Add Live Boards to Your Decor

Live edge boards can create an one-of-a-kind gift with Valentine’s, Mother’s Day and wedding season on the horizon, and Honest Abe is your connection for these beautiful boards available in a variety of hardwoods through our sister company, GF Hardwoods.

What is a “live edge” board?

“Live edge” is a term describing a board or plank that still has bark on one side or both. In most cases the bark is removed to leave a wavy appearance on the edge. (The photo above shows how this can look on a kitchen counter.) Live edge or natural edge is a style of furniture where the furniture designer or craftsman incorporates the natural edge of the wood into the design. This technique is to show the true beauty of the wood as Mother Nature created it. You can add stain and finishes to alter the color and appearance, but this technique is all about the rustic beauty of the wood.

What’s Available?

The possibilities for these planks are only limited to the creative minds of the wood worker. Most will be turned into tabletops or counter tops. Other options are cabinet fronts, shelves, picture frames, bookends, trim, displays, decorative boxes and so much more. Most of our local lumber supply is less than 25″ wide, with the majority at the 20 inches and less widths. So if you need a tabletop that is 36 inches wide, all hope is not lost.

Live Edge “Matching” Creates Interesting Visual Impact

Another popular technique is called book matching. Think of the log like the middle of a book. When closed the pages are side by side and touching each other. The same thing is going on inside the log so when we cut one plank, the plank that is touching it will have almost the identical markings as the previous board. When both boards are married together it looks like one wider board but is indeed two boards to get a wider end product.

Live Edge River Tables

A very hot trend right now is called live edged river tables. This is a technique that rips a live edged board down the middle, then places the live edges turned toward each other in the center of a frame, with a void left in between. The void is then filled with casting epoxy to resemble a “river” running between the boards. The epoxy can be made to look like marble, natural rock, clear like glass, solid colored, wavy colored, or anything you can conjure up. These tabletops can also be made to the exact dimensions you need, with length being the only limiting factor.

Cooper & Co. Helps Design Live Edge Board Projects

This is being produced at Honest Abe’s sister companies, GF Hardwoods and Moss Sawmill. It is a long process to get to the end product, because the slabs need to be kiln dried to a certain point. This will insure no warping, cupping, twisting or shrinking in the slabs. Offerings include raw untouched slabs so customers can finish them in any way their imagination sees fit. If the interest is there, GF Hardwoods will help create finished products and even custom work.

If you have been thinking about adding the rustic beauty of natural wood to your decor or want to surprise a loved one with a beautiful and useful gift, call Molly Cooper, Interior Design Director at Cooper & Cooper, a division of Honest Abe.

Molly can arrange for live boards to become an essential accent piece a home has been needing or just a great conversation piece.