Rustic Furniture Basics

by Doug Stowe

An excellent beginner-to-intermediate course in making functional, attractive furniture from natural and reclaimed materials, this guide teaches the essentials through eight representative projects. It gives step-by-step instructions for making a cedar table, a five-board bench, a stick table with a twig-mosaic top, a slab bench, a footstool with a woven seagrass seat, a slab-top coffee table, a rustic chair, and an oak chest.

Each includes a materials list, dimensioned drawings, color photos of every step, and suggested variations on the piece. Along the way, you will learn about selecting materials, tools and finishes, as well as techniques for mortise-and-tenon joinery, twine-weaving, antiquing hardware and much more.

Softcover, 8 1/2" × 11", 140 pages, 2009.