Stu's Woodworks, Arts & Crafts

Frequently Asked QuestionsArts & Crafts Footstool

What is Arts and Crafts Inspired Furniture?
Arts and Crafts, Craftsman, or Mission – which is it?
Where can I learn more about the Arts and Crafts movement?
What is your commission process?
What are your prices?
What types of wood does Stu's Woodworks use?
Do you deliver your commissions?

What is Arts and Crafts Inspired Furniture?

The term "Arts and Crafts inspired" simply means that when I design I typically am influenced by several of the founders of the American Arts & Crafts movement.  My legs are constructed like those designed by the Stickley brothersusing four, highly figured solid quarter-sawn pieces.  I assemble mine using a locking-mitre joint that interlocks each piece to create a very strong leg.  The squared-off spindles in my tables are reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie School style.  Additionally, I cut my spindles from a single, heavily figured piece of quarter-sawn white oak, carefully choosing a flowing horizontal figure that compliments the table being built.  Another influence is the furniture Charles & Henry Greene designed for their architectural commissions.  I integrate their proud pegs and splines, which invite one to touch the wood.

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Arts and Crafts, Craftsman, or Mission – which is it?

The terms Mission, Craftsman, and Arts and Crafts are often mistakenly used interchangeably.  In fact, they have quite distinct meanings. Arts and Crafts is the umbrella term that applies generally to all craftsfrom tiles and textiles to ceramics, furniture, and illuminated manuscriptsproduced under the influence of anti-industrialist ideas for social reform.  The ideas were first articulated by John Ruskin and William Morris.  The term Arts and Crafts was coined after the Arts and Crafts Exhibition of 1888 in London.  The movement, which emphasized hand craftsmanship, honest design, and local materials, began in England, then spread to continental Europe and America.

Mission refers generally to rectilinear American furniture of the Arts and Crafts movement.  The term was apparently coined with reference to the simple, solid furniture of some Spanish missions in California.  It's believed to have been first applied to work by Joseph McHugh but was subsequently adopted almost universally in the marketing campaigns of major American furniture manufacturers.  Much of this furniture was originally inspired by Gustav Stickley's Craftsman line of furniture.

Craftsman is the trade name Stickley chose for his line of Arts and Crafts furniture.  Although much American-manufactured furniture was made in imitation of Stickley's Craftsman line, none but Stickley's is properly called Craftsman furniture.

Arts & Crafts Furniture: From Classic to Contemporary
The Taunton Press, 2003

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Where can I learn more about the Arts and Crafts movement?

Arts & Crafts History and Background Magazines Forums Societies Books (Back to top)

What is your commission process?

Please read my Commissions page for details of my commissions process.

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What are your prices?

Please read my Commissions page for pricing details.

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What types of wood does Stu's Woodworks use?

Originally, Arts and Crafts furniture was built using quarter-sawn white oak.  It was also not unusual to find pieces built from mahogany or cherry.  My coffee tables, end tables, and sofa tables are created with quarter-sawn white oak and sometimes accented in walnut.  As we design your furniture, we can incorporate any species of wood available.  I can find almost any domestic or exotic species of wood.  I have worked with cherry, white oak, red oak, maple (hard, soft, curly, and tiger), mahogany, walnut, zebra wood, ebony, and bubinga.

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Do you deliver your commissions?

I offer free delivery in the greater Washington DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland metropolitan area including Fairfax, Montgomery, and Prince William counties; the neighborhoods and communities of Great Falls, Middleburg, Potomac, Waterford, Dunn Loring, Fairfax Station, Highland, Georgetown, McLean, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Laytonsville, Brookville, Spring Valley, Boyds, Tysons Corner, Clifton, Arlington, Clarksville, Oakton, Fort Hunt, Lovettsville, Silver Spring, Hamilton, Broadlands, Brambleton, Shepherd Park, Round Hill, South Riding, Aldie, Fairfax, Leesburg, Purcellville, Kensington, Rockville, Centreville, Chantilly, Herndon, Reston, Ashburn, Vienna, Germantown, Waldorf, Alexandria, Barcroft, and Hyattsville.  Shipping outside these areas can be arranged for an additional shipping and handling charge.

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