About this journal

Wooden Nickel Home is a journal about vintage mid-century furniture, Scandinavian home decor and the modern bohemian accents that sit alongside them. Entries are written in the order the work is usually done, and they are kept practical enough to follow at a kitchen table with a cloth and a clamp.

How the entries are organised

Everything is chronological first. The newest entry sits at the top of the front page, the full run is listed by month on the archive index, and every entry carries one or more labels that gather it into a section.

The sections follow the subjects that keep coming up: vintage pieces and how to read them, workshop sequences, accents and hardware, kitchen surfaces, candles, art and wall arrangements, books and paper, cards, bath and body, and the compromises a household with children or animals makes.

What the entries try to do

Three things, mostly. Explain what is actually happening to a material, so a decision is made for a reason rather than a habit. Give a sequence that can be followed without special equipment. And argue, whenever it comes up, for keeping and repairing rather than replacing.

There is a bias running through all of it towards leaving things alone. A worn finish records use, original hardware dates a piece, and a repair that keeps a joint working is almost always better than a rebuild that makes it look new.