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There are a plethora of reasons that people usually wait until this time of year to move. For some, this time of year marks the formal end of the school year, and therefore a perfect opportunity to divert one’s attention on a new place. For others, it’s more about the warm weather: the prospect of having to move homes amid the biting winter winds is enough to make them wait. And then there are some people who just happen to find that perfect place this time of year, a pure and true instance of serendipity.

Whatever the reason, moving is exciting because it is the ultimate way to shake things up. You know that feeling when you wake up that first morning in a new place – you feel so alive and excited. Changing your surroundings can be a great way to feel fresh, and when you move places it can be a wonderful opportunity to try new things with décor. You might never find a better time to finally say goodbye to that chewed up old particleboard bookcase and say hello to a Woodcraft solid wood bookcase in your choice of wood and stain.

Life has a way of chugging along at a great pace, and it can be easy to say, “Oh, I’ll get around to replacing this table later”, or, “Our room is bugging me, but I can’t be bothered to redecorate right now”. Often, in order to get by day to day, we have to put certain home matters on the backburner. But that all changes when you move. Moving is all about focusing on your home, so it’s the perfect opportunity to work from the ground up on creating the home you’ve always wanted. Be bold and try something different.

One way of shaking things up in advance of the big moving day is to consider furniture that is a little out of the ordinary. A type of furniture that we’re absolutely loving making here at Woodcraft is reclaimed wood furniture, essentially pieces that we make from repurposed industrial wood. The end products, whether reclaimed wood tables or coffee tables, just look so textured and multi-dimensional, exuding a sense of character that is completely unique. They’re definitely a conversation starter. It can be difficult to take the plunge and replace your current table – we totally understand – but that’s why moving should be viewed as an opportunity for change.

Another wonderful way to kick-start your life in a new home would be to ensure that each room coheres. Homes are often a mish-mash of accumulated furniture, built over time. There’s a coffee table you got from your wedding, a couch you found on sale, a bed that you bought when you were a little strapped for cash. The effect that gives is a house that’s been developed piecemeal rather than with a single vision in mind. For this, we recommend taking a look at our sets. Our bedroom sets and office collections are a great way to tie a room together, and since you get to choose your stain colour and wood type, you can have a great amount of creative say in how those rooms will look. If you want examples of how a certain set might look in a certain stain, or if you just have general questions, give us a call anytime and we’d be happy to help.

Above we said that there’s no better feeling than waking up in a new home that first morning, but maybe it’s better to qualify that: there’s no better feeling than waking up in a new place that looks exactly the way you’ve always wanted it to. Now that’s a wonderful feeling.

With Father’s Day right around the corner, now’s the perfect time to ponder what gift to give to the man who raised you. Sure, you could go the brunch route, or buy him a card and be done with it, but where’s the love in that? This Father’s Day, go for something he can both admire and use, something burly and elegant; Woodcraft solid wood furniture makes the perfect gift for any dad. Here we’ve listed five “types” of dad, and the perfect piece of furniture to get them for Father’s Day.

For The Sports Fan

Whether it’s the Jays, Leafs, Raptors, Argos or any other team that your dad follows, sports just look better when they’re imbedded in a big, beautifully constructed entertainment unit. With ample room and shelving for a sound system, speakers, movie collection, etc., our entertainment units are perfect for the dad who likes to sit back at the end of a long day, grab the remote and take in the TV. Check out our Brent, Modo, Glenn or Ottawa Valley cabinets with hutches, each with its own specific style and charm.

For The Bookworm

For the dad who has more books than he knows what to do with, the only Father’s Day gift that makes sense would be a bookcase, one worthy of his collection. Depending on the kind of guy he is, you could either go with something like the Downton book case – a regal but straightforward piece, accented by rope trim and detailed knobs – or something like our Deluxe Bookcase w/ Bevelled Glass Door, which has a more rustic feel. For something more modern and a little less conventional, check out our Framework Bookcase, a minimalist piece with a striking, maze-like design.

