Our "Busy"ness

I haven't been able to post on our blog for awhile, and wanted to give you all an update.

 Justin Winters and our daughter, Rebecca were united in marriage on May 22. Many of you already have met Justin, he has been apprenticing here for a few years. He hopes to continue building furniture and cabinetry with us.

Bobby and friends have been attending craft shows...in Hamburg, NY and recently took 3rd prize at the Corn Hill Festival in Rochester, NY. His sales are slow coming, but the show managers and staff love them and their products and give them very positive feedback. He is learning much about business and sales.
 Future craft shows include Harborfest in Owego
http://www.oswegoharborfest.com/
and
Fort Klock in September
http://fortklock.org/

 Mike and I became foster parents to 4 children, and they have greatly affected our lives.
Kaydance (age 5)  is going to make something of herself. She just started summer school and is earning good points to get a purple bike. Every day, we tell her what part of the bike she has earned. Progress reports home from the teacher tell us that Kaydance is doing fantastic. This is her first experience in any kind of school, and we wanted to motivate her to do well. She starts official kindergarten in the fall.
Dennis (age 4) is also in school and is enjoying his day. He gets up ready for school, and is trying to earn a new backpack. He is also doing well there.
Twins  Todd and Amber (age  2 1/2) have been having seizures and we are working on getting their conditions stabilized. Once Amber got used to the meds, she has been a different kid and is exploding with learning new things.

Coming soon are pictures of the latest library that we finished. It is breathtaking!

Craft Show Weekend in New England

     Being that our business started in 1963 in Agawam, Massachusetts, we are very excited to return for a craft show on March 13 and 14.  The show will be in the Young Building at the Eastern States Exposition Grounds in West Springfield, a site not too distant in memory.

     In  1980, our family business won an "Award for Excellence" at the Spring Home Show at the Better Living Center on the grounds. Every time we have exhibited at shows there, it has been a joy to run into some of dad's customers. Many still had the furniture that dad built in those early years, and the stories are just priceless.  Please come and stop by if you can.  We are in booth 222 on the outside perimeter.

You can find a link to the show below, with a coupon for $1-$2 off.  You will also read about other features of the show including a show schedule and certificates being given away.

http://www.deerfield-craft.org/

Robert M, grandson of Robert J Delnero( founder) will be showing off his line of handmade furniture.

 

Tiger Maple Server by Robert Delnero

Fun and Creativity

"Some men throw their gifts away on a life of mediocrity, great men throw everything they have into their gifts and achieve a life of success."
Greg Werner

Two weeks ago Mike and Justin were in the woodshop creating a "new but aged" piece of furniture for a customer.  The piece was inspired by the chestnut hidden TV cabinet on our website, and  a returning customer thought it up.  It will be used in a bathroom and serve as a functional cabinet.

We have always claimed that our customers sometimes are joint partners with us in the creative process, especially those with custom made pieces. 

As Mike and Justin were turning our customer's vision into reality, they too had to engage in the creative process as well.  Mike's brother, John came in the shop for a moment to find the two actually having fun as well.  When Mike came home he told me of the story how John had commented that our furniture making was a passion, and that he realized how much Mike and Justin love what they do.

In an age where stress and rushing around is commonplace, I felt it was just noteworthy, or blogworthy if you will.  The effects of fun in our lives have been studied, and therefore, this positive energy is what I hope to pass on to you. Find something you love and throw yourself into it, or create something based on a need to get you started. 

Be creative!

The picture shows the piece being created!

2010 - What's New For Us This Year?

2009 is over!  I love the hope that a new year brings.  We have been watching a rising interest in our furniture, which has been pretty exciting after the economic slump that I think we were all feeling in various ways.

Our son, Robert is joining together with his friend for some upcoming craft shows:
The 6th Annual Cabin Fever Craft Show in Glens Falls on January 16th  and The Country Folk Arts Show in Syracuse on February 5-7. .  They have had some very positive response from other shows.  Bobby has been working with wood since he was about 5 and his woodworking skills are beyond his age.  He seems driven to make and sell his craft (having his own car with expenses is one motivating factor).
See a picture below of one of Bobby's tiger maple pedestal tables.

As many of you already know, our daughter, Rebecca and her beloved Justin will be getting married in May.  Justin will be joining Bobby and Josh at the Syracuse show with some of our furniture as well as the woodcrafts. Justin is looking forward to a successful show.
Justin is also interested in meeting with architects and interior designers.  Our business would be a great resource, especially those looking for anything that needs to be custom built.  Please contact us if you're an architect and are interested in working with us.

We'd love for you to stop by whether it's at a show or our showroom and say Hi. We'd love to meet you.

Furniture Handcrafted in New York State

     Okay, so I am stating what seems to be the obvious. Our furniture is made right here in New York State. So, why am I bringing this up? In truth, because our business is part of the current economic and industrial saga  in our nation.
     I have recently been studying this issue. I think we need to be re-familiarized with some of the benefits in actively supporting businesses first locally and then nationally.  There are many great articles online that give the reasons behind supporting local businesses. I have also visited some sites that  exclusively promote buying things made in the USA. Doing so in today's marketplace requires a committed and conscientious consumer.
     Years ago, we relied exclusively on local sales. Of course there was no internet. Word of mouth was our very best advertising tool. Even the home shows that we exhibited at were mostly by locals for the locals. We had wonderful relationships with our customers. Mom was so good at remembering names, and dad just had this way of giving personal attention to every possible customer. My husband and his brother learned that as they literally grew up watching it. Being a keen observer, dad was the leading proponent of having a website. Our website was first created in the early 1990's. At that time, we could hardly imagine selling piece of furniture to someone that lived outside our local area! As the story goes, dad never saw the fruit of the impact of our website. Now we cannot imagine how companies can be in existence without a website! We try to keep things personal by sending photo email updates on the furniture being made.
     In this ever complicated world, our business is still not. We are a family business building a great product in the United States. Our lumber is a product of the US as well. It's just worth mentioning.
    This Black Friday or Cyber Monday or whenever, please consider supporting at least one locally owned business, or look for items made in USA.  I'm pretty sure local businesses will be eager to serve you,  and there are many, capacious benefits.
     If you are around the Cooperstown, NY area, we will be bringing a few items to the Otesaga Hotel on Saturday, November 28th for a Chamber membership exhibition and sale. Then, on December 6th, we will be at the Van Alstyne Holiday Craft Fair in Canajoharie.

25 Wood Selections

Our new pages are up!
They have some great pictures of the 25 different types of wood that we use
along with some furniture pieces that were created from them.
Check it out...

http://www.delnero.com/custom-made/wood-furniture.html

The Wealth of Wood - Part Two

One thing that we have noticed over the years displaying at shows is that people generally love to touch and feel wood. We'll see browsers come and run their hands along our furniture. Many have no idea that they're doing it, others are very keenly aware. The beauty of the wood just speaks to us.

Michael has often been inspired by the words of Michelangelo...

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

For us here at Delnero Furniture, the wood is the medium, and the sculptor is the craftsman.

In this article, see the progression of table legs being handturned. The legs are made of heirloom grade quilted maple, and the finished project is a computer table.

Mike has often told me that it is very rewarding to be able to do for a living what he loves, and he surely is an artist. We have customers that have told us that we are building the antiques of tomorrow.

In our opinion, the wealth is already in the wood, it is our job to continue to reveal that beauty.

Watch for our new wood pages on our website, showing characteristics and completed projects for each.