If Carbondale furniture and product designer Brad Reed Nelson ever gives up his woodworking gig, he might find a career in genetics. In a kind of Mendelian experiment in furniture making, the owner of Board By Design combined the solid seat and back of an Adirondack chair with the elegant arms and legs of a Windsor rocker to create something he calls a “Windsorrondack.” (Trust us, the chair is more successful than the name.)

“It’s like a handmade bike,” Nelson says. “They are all individually made.” The 45-year-old debuted his unique rocking chairs—all made from mahogany, ash, or walnut with playful frame colors—at the New York Architectural Digest Home Design Show in 2009. Last summer, he added swings to his repertoire. For Nelson’s next furniture fusion trick, might we suggest a cross between a love seat and a coffee table? Call it the “Loveable.” boardbydesign.net

5280 August 2013
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