For The Hard Worker

Then there’s the dad who lives to work. You can normally find him in his study, plugging away at one task or another, surrounded by paperwork. When you spend that much time at a desk, you want to know that the desk is really good. You want to walk into your study or office every day and admire the custom handmade wood furniture in front of you. From the simple, sophisticated design of our New Yorker Desk, to the sleek French contemporary style of our Prince Charles Executive Desk, or the uber-minimalist lines on our Waterfall Desk, there’s a type of desk for every hardworking dad out there.

For The Foodie

Some dads get their joie de vivre from sitting around the dinner table, in front of a plate of good food and a glass of something delicious. For the foodie in the family, what could be a better Father’s Day gift than cooking up a luxurious meal and serving it to him on an immaculate new table? We make reclaimed wood tables for that rustic look, or you can go with something more classic like a glass-top table. The choice is entirely yours. At Woodcraft, we’re proud of the variety our collection of dining room tables has.

For The Saturday Morning Sleep-In

Finally, we come to the dad who just wants to sleep in a little – the dad for whom heaven is being able to unplug the alarm clock and rest undisturbed. For the comfort-seeker of the house, we have some seriously impressive beds on offer, like our Waterfall Live Edge Bed, Hampton Bed or Dunbar Bed (plus a number of other fantastic options).

Solid wood furniture makes an incredible Father’s Day gift for any type of dad. Stop by one of our showrooms to peruse different styles of furniture and be sure to check out our current promotions on the website. Solid wood for a solid dad – Happy Father’s Day!

Spring Cleaning can only do so much. At a certain point, you have to look around yourself and ask whether your space is being used neatly and efficiently. If you’re in a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Toronto, the task becomes trickier (though totally not impossible), but even people with sprawling suburban houses have to deal with clutter. It is a universal annoyance, one born out of our desire to have things we don’t necessarily need, but there are ways that you can make you’re home feel less cluttered, regardless of size, that don’t necessarily involve throwing away everything.

The first way to go about making a space feel less cluttered is by choosing certain furniture with clean lines and a minimal design. That’s not to say every piece of furniture ought to be minimal. Many of our Woodcraft solid wood furniture pieces are large, and not necessarily minimal in design, and you can absolutely make them work in even a small home (more on that below). But for pieces at the center of a room, like coffee tables and dining tables, you do want minimal designs. Our Malmö Glass Dining Table is a great place to start when thinking about creating a less cluttered home, as the glass top gives the illusion of an open space – just make sure to keep the top clear of items and debris!

Also, wherever possible, choose furniture that pulls double duty as storage. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily apply to dining tables, but consider getting a buffet hutch, an entertainment unit, or an elegant new bookcase to contain and compartmentalize some of the clutter in your home. It’s better to consume the space in your home with a closed-drawer, closed-door piece of furniture containing clutter, than have the clutter strewn about in random places. Once the clutter is neatly tucked away in drawers and on shelves, it can’t really be called clutter anymore, can it?

With big furniture items, the rule of thumb is to stick them around the perimeter of a room, away from any room entrances. The thinking here is that if you push them against the wall, they become a feature of the architecture of the room, rather than an item the room contains. And keeping large furniture away from the entrances improves the flow of a home, as well as keeps an unobstructed sightline of the room when entering. If you’re on the market for effective furniture that will provide storage and sophistication, for a great price, check out our latest promotions on our website.

To further promote spaciousness, open those widows and draw the blinds – allow a view of outside to become a feature of the room, and let that lovely natural light in. A lot of people also swear by mirrors, which have long been used to trick the eye into thinking a space is larger (and therefore, they contend, less cluttered), but if all you’re mirroring is a cluttered room, then you’re just doubling the clutter, aren’t you?

