Summer’s almost here, and the auction scene is heating up with a nice starter set of local sales.

Constantine & Mayer

Co-owner Jeff Constantine says the upcoming sale Saturday and Sunday features the estates of Waldo Porter and Gilbert Sprott. While Porter earned a reputation as a first-class electrical contractor, Porter made his reputation as a builder. Between the two of them, they amassed a collection of items that reflected their eclectic tastes. Over the course of two days, 700 lots of items, including an amazing collection of art work by Frank Trapp, will be up for bid. To be part of the fun, stop by at 1301 Pittsburgh St., Cheswick.

Details: 724-275-7190 or www.constantinemayer.com.

The quilts auctioned at the Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale will bring more than warmth and decoration to those who buy them.

Sales of the popular quilts also will raise money for the Mennonite Central Committee, an international relief organization that provides assistance to countries throughout the world.

This year marks the 27th annual Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale, which takes place Friday and Saturday at the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

Items for auction include 121 quilts as well as furniture items and general merchandise, such as meats and cheeses, sale director Keith Hostetler said. Mennonite churches from across the state participate in the yearly event, he said. Read more »

Upstate Furniture Outlet has weathered Rochester’s uncertain economy and competitive retail market to become one of Monroe County’s largest locally owned furniture stores.

A new location opened this spring at 360 W. Ridge Road, joining the original store at 1415 N. Clinton Ave. and Budget Furniture & Mattress at the same Clinton plaza.

Bill Ho, the company’s president, said the variety of furniture at the main Upstate Furniture stores is a main factor. The stores have more than 10,000 pieces from around the world.

Ho, who employs six to 11 workers, hopes the added location will draw more people into his stores. Read more »

Art Espenet Carpenter, a self-taught woodworker whose spare but sexy furniture received national acclaim and influenced generations of master craftsmen, died. He was 86.

Carpenter suffered a heart attack Thursday at his home in Bolinas, the Marin County town he helped make a haven for artists after another house he built and furnished there was featured in Life magazine in 1966, said his son, Tripp Carpenter.

Known professionally as Espenet, the elder Carpenter produced pieces that now are in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution and were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in New York City. Read more »

Art Espenet Carpenter, a self-taught woodworker whose spare but sexy furniture received national acclaim and influenced generations of master craftsmen, has died at age 86.

Carpenter suffered a fatal heart attack Thursday at his home in Bolinas, said his son, Tripp Carpenter.

Carpenter helped make the Marin County town a haven for artists after a house he spent eight years building and furnishing was featured in Life magazine in 1966.

”He didn’t like any of the furniture he had seen in his life, and he thought he could make something better and more beautiful,” Carpenter’s son said of the eye-catching designs his father started turning out after World War II. ”I think that was a freedom for him, not having any training, starting from scratch.” Read more »

Back in December of 2004, one of Kim Beck’s 3-year-old twins, Meghan, died in her bedroom, not from disease, but her dresser.

Kim told NewsCenter 5’s Lynn Jolicoeur that Meghan was probably climbing on a drawer when the dresser fell on her. The rest of her family was sleeping and heard nothing.

The Becks knew about the risk of furniture tip-overs before Meghan’s death. They had secured larger furniture pieces, including a dining room hutch, to the walls. They did not see Meghan’s small dresser as a danger. Read more »

FORT CLATSOP, Ore. Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1805-1806, is looking for volunteers to help build rustic furniture for the rooms in the rebuilt fort.
Furniture to be built includes rustic bunks, benches and tables from small logs and rough planks.

The furniture will be used by reenactors, park rangers and park visitors.

Superintendent Chip Jones says it is a good chance for parents or grandparents to give kids a hands-on experience with history. Read more »

When I told friends I’d never been to IKEA, they looked at me as if I had announced I’d stopped bathing.

Turns out, there are at least four or five folks in Orlando who aren’t familiar with the Swedish retailer, which is opening a store here in 2007.

So for this group — small enough to fit on one of the chain’s inexpensive (but chic) sofas — I offer this primer.

The first thing to understand is that IKEA isn’t just a home-furnishings store. Read more »

At the 18th annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair opening this weekend in New York, visitors will see cutting-edge chairs, beautiful beds and a solar-powered sofa.

The sofa, part of the New York Institute of Technology’s (NYIT’s) exhibit, “Furniture for a Solar Home”, is lined along the back with photovoltaic panels that, in turn, power two nearby lamps and a fan system beneath the cushions.

This way, you can “feel a cool breeze while expending only milliamps of energy, instead of turning on a two-ton air conditioner”, Robert Allen, the NYIT professor who supervised the sofa’s design, told UPI in a telephone interview. “There’s nothing earth-shattering about the concept,” Allen continued. “Airplanes have been doing it for 30 years.” Read more »

A new craft festival will include an element of history along with demonstrations and music.

The Sunset Mountain Craft Festival, a juried fair with 80 booths, will be held at Grovewood Gallery and the adjoining Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa on Saturday and June 4.

The festival, also sponsored by HandMade in America, will feature jewelry and ceramics to metalwork and woodwork. About half the vendors are from Western North Carolina.

“It’s an event to give people the opportunity to be educated about our (crafts) history and to see what’s going on currently, how it’s still relevant today,” says Vanessa Osborne, general manager of Grovewood Gallery. Read more »