Furniture

If you take a peek into furniture maker Bill Hergenroeder's shop in Cockeysville, you may be surprised at what you don't see: no computer-assisted drawings or other high-tech design aids. He prefers the simple life. The concrete floor of his shop is splattered with old splotches of paint. Stacks of hand-drawn sketches, veneer outlines, screwdrivers and the occasional power drill are scattered around the small space, with just enough room for him to move about to work on his custom furniture creations.

If you take a peek into furniture maker Bill Hergenroeder's shop in Cockeysville, you may be surprised at what you don't see: no computer-assisted drawings or other high-tech design aids. He prefers the simple life. The concrete floor of his shop is splattered with old splotches of paint. Stacks of hand-drawn sketches, veneer outlines, screwdrivers and the occasional power drill are scattered around the small space, with just enough room for him to move about to work on his custom furniture creations.

If the life of furniture maker Robert Ortiz was ever made into a movie, it would be full of adventure and plenty of plot twists. The opening scene would unfold in New York City in the 1960s, with a Hispanic kid from humble roots leaving home at age 14 to enter a religious order that trains monks. The camera would pan to a young man strumming a guitar at coffeehouses, renovating houses, teaching schoolchildren and eventually landing in Baltimore. After leaving the order and trying his hand at many careers, Ortiz finally found his professional calling: designing and crafting fine wood furniture.

Founder and lead designer: Mark Melonas, whose nickname was Luke, has a design and sculpture degree from the University of Maryland and a master's in furniture artisanry from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. But he began working in the basement of his family's Howard County home, making furniture with his father. He cast his first custom-designed sink in the kitchen of his Bolton Hill apartment 10 years ago. Today, the company he founded specializes in custom concrete and wood products.

Ten years ago, Nini Sarmiento and Rob Degenhard were scouring flea markets, antiques stores and yard sales searching for midcentury modern pieces to furnish their Rodgers Forge townhouse. They were having such a good time — and becoming so good at it — that one vendor suggested they try selling furniture themselves. And so Home Anthology was born. Today their Catonsville store has become a destination for those seeking midcentury modern, vintage, and retro furniture and accessories.

High Point, N.C. -- Dakota Jackson, a leading designer of high-end contemporary furniture, once made his living catching bullets in his teeth."I began flamboyantly," he admits. The 45-year-old designer -- at the International Home Furnishings Market to introduce his first mass-market collection for the Lane Co. -- furrows his patrician brow and smoothes the silvery hair that curls over his collar and almost matches the color of his elegant suit.Although he's talking about his design career, Mr. Jackson's early life was flamboyant as well.

Q: Where can we find reproductions of country painted furniture handmade by artisans?A: You'll find what you want in Alex Pifer's Seraph Country Catalog. It contains a selection of handmade country furniture, beds, homespun checkered curtains, swags, pillow cases, coverlets and a wide array of charming accessories. It is available for $6 postpaid from the Seraph, 5606 E. State Route 37, Delaware, Ohio 43015.Q: My husband (now deceased) collected first editions of magazines. Is there a demand for them?

David Hess, David Klein and Stephen Perrin are Baltimore-area artists who make art furniture. Sometimes, Hess and Klein collaborate. Together, these constitute three of the four artists featured in the exhibit "Furniture as Sculpture" at the Pennsylvania School of Art & Design in Lancaster. The fourth artist is Abe Geasland of Lancaster. Among other works, Klein is represented by his "Ottoman, " Perrin by his "Wall Chairs" (pictured here) and Klein and Hess by their "Heater." The Pennsylvania School offers associate degrees in fine art, interior and environmental design, graphic design and illustration.

Maryland has a charm all its own. Its people, its politics, its culture. And, certainly, its furniture. Yes, even Maryland furniture has its own unique allure. Just visit the new exhibit Furniture in Maryland Life, opening Friday and running indefinitely at the Maryland Historical Society, and see for yourself. Delving into the craftsmanship, aesthetics and economics of Maryland's furniture industry from 1634 to 2000, the exhibit presents a comprehensive look at the furniture that was made and used during the past four centuries in Maryland.

For a weekend pick-me-up, Robin Yasinow used to treat herself to a vest from the Bead. Now when she yearns for something new, she goes to Pier 1 imports and buys place mats."

In July 2010, Adarien Jackson's 6-year-old son, Kaden, began complaining of itchy bumps on his ankles. They soon turned into a rash and spread to his back, behind his ear, and on his eyelid. The child's pediatrician and dermatologists tried allergy drugs, diet changes, oils and oatmeal baths. But it wasn't until months later that Jackson discovered the cause of the problem. Kaden's twin brother, Kyler, began waking in the middle of the night, crying out, "Bugs are crawling on me!"