At a certain point, then, it’s wise to let go of a few things. If the storage room in your closets and furniture is starting to get stuffed to the brim, unfortunately it is time to start paring down. Take a day to assess everything – ask whether you need to keep those old cloth napkins, that encyclopaedia collection no one uses (because phones), or that stack of paperwork from a job four years ago. You’d be surprised, once you get started, how easy it is to toss things out!

You don’t have to have access to rooms upon rooms of free space in order to make a home feel less cluttered. With some wise furniture choices, clever placement, open windows and a little bit of cleaning, your home will feel open and efficient.

Believe it or not, we’re almost at that time of year again, when everyone breaks out their reddest outfit, buys a smattering of fireworks and celebrates what it means to be Canadian. Aside from the fact that it’s a wonderful opportunity to come together as a country and community, it’s also – let’s face it – a much-needed holiday, and if you live in Southern Ontario, that Canada Day Monday is a popular time to pack up the vehicle and head up to the cottage.

What you don’t want to do, though, is get all the way up there only to find a mess of cobwebs, dust, out-dated furnishings and an empty pantry. That’s no way to ring in Canada Day. Start getting your cottage ready early, that way when the summer rolls around you’ll be able to relax in style, instead of stressing out in a mess. Getting the cottage “Canada Day” ready starts by drawing your attention to these four specific areas: the cleaning, the décor (which will feature some Woodcraft furniture obviously), the pantry and the landscaping.

Cleaning

This is a full day job for most cottages, and might require the help of some family or friends (in the case of the latter, you can probably just pay them in food and drinks!). Sweep any debris that might’ve accumulated; dust the surfaces; check for critters that might have found their way in, laying down mouse- or bug-traps if necessary; scrub down the bathroom; and, if you didn’t do them at the end of the season last year, run any sheets and linens through the laundry. Whew, that wasn’t easy, was it? But at least you didn’t leave it until the summer.

Décor

The best way to liven up your cottage, décor-wise, is with solid wood furniture – if you read this blog with any regularity, that should come as no surprise. A cottage’s interior is meant to evoke the outside experience of being in nature; it’s meant to be a comfortable extension of the natural surroundings. So it makes perfect sense that a cottage be furnished with solid wood furniture. If you want to pre-order and choose your type of wood and stain, contact us anytime, or if you want to get a deal on a floor model and move your furniture up to the cottage right away, come visit us and one of our three showrooms – Whitby, Mississauga and Denison.

Pantry

That Canada Day drive up to the cottage with friends or family can be stressful and rushed. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, then, if you didn’t have to stop for groceries? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you got up there to find that the pantry was already stocked with key non-perishables, and that the fridge was already stocked with drinks? You’re already making the early trip up there to clean and redecorate; you might as well bring up some groceries!

Landscaping

You don’t have to go all out here, since the cottage is fundamentally about enjoying nature (and nature is fundamentally a little messy), but a quick pass around the cottage for large fallen branches and excess leaves wouldn’t go amiss by family and guests. If you want to bring a pair of pruning shears to scale back some of the overgrowth as well, that would also be a great idea. It’s a tiring job, for sure, so if at the end of it you need your new furniture delivered, we totally understand – just get it touch with us and we’ll work out a way to get your furniture to you.

May 24 may be the official kick-off of the cottage season, but Canada Day is its spiritual centre. The weather is hot, the jet-skis are roaring, the smell of barbecue is in the air and the Canadian flags are waving. In many ways, it’s the cottage event of the year, so make sure yours is ready for action!

With the oncoming glut of good weather and holidays, the last thing you probably want to think about is the office. After all, the sun is starting to shine through the window. But your office doesn’t need to be gloomy or drab, and in fact sprucing it up a little might change how you feel about the office in ways you hadn’t expected. Improving your physical surroundings can have a real positive psychological impact on the way you feel.

This is all to say that spring is the ideal time to start shopping for new office furniture, because if you can’t be out there, you might as well make in here as nice as possible. This article will go through a few office furniture ideas, each of which you can find at Woodcraft online or in the store, that are guaranteed to both improve your mood and impress your colleagues and clients.

