodworkers have to offer!

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Let this be a lesson – DIY gone awry

Posted in Uncategorized on December 13th, 2009 by admin – 1 Comment

When you can’t seem to find the right piece of furniture to fit your space, it’s tempting to try to just do it yourself. But unless you know what you’re doing, the results can be pretty comical.

This is what we came up with when we built a base for a few extra tabletops to create two more desks in our office.

Some Custom Joinery on our New Desks!

Some Custom Joinery on our New Desks!

Check out the exposed joinery (the screws)! It reminded us why it makes sense to pay someone who actually knows what they are doing.

Do you have a photo of your own DIY project that could use a custom made makeover? Share your photos on our Facebook page.

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CustomMade.com attends the Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show in Rhode Island

Posted in Uncategorized on October 26th, 2009 by admin – Be the first to comment

This weekend, we travelled to the Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Shows at the Rhode Island Convention Center. We enjoyed touring around the show and seeing many examples of Custom Furniture, Custom Furnishings, Living Room Furniture, Dining Room Furniture, and many other furnishings. We also were able to hand out flyers to each of the 1200 attendees. These flyers urged the attendees to visit CustomMade.com so that all of our members could get exposure even if you could not make the trip down to Providence.

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What’s a “hit” ?

Posted in Uncategorized on October 17th, 2009 by admin – 1 Comment

We were perusing an internet woodworking forum and noticed a thread talking about CustomMade.com and whether or not it was a good value. A lot of the discussion in that thread revolved around the topic of how many “hits” the site generated for its artisan members. While we often discuss average “pageviews” on the older website in our marketing materials, we noticed some people using the terms “hit” and “pageview” interchangeably when talking about the value proposition of subscribing to our website.

Here are our definitions of these terms;

A “pageview” is the same as an “impression” – it’s anytime a user views a picture of an artisan’s work or their profile page. On the old website (replaced by the current Version 2.0), the average subscriber received between 4,000 and 6,000 pageviews a month. About 60,000 pageviews per year.

A “hit” is a click-through from our website to the Artisan’s personal website. The new site has been up for a little more than 30 days – in that time, we have subscribers getting 20 click-throughs, and we have folks who have gotten over 300 click-throughs. Interestingly, the folks with more content seem to be getting less click-throughs and far more pageviews and exposure. We think that makes perfect sense – consumers seem to prefer the profiles they can browse without going offsite to clicking off site to view more work examples. It’s easier, after all.

The most common misconception seems to be that a “click-through” or a “hit” is much better than a pageview… which we don’t think this is necessarily true. Consumers coming to our website do so in order to see everything in one place – they don’t want to click-through to individual artisan’s web pages primarily because it’s a hassle. They enjoy the ability to browse and contact artisan’s without having to jump around. The majority of the contacts/leads that occur through our website are now actually happening through the “Contact” button in the individual Artisan’s profile… meaning that people are viewing the work example and choosing to contact the artisan without ever having gone to the Artisan’s personal web page.

We think the key is getting exposure to your content (examples of your work) in as many relevant places as possible – so the consumer can interact with the Artisan in a streamlined way that meets with their browsing preference.

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Directions on How to Use the New CustomMade.com

Posted in Uncategorized on September 8th, 2009 by admin – 2 Comments

Please refer to this video to better understand how to use the new version of CustomMade.com. Please make sure your volume is on, there is lots of great information here!

Directions for Subscribers on how to use CustomMade.com Version 2.0 from CustomMade on Vimeo.

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AWFS Fresh Wood Competition: Jonathon Cox of Brigham Young University with

Posted in Uncategorized on August 6th, 2009 by admin – 1 Comment

Jonathon Cox of Brigham Young University created a piece called “Split Personality,” which features some detailed some wonderful surface detail on a carved natural edge. His tabletop is cantilevered and the pedestal is connected with a pinned double bridle joint.

He entry was in the post-secondary school category and this career goal is to eventually become a high school woodshop teacher.


AWFS Fresh Wood Student Competition: Jonathon Cox from CustomMade.

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