Author: rdkrafka

A client of ours wanted to surprise her husband after the renovation of their new party barn. They were looking for two big bar tables 3ft wide and 8ft long to help fill and accent the new space. They needed to be rustic like a barn, yet refined enough to celebrate important milestone events.
“Two oak tables coming right up!” I said.
The table tops are made of one inch thick oak glued together and sanded smooth, giving a very character-full appearance. The bases of these twin tables are made of solid oak and walnut barn wood 4x4s, fully mortise and tenoned together for superior strength. Similar to the tops, the stringers and center braces are made of solid sanded oak mortised straight into the base beams. The tables were all finished with two coats of durable polyurethane varnish.
I am very pleased with the contrast in the way they turned out. These oak and walnut tables were built to last and enjoy for decades to come!

 

New clients of ours were in the beginning stages of living room renovation. They came to us early on and wanted us to design a modern entertainment center complete with a TV lift. After working with them on design over the course of a week or two we narrowed it down to a sleek Scandinavian design with inset doors and drawer fronts on spindle legs made entirely of native Oak and stained to a dark ebony finish.
The Scandinavian style alone is not hard to achieve. It is very minimalistic and simple, much like the American Shaker style. However, entertainment centers get quite complicated rather quickly, especially when they have a TV lift embedded in the heart of the piece. This one was no exception. We managed to fit a 55in TV, sound bar, TV lift mechanism, cable box, three pieces of bulky stereo equipment, and accompanying wires and cables into the smallest “box” feasible while still leaving room for storage drawers and shelving space.
With good design anything is possible, mission accomplished on this fun and challenging build!
Don’t forget to check out the video of the TV lift in action at KrafkaKraft on Facebook!
Soon after we were commissioned to build the entertainment system, it was proposed that we make matching mantles for the fireplace. The mantles were made with the same sleek Scandinavian design in mind, hewn of the same native oak, and stained to the same ebony finish. These four inch thick mantles really tie the room together, adding a sleek modernization to their living room renovation.

 

Before

After

My second restoration project for this client was this unique, antique side table dating from about the 1950’s. As evidenced from the “before” pictures, it was in quite a state of disrepair, coming apart at the seams, finish fading and worn. Yet the rareness and beauty of the piece was undoubtedly beneith its fading exterior. The audacious design alone warranted its restoration. Coupled with several engraved details and its multi-hardwood construction made this a truly rewarding restoration project.
The original builder utilized wood dowel construction, typical of the era. Over the years, however, seasonal hardwood expansion, contraction, and antiquated glue led to this pieces expiration. With some effort Jeanette and I were able to dismantle the side table into its individual parts, which made stripping and refinishing much easier.
A surprise occurred when we removed the grim from the top surface, revealing a combination of walnut and beautiful “birds-eye” maple woods previously indistinguishable.

This quilt rack was designed with compactness in mind. It maintains its functionality of displaying quilts while simultaneously occupying less space than the standard sized quilt rack, which makes this quilt rack perfect for smaller living quarters. It was created out of white oak and designed in the Mission Style with true through tenons. This gorgeous piece will no doubt be passed down through the generations along with the heirloom quilts it enfolds.

The tops of this bench and side table come from the same slab of free edge cherry wood. After cleaning off all the bark with a simple drawknife, these surfaces were planed flat and sanded smooth. The structural support of the bench and table are made of walnut and cherry components, while the overall design stems from a twist on the conventional A-frame structure. I enjoy turning convention on its head… so that’s what I did to create these unique structures, showing off the beauty of what I believe to be nature’s most aesthetically pleasing building material.
These pieces were built and will be donated as auction items for Solon’s annual Dollars for Scholars Fall Gala. I enjoy contributing to this organization because of all they have done for me as a former student and recipient of scholarships as well as all the work they continue to do for students in the Solon Community. Supporting our schools and students is fundamental to the future of our community.
If you are interested in these pieces, other quality auction items, or in supporting Solon students please consider attending the Fall gala or donating to Solon Dollars for Scholars.
Thank you,
Ryan and Jeanette Roush-Krafka

Ryan custom made this maple cutting board for his wife’s birthday. She was elated to find that not only did it fit the counter space perfectly, but it also was built to have a slight angle and a lip that fits over the sink so that when foods drain they don’t create a mess. Ryan has also included adjustable pads, for the times you would prefer that your cutting board not be at an angle. He thinks of almost everything.

This white oak and walnut bench was designed for a woman who wanted an outdoor bench for her patio that she could bring indoors in the winter. These requests required the bench to withstand Iowa weather, and to be fashionable enough to bring indoors. Ryan managed to do just that. With the seat carved out for comfort and the entirety hand finished with three coats of polyurethane this stylish bench would be suitable for almost any location.

We had a customer who had been storing a slab of red cedar, which he had inherited from his father, in his garage for years, hoping to one day make it into something useful. He approached Ryan and asked him if he could make it into a plant stand. From that proposition Ryan designed this unique plant stand to feature the red cedar slab. The oak barn beams form the A frame base, while the copper wires add stability to this stunning one of a kind novelty.

 

A couple came to me with this dresser that had been handed down through the generations. A beautiful small chestnut dresser that needed a good deal of restoration. The top of the dresser had some deep water marks from water glasses and what I suspect was a potted plant. Over the years and through the
changes of seasons, various cracks had formed on the top and sides originating mostly from where the large “cut nails” had firmly held the top to the dresser frame. In terms of holding strength and longevity, nothing really compares to the “cut nails” of yore. Their only drawback, is that their wedged shapes lends to considerable crack formation over time. I cut out most of these large cracks in the top and sides, where feasible, then re-glued the pieces back together. The top was sanded down to remove the water marks while the other surfaces were stripped three times to remove the old worn finish. A curved piece of trim was missing on one of the drawer faces, so I took a scrap piece of walnut and carved it to match the void. Much of the original backing was missing so a new backing was made and fit to the dresser. Then lastly the dresser was stained and finished to last yet another century of use.
And as to not forget about the history of the piece. I used the original “cut nails”, the ones that held the top on for so long and consequently formed the cracks, to visibly fill the holes they had originally occupied for so long.