There are those among us who would like to do something outrageous with these pieces-put them to use! I say that by way of introduction, and to point out that the picture at the top of this blog was not taken in a modern art museum, but in a showroom devoted to the sale of Chista furniture.

What most attracted me to Matahati’s Ming Furniture Line is their use of products that are genuinely ecologically sound. They use reclaimed teak. The wood won’t warp; it mills true, and if often has a wonderful patina that one simply does not find in new-cut wood.

Fable Porch Furniture has an entire line of products that are brand-new, but, with their distressed paint finishes, are made to look as though they have been around for a long period of time. This means you have the best of both worlds: the old and the new brought together by master craftsmen.

Iin the North Park area of San Diego there is a woodworker who does the most glorious things and does every bit of it with hand tools only. Pat Edwards is a consummate master in every aspect of woodworking, but the one item that gets most of the ink-and deservedly so-is his marquetry.