From: Stokes, J. The complete cabinet-maker and upholsterer’s guide. London : Dean & Munday, 1838

Art Nouveau paneling and woodwork designed and made by Alexandre Charpentier in 1901 for the dining room of Adrien Bénard’s villa in Champrosay.  The sandstone fountain and the tiles above the wood paneling were executed by Alexandre Bigot.

When I saw this picture it reminded me of the time I had to replace the kitchen cabinets.  Looking around at the big box stores, everything was “standardized” and that meant it wouldn’t fit easily into an older home.  Right down the road, though, is a cabinet-maker who was happy to help.

The cost?  No more than what you’d pay at the big box stores, that’s for sure!  The cabinet-maker might not have the purchasing power of an international conglomerate, but they also don’t have the expenses of those huge corporations or as many middle-men needing to get paid.

More importantly, I was practicing what I so often preach -- supporting the local craftsman.

Your culture is 100% dependent on your local makers who are 100% dependent on you!   Right now, kids are taking “woodworking” in their high school shop classes even though there aren’t any places locally where they can apply that training to make a living.  The local small shops have long since been shut down because they simply couldn’t compete with the giant stores.  Think that’s sad?  Well, it falls on the shoulders of the people of the community who turned their backs on their local makers because they wanted to save money.  The people didn’t tend their garden.

Sounds rough, I’m sure, but the idea that you’re “saving” anything falls short when you look around and all of a sudden there aren’t any small shops employing thousands of people anymore.

Your culture depends on your participation and your stewardship.  It’s your responsibility to see it grow and flourish just like you would tend your own garden.  That local cabinet-maker I did business with is in a constant struggle to find customers, barely hanging on, because the local people will go to the big box stores to buy a bed frame or end table thinking they’re saving money.  What the local people are actually doing is driving the small companies out of town rather than nurturing them and seeing them thrive.

This area used to have quite a few shops that made wood products, but they’ve all had to close down because the customers went away.  The shops didn’t close down because they wanted to.  No, they sat there and watched as the customers abandoned them for chintzy, mass-produced “stuff” that falls apart in a few years.  it was “cheaper” at the moment, though, so that low price blinded the customers to the fact that it wouldn’t last, and certainly couldn’t be passed down to the next generation.

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