ZB Woodworks --Furniture Design of Taos
Bob Bresnahan and Emily Zopf
-- About Us --
My name is Bob Bresnahan. My wife, Emily Zopf, and I collaborate on the design and construction of each piece that leaves our shop. We're a real partnership in the best sense of that word.
Furniture that is hand-made has a special
quality that you will never get from the giant factories in China.
The Craftsman Movement had a hierarchy of values for furniture and its
other crafts -- function, comfort, beauty, and durability. All must be present
in a piece of furniture. While we admire sculptural woodwork, we are
focused on making practical pieces that will be used in everyday life.
Hopefully, they will help make your home a beautiful place to live.
We love wood. Our home is full
of furniture made from cherry, oak, walnut, ponderosa and alder.
Natural wood finishes have a special beauty. We've developed the
Taos Craftsman style to provide simple, functional, high quality furniture with
natural finishes and distinctive details.
We want our furniture to last a lifetime. Actually, more than a lifetime. We want you to pass it down to your children and grandchildren. So every piece is made with the best traditional joinery.
Finally, we are concerned about the environment. Our furniture is solid wood and is built to last generations. Durability coupled with function and beauty are among the best ways to achieve a sustainable furniture industry. Although the cost in dollars of furniture made in China's huge factories may be less than ours, the real costs in terms of the environment and our lifestyle are actually greater!
We use linseed oil and wax as our primary finishes and are constantly on the lookout for finishes that have low environmental impact, including the impact on our and your health. We are increasingly concerned about the environment and want to work toward environmentally conscious standards in our workshop and home.
We've investigated buying wood that is certified as coming from sustainably managed forests. Unfortunately, as of November 2007 the nearest suppliers Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified lumber are in Oregon and California. We'll keep looking and plan to investigate purchasing quantities that are large enough to justify the shipping costs.
Finally, both our new house and new shop are designed for passive solar heating and cooling. They are both heated with small, highly efficient Morso wood stoves. We hope to add solar panels to both buildings in the coming years. Our goal is a net zero energy operation.
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Emily with new workshop doors
Bob with Ponderosa Cabinet
People make ZB Woodworks a lively place. The owners, Bob Bresnahan and Emily Zopf, have been married 24 years.
We're both transplanted mid-westerners. We each moved to Boston after college. Bob worked in the publishing industry in New York City and moved to Seattle in 1978. He met Emily who was visiting a friend in Olympia, Washington a few years later, and the rest is in the family albums..
Emily has an MFA from the University of Washington, a BA from Antioch College, and a BS from Oregon Health Sciences University. She is an outstanding quilter whose work has appeared in several books and numerous national shows.
Bob and Emily do it all, from design to construction to finishing, and run the business as well. It's challenging and fun.
We have worked with a number of Taos woodworkers including Greg Flores and Michael Forbes. Greg is an important figure in the New Mexico woodworking community. His spare elegant designs based on traditional themes have a simplicity that appeals to us. Michael is an excellent carver and has been concentrating on wood sculpture.
For more information, contact us at Furniture Design of Taos, 168 County Road, NM 87571, or call us at (505)776-5007, or e-mail us at service@furnituredesignoftaos.com. You can also make an appointment to visit our studio.