Thunderbird Cafe + Tap Room

March 22, 2015Elijah Godfrey

If you want one of the best sandwiches in town, go to Thunderbird