New Web site for FFPS
The Fine Furnishings show Web site has been completely redesigned with special sections for attendees, exhibitors, members of the trade and the media. You can order tickets online for the October show now (and save a few bucks while avoiding a wait in line at the show).

Once a year, for three days only, Fine Furnishings Providence is a showcase for extraordinary custom furniture designed to fit a broad range of styles and constructed of nearly every material imaginable. Complementing the furniture is an exciting variety of handcrafted accessories and original fine art to complete the creation of your art full home.

Free Guidance for Kitchen Designers

Blum has just taken all the years of research from their more than sixty kitchen labs worldwide and made it available to everyone. This info will "help cabinet makers differentiate themselves from others by adding ergonomics to their beautiful kitchens. We have tips for improving storage, access, workflow and ergonomics. We also have a zone planner that allows you to enter all the items you have in your kitchen and it suggests the type of cabinet, organization system and storage solution best suited for each zone." The customer can print all this information and take it to their kitchen provider.

To check out this new resource for cabinetmakers, designers and their customers, visit their new Dynamic Space Web site.

The Stanley Works is now the official hand tool supplier for Red Feather Development Group, an American Indian sustainable housing initiative. The Group is a national non-profit organization which teaches affordable, replicable and sustainable approaches to home construction. As part of the agreement, The Stanley Works will provide Red Feather with an array of tools to be used during the construction of each building project. In addition, The Stanley Works will make a financial contribution for ongoing support of Red Feather initiatives. Of the 2.5 million tribal members living on America's Indian reservations, 1.5 million are either homeless or living in over-crowded, substandard conditions. Many homes lack basic amenities such as water or electricity. Prior to any project, Red Feather staff educates tribal members about sustainable construction techniques, community planning and how to create beautiful, super-insulated, affordable straw bale homes. They assist tribal members with the complicated mortgage process and collaborate with tribal housing authorities and mortgage companies to facilitate individual home ownership.

Stanley Helps Build
Straw Bale Houses

Incredible Collection of
Furniture Projects
If you're going to be in Maine this summer and you have ANY interest in furniture or woodworking, do yourself a favor and visit the exhibition "New Work by Faculty" which opens at the Messler Gallery in June and runs through September. The gallery is located on the campus of the nonprofit Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, a woodworking school distinguished by an international faculty of approximately 50 accomplished professional furniture makers, woodturners, and carvers. It is "the only year-round venue in New England dedicated to exhibiting studio furniture".

The 25 exhibitors include national luminaries who live close at hand, such as furniture maker Jere Osgood from Wilton, New Hampshire, winner of the Furniture Society's 2004 Award of Distinction, and international stars such as carver Chris Pye, from Hereford, England, who counts HRH the Prince of Wales among his steady clientele. Noted woodturners who teach at the Center are represented by Michael Hosaluk (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and Matthew Hill (Oklahoma City, OK).

Shown at left is Root and Crown by Timothy Coleman of Shelburne, Mass (2004). It was executed in bubinga solids and veneers and avidore, and measures 25" x 18" x 58". (Photo by Bill Truslow Photography.)

To see a gallery of the exhibits, visit the Messler online.