A Unified Collection

In your surroundings, you want to aim for harmony, balance. The easiest hack to make this happen is to buy your furniture in a collection rather than piece-by-piece. At Woodcraft, we offer a number of office furniture collections, appealing to wide range of tastes, but all rooted in our core principle of timeless quality and design. Take for instance the Downton Office Collection, which includes a desk, file cabinet and a bookcase, each made in the classic West Indies style with rope trim and detailed rope knobs adorning the jutted edges and raised panels. Or consider our Prince Charles Office Collection, in the French contemporary style, making use of the sophisticated interplay between wood and brass. As with most our furniture, you get a choice of wood type and stain as well, meaning that you can tailor the collection easily to your office’s existing décor.

A Desk That Ties The Room Together

For a more streamlined approach, just go for a desk. In this increasingly tech-connected world, the need for paper storage is dwindling, so it might be the case thatyou only need a desk, one that sits a computer, a coffee cup and a stack of important books or document, and you’re set. The New Yorker Desk is an elegant, straightforward desk with a clean, modern design and brushed nickel knobs. It is a refined, simple statement that can easily tie together a minimalist office.

A Work Station

For more space, and a more undisturbed work environment, consider perhaps a work station. Essentially a desk with an attached hutch, the work station is meant to back against a wall, giving its user the ability to focus solely on they’re work, without the open view of a standard, room-facing desk. Our Georgetown Work Station, for example, features tapered feet and bevelled trim, with ample storage and desk space. If you want to see the Georgetown Work Station – or, indeed, any of our pieces – in person, call us anytime or come down to one of our showrooms.

A Modern Touch

Finally, for the metropolitan office you can’t go wrong with a modern collection of furniture. Modern furniture, with its clean lines and simple, natural designs, communicates to colleagues, bosses and clients that you approach your work in a similar manner – streamlined and contemporary. Take a look at our Modo Office Collection, which we’re very proud of, mixing together a sleek design with careful craftsmanship. If you want your office to be a tranquil place, with lots of open space, modern furniture is the way to go.

So, the weather might be warming up outside, but being inside doesn’t have to be all that bad. Your consolation prize is that you get to choose from a wide array of stunning office furniture to decorate your workspace. You might even notice that colleagues are spending more time in your office – that’s just the attractive power of solid wood furniture at work!

You can go one of two ways this Valentine’s Day: you can take the easy way with a respectable, above-average box of chocolates that comes with a printed ribbon on the box, or you can really wow your significant other. When you give someone the gift of solid wood furniture made by craftsman from Canadian wood, you’re giving them a gift that will last a lifetime, one that conveys all the things a strong relationship does: quality, care and a solid build.

Quality

We don’t remain too modest on the fact that Woodcraft wood furniture is high quality, from top to bottom – from the materials used to the expertise applied. If you’re going to get your significant other something special this Valentine’s Day – something, admittedly, that will benefit you both – check out our solid wood bedroom sets. Obviously, for reasons this article isn’t going to touch on, a bedroom is the locus of a good relationship, so ensuring that it’s furnished with quality pieces is pretty important.

Whether you’re going for a clean, sophisticated look, as with our Brent Bedroom Collection, with its abundance of dressers and chests and its urbane Brent Panel Bed, or something a little more rustic, as with our charming, Simply Country Bedroom Collection (perfect, too, if you’re shopping for the cottage), we’ve got bedroom furniture for all styles and settings. You can even stop by our showroom in Whitby to get a firsthand look at your potential Valentine’s gift. Coordinate with us ahead of time about delivery and we’ll make sure that the surprise is ready and waiting for your significant other when the time is right. When you see advice columns that say “shake things up in the bedroom”, we assume that this is what they really had in mind!

