Summer Furniture: Practical Designs for the Backyard

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, Japan Foundation Fellow 1991-92, and the author of
Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home and As Though Life Mattered:
Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This attractive guide in large, softcover format is as functional and
satisfying as a first glance suggests. Tom Carpenter, a former associate
editor of Harrowsmith magazine and an experienced woodworker, considers
purpose and aesthetics, tools, and the role of wood, finish, and
function. He thinks of wooden furniture-making as a process to which the
future users should contribute. His introduction suggests a homespun
philosophy of living and working.

Carpenter goes on to detail necessary tools and their uses. Specific
projects, accompanied by detailed diagrams and illustrations, include a
bicycle rack, planter box, harvest table, chairs, plant stand, tray and
stand, and sawhorses. His instructions are clear and straightforward,
and touched with the humor of a practical wisdom. This book is as
pleasing as the material it celebrates: wood.