Special People!

One of our recent customers came to our shop with this rocking chair and wanted us to repair the seat. It had been put together with string and a cushion sat on top. They thought it might be a good idea to have a new seat put in. The chair came from their barn. Mr. Watson said that his dad told him that he was rocked in that chair when he was a baby, and he was born in 1890. Mr Watson and his lovely wife still live in the same house the family built in 1850. Both are now in their 90's. What a great story - I'm sure that chair has many more years of rocking to come.

Helen Cribbs of Chairs Caned

Four years ago we purchased Peerless Rattan from Helen Cribbs. Even though Helen retired from the business, she didn't retire from caning. She is an expert on intricate weaves using wide binding cane and splints. Visit her website www.chairscaned.com for more examples and instructions. Below is just one example of her awesome work.

Family History

When I was 26 with two children, I began an interest in antiques, my family history and just history in general. My mother came from a poor family that worked farms around Michigan, while my dad's family had a hardware store in Northville Michigan. They are both gone now, but not without leaving me with a great appreciation for what has gone before. This same sense of hard work and history is what I would like my kids to have and remember what it took to get them where they are.
I started caning after finding nobody in the area that could. Little did I know that it would become a passion and end up with us in business as not only doing the cane work but providing cane materials to people all over the country and world.
My daughter started helping me with the work. She took to it so naturally and has developed her own shortcuts and individual method. Adrian has caned so many chairs now, I can't even begin to count.

Caning helped me provide monies for education, weddings, vacations and extra fun things too. My hope is that both my kids will someday become interested in the value of the old, the great craftsmanship and time it took to make furniture and put the seats in them. I hope to find someday, tape marked with their names in back of furniture that they want because they appreciate their family history.

Memories of a Cane Rocker

Congratulations are in store for this grandmother on the birth of her first grandchild. She found this chair in her basement and tons of memories came to her as this was the chair she used to rock her child in...now she can rock her grandchild in this same rocker. We have so many cane and rush chairs in our home and each tells a story of children, grandchildren, cats, where we purchased them, who gave them to us - even how a foot went through the bottom. I dare say you have some cane and rush chairs in your homes that tell a story...we'd love to hear about them.

Hand Made Boxes

One of our customers makes oval boxes to resemble shaker type boxes. He had an idea to cane the top. It took a lot of figuring out how to make the holes, how many and how big in an oval on top of a box that wouldn't break. He makes all sizes and stack-able. After they are completed, he uses them for potpourri and the holes made from the cane make it possible for the fragrance to seep out into the room.

Fiber Rush Factory

Did you know that fiber rush was invented in the United States in the early 1900's? It was used to make wicker furniture and then later used for rush seating due to the Chinese embargo of rattan materials. Recently we went through a fiber rush factory - check out our video...

Rush Project

Yesterday, one of our customers came by for baby rush 3/32 for a project at the Trinity Senior Living Communities. The residents there are making St. Brigid Crosses. Thanks for sharing this!

Jeannie tackles something new

Jeannie has been caning for over 30 years - started when she bought a $4 chair and took it to a caning class. She says this round seat is one of the most complicated things she has ever tackled.

Biker Caner!

This was one unique way to take home your rush!

Star Student!!
Meet Dave. Last winter he took a caning class from Peerless Rattan and caught the caning bug. He takes his caning very seriously, and because of it - his projects turn out great! Here he has redone a little sewing rocker from the refinishing of the wood to the replacement of the back and seat. He put in the daisy and button pattern. Isn't it beautiful? Dave finds caning very therapeutic...not that he needs therapy! Good job Dave - Ed and I are so proud of you!


Take a closer look at the pattern Dave put exactly in the middle back while using the x's and fish-heads.

Unusual Rush Patterns

When you are rushing an unusual rush seat, it is important to pay careful attention to the way the seat was put in while you are taking out the old material. It would even be a good idea to take pictures of the process. Check out the pictures below on some of our recent seats.

The Wonderful People We Meet

Recently we replaced the seats in several chairs for Mrs. C. Her husband passed away a few years ago and he was the caner in the family. He liked to cane for relaxation - with accomplishment at the end. They had a house full of cane chairs some of which Mrs. C remembered as a girl. The dining room chairs were smaller than the norm and worked just right for her and were so comfortable. We are delighted to meet people that love cane chairs and have a story to tell about them. Do you have a story to tell - let us know.

The most asked question...staining cane

How do you stain cane? Is it possible? Well we don't attempt to try...we used to but we found the easiest way was to find some refinishers that are expert stainers. They mix stain and laquer and spray on the stain/laquer combination. Cane does have a natural finish, and therefore doesn't penetrate like wood. It is almost like painting on the stain. When chairs are made - they put in the cane and then spray the entire chair. It is very difficult to duplicate the color after years of wear and new cane is put in. More power to you if you have discovered the trick - but as for us we leave that up to the professional stainers.

Glue!!!!

After spending many hours trying to get gorilla glue out of the holes, and talking to several people who just had the same experience - I thought I'd mention that it is not necessary to use "cement" on your chairs to keep the cane in. We just had several hand cane chairs where the caner cut off all the ends on the back and used epoxy in every hole...plus on the seats they actually tied them and then poured glue all over the ties. This is not necessary.
Have you ever had a pressed cane job where people did the same thing? All that is necessary is either Hide Glue or Elmers White as they are water soluble and easier for the next person to get out. Remember - you may be that next person!

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Cane Class

  We just started a new cane class every Thursday evening from 7 - 9 pm.  People bring their own chair and learn how to cane or rush.  This class is a floating class where you can jump in at anytime...people work at their own pace - some have even completed their project.  What a fun way to fend off the winter blues - meet new people with the same interests and learn something besides.  If you have a chair that needs work and are in our area - (Kalamazoo - Plainwell) come and join us.  Call 1-269-685-1858 to find out more details.

Wing Craft Show -

  The Craft Show at Wings Stadium was a little disappointing as it was Christmas and what we had were stools that were not convenient to drag along as you were looking at other booths.   But we talked caning all day long and handed out about 300 business cards in which we feel will pay off someday.

  The booth across from us had a food item and they were giving out samples - so the next day we brought samples from our items for sale "stool samples"  and the people walking by (especially nurses) really thought that was pretty funny.

  Would we do that again?  Probably not at that particular venue - but it spurred us on to thinking about another venue - The Alamo Depot Antique and Craft Mall.  We have antiques as well as a great spot to feature the stools with the different types of rush and cane - plus advertising for us as well.