Care

As with a relationship, a piece of solid wood furniture requires a bit of TLC. In these frigid winter months (which, as predicted, has been pretty biting), try and control the humidity in your home with a humidifier, keeping it around 40 to 45 percent, making sure as well that the furniture avoids direct sunlight. A good dusting every now and again, as well as the occasional clean will see your gift stay in tip-top shape for ages.  Of course, when we say “care” we’re also referring to the care we put into each of these pieces, something that comes naturally with our over 40 years in the business.

Solid Build

Why do you think it is that diamonds are such a popular gift for spouses? It’s because they’re sturdy, solid, unbreakable, just like your relationship. Well, the same goes for solid wood furniture, which, unlike the mass-produced stuff, is solid enough to withstand a lifetime, even longer. Take for instance a reclaimed wood table like our Jackson or Portland table, where we use repurposed wood to create something wholly new and unique. Not only is reclaimed wood popular right now because of its rustic character, but it’s also a testament to the staying power and lasting beauty of solid wood. Diamonds are a little cliché at this point, but solid wood furniture isn’t – not only is it beautiful and elegant, but it’s functional and usable.

This Valentine’s Day, don’t take the path commonly travelled. Stop by our Whitby showroom, or contact us through our website to set up delivery or pickup of what is sure to be the ultimate Valentine’s Day gift.

A warm cup of mulled wine or cocoa, a wool sweater, a crackling fireplace and a home decked out in solid wood – what is it about these things that make them so lovely and inviting? There is plenty to complain about with these Ontario winters (the roads, the slush, the salt, the shoveling… you get it!) but one thing no one can be mad about is getting to cozy up indoors. It can be one of the absolute most comforting things in the world being greeted by a cozy home, something the Danish caught on to way back in the 1500s, even going so far as to give it a name – “hygge”.

What is hygge, exactly? Well, quite literally it means “wellness” or “contentment”, but its cultural meaning has to do with creating an atmosphere of warmth and conviviality, often at home in the winter. Imagine a wood cabin in Denmark filled with friends laughing and sharing stories and drinks – you’re closer to understanding the cultural significance of hygge. But how do you create such an atmosphere in your own home? Well, for starters, Woodcraft solid wood furniture certainly adds a warm, rustic charm.

It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly why, but solid wood adds to a feeling of warmth and coziness to a home. Perhaps it’s because it reminds us of log cabins and lake cottages, where there’s always an oven on and a fire roaring. Maybe it’s because the alternatives – metal, glass, brick – are literally cold to the touch. All we know is that it’s closely associated with comfort, warmth and, yes, hygge. If you’re looking for a new buffet hutch or a new dining room table in Mississauga this winter, go the cozy route with solid wood furniture.

For a table, if you really want to run with this hygge idea, check out our Acropolis Live Edge Table. Live edge, as we’ve discussed before on this blog, is when the raw wood texture is allowed to remain intact at the edges, giving the furniture a more natural look. This reminder of the outdoors, of the knotty texture of trees, adds a real sense of warm, countryside craftsmanship to a room. We offer it in maple, wormy maple, oak, vintage cherry and pine, as well as a number of different stains, so you can customize your table to fit your existing décor. Imagine gathering around that after a cold day outside – heavenly!

Another very warm and inviting type of wood is reclaimed wood, although its charm is different than that of live edge furniture’s. With reclaimed wood furniture, like our reclaimed wood coffee table or dining tables, we take wood used previously in an industrial setting and breathe new life into it by celebrating its timeworn features. Whereas live edge furniture gets its appeal from reminding us of nature, reclaimed wood takes its appeal from its industrial history, giving it character and depth. With a few hearty plants and maybe a ceramic bowl, this  kind of wood really adds to the cozy, warm feeling of a room.

The Danish know a thing or two about the cold, which means they also know a thing or two about making the most out of winter. So here’s the plan: wear your most comfortable clothes, your wool socks and sweater, cook a nice roast meal and pour a hot cup of whatever you like to drink, and cozy up around a solid wood table with family or friends. Living this way, the winter might even become your favourite season.