The Lorimer Workshop

The Lorimer Workshop

Sitting downto talk with David Ellison is an occasion like no other. Filled with life, love, curiosity, and extreme care – his being consumes you. You forget to check the time, you become unphased by the vibrating phone in your pocket – time slows down, almost to the pace it was always meant to be. The smell of oak, cedar, pine, and walnut fills your senses, and put simply, it’s all just comfortable.

David and his passionate team somehow take this feeling and build something tangible from it. Not only are the finished tables stunning, but they carry a timeless beauty. When they are complete it looks as though they have stood in the same place for 100 years. Seemlessly and effortlessly apart of their surroundings.

Originally born in Scotland, David moved to Providence in 1975 to work in the plastics industry. Upon retiring nearly 10 years ago, David began to follow his lifelong passion for building furniture and restoring wooden antiques. He opened a small woodworking shop on Lorimer Avenue in Providence.The goal then was to find a client, conceptualize their new family table over a cup of coffee, design, build, and deliver the table himself, and spend the evening with a client waxing poetic over a glass of wine before moving on to the next project. According to David, that lasted all of 30 days.

10 years later, David long outgrew his small, one-man shop and moved to a new workshop on Manton Avenue in Providence that has allowed him to expand his team. There they are constantly turning out inspired pieces furniture every day.

“When I look for new wood workers for our shop, their skills at building tables is always secondary. I can teach them to do that. However, I cannot teach them to have an artistic eye, that is inherent. That is what I look for.”

Company:The Lorimer Workshop
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