If the life of furniture maker Robert Ortiz was ever made into a movie, it would be full of adventure and plenty of plot twists. The opening scene would unfold in New York City in the 1960s, with a Hispanic kid from humble roots leaving home at age 14 to enter a religious order that trains monks. The camera would pan to a young man strumming a guitar at coffeehouses, renovating houses, teaching schoolchildren and eventually landing in Baltimore. After leaving the order and trying his hand at many careers, Ortiz finally found his professional calling: designing and crafting fine wood furniture.

Ten years ago, Nini Sarmiento and Rob Degenhard were scouring flea markets, antiques stores and yard sales searching for midcentury modern pieces to furnish their Rodgers Forge townhouse. They were having such a good time — and becoming so good at it — that one vendor suggested they try selling furniture themselves. And so Home Anthology was born. Today their Catonsville store has become a destination for those seeking midcentury modern, vintage, and retro furniture and accessories.

A commercial furniture company has bought a former manufacturing site near the intersection of Painters Mill and Reisterstown roads in Owings Mills and hopes to be part of revitalization efforts in the area. Douron Commercial Interiors plans to move its corporate headquarters to the site at 10 Painters Mill Road toward the end of 2012, Ron Hux, president and owner, said Monday. The 100,000-square-foot building is on 7.5 acres. Douron purchased the property for $2.8 million, Hux said.

Belle Patri means “beautiful home” and that's just what owner Jennifer Lane intended to market when she opened her Jarrettsville store of the same name in 2007. From French Country and Primitive to Shabby Chic, Vintage, and Traditional, Belle Patri has an eclectic mix of new, consigned, estate and antique home furnishings and accessories. “We have a very affordable pricing, and we have a lot of space to bring in a lot of pieces. We update our website everyday, so people can see what is actually in our store.” Lane, mother of two children, 10 and 8, and married to native Harford County resident Erik Lane, is known for refinishing and painting furniture.

Jim McMartin and Jim Beggins make their living creating beautiful pieces of furniture from the wood Mother Nature leaves behind, and she was particularly careless with her trees this fall. Hurricane Irene rolled through the woods on Maryland's Eastern Shore like a giant bowling ball in August, and now the enormous kindling that she left - tree trunks as thick as a man is tall - lies in the grass behind their lumber yard near Easton, waiting for the hand-tooled magic that will turn the wood into heirloom pieces of furniture.

LOS ANGELES -- If you ask the average Japanese whether the United States or Japan makes better cars, he may think you're joking.Japanese autos, after all, consistently beat the rest of the pack in customer satisfaction surveys. It's the same with Japanese televisions, stereos and a host of other products.But when the subject turns to furniture -- well, that's a different story.Many Japanese love the solid construction and satiny finishes of fine American wood furniture and the rich fabric and workmanship of quality American upholstered items.

Graveside services for Robert Mars, whose furniture business had branches in Baltimore and Ocean City, will be held at noon today at the B'nai Israel Congregation Cemetery in Oxon Hill.Mr. Mars, who was 87, died Wednesday at his home in Bethesda after a stroke.He retired in 1980 as owner of the R. Mars Co., which he founded in Washington in 1934. The company, which sold furniture at a discount to members of labor unions and other organizations and to hotels and other institutions, had branches in several East Coast cities and, at one time, in Havana.

There's more cooking at Westwood Unique Furnishings & Antiques than meets the eye. Wander past the antique chests and art deco lamps to the back of the shop, and customers might be surprised to see a large kitchen fully stocked with pots and pans and plenty of spatulas for serving hearty meals. And that's exactly what the kitchen is used for. For the past three years, Westwood's owner, Ingrid Melber, has turned over her shop's large back kitchen to her friend and personal chef, Alba Johnson, on Friday nights for Mediterranean cooking classes.

I'm putting a call into IKEA first thing tomorrow morning to pitch a new line of furniture — the DinoSaϋr — modeled after the classy desk gracing Commander Taylor's office: a T. Rex skull holding up a sheet of glass. Functional, utilitarian and super-chic. This week's episode of "Terra Nova," "The Runaway," centered on a young Sixer-escapee, a small child whose hair reminds me of the style I find myself with after too many days without a shower, who has fled her "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" counterparts because, she claims, Sixer-leader Mira is cruel to her. Protagonist Jim and dino-desk-using Taylor (God, I hope he killed/made that desk himself)