Testimonial

A Californian couple who visited the gallery in 2001 bought a jarrah sideboard, dining table, coffee table and desk.

The furniture was expertly packed in crates and shipped to the United States.

The couple sent us these images when the furniture arrived safe and sound at their new home State-side and the following letter.

(We added the captions . . . .)

Dear James,
We are thrilled that our furniture has finally arrived after its long trip half way around the world.

We are tremendously pleased with the way the furniture turned out and I thought I would take a moment to express our satisfaction and thank you for your efforts.

I do not think I shared with you the full story of our furniture purchase.

It started when my wife and I vacationed in Margaret River on a trip in 1995. On that trip we found your gallery and I was really taken by the single slab jarrah tables that you had displayed there.

These woods are of a character and quality that I had not seen elsewhere, particularly with the variety of jarrah types including burls and curly jarrah.

We decided that when we had the means, one of these tables was what we wanted in our home. So, on a second trip in 2001, we made an effort to visit every gallery we could find throughout the Perth/Fremantle area, all the way down to the Margaret River region.

We saw many interesting galleries with many nice things, and spoke to several craftsmen who said they could build us anything we wanted, but we did not find anything that matched the quality of the pieces we remembered from the first trip until we returned to your gallery.

Sure enough, there they were, the same sort of tables we remembered. The difference in quality between your work and anything else we saw was easily apparent.

Also, we found a broader range of styles, including pieces that closely fit our own tastes. Thus we found some other items we really liked, particularly the new desk design and a slab burl coffee table.

We only had time the first day to say hello, give an indication of what we were interested in, and set another day to come back, which we did.

When we returned, we were rather amazed how easy and quick it was, we went with you to pick the slab, looking at several different options, then you patiently went through the leg options, taking some ideas we had and showing us what would work and what would not.

We then proceeded with a custom desk, taking a design you had on the floor and modifying it to meet our dimensions and desires. What was perhaps more interesting was when we later decided to go ahead with a sideboard.

Just by sending you drawings and with correspondence through e-mails and faxes, you were able to take our design ideas and create a piece with which I think we are both very happy.

Working with you has truly felt like a collaboration, that you were able to take our ideas, use the ones that made sense, show us where others did not, and that you understood our tastes and desires and were able to convey this in the pieces.

We particularly appreciated that you recognized that the stains around the borer holes in the original table slab we selected did not suite our tastes so that, with the pictures you sent us, we were able to switch to an alternate slab.

Of course it turned out beautifully. The efforts you put in working with us on the desk requirements, making sure it fit our needs and incorporating our ideas, were also very noteworthy.

Once again, we are very pleased with our new furniture, I am sure that it will be in our family for generations. I would be happy to serve as a reference for any potential client of yours.

It has truly been a pleasure for us to work with you, and we hope to have the opportunity again.

Sincerely,
Chan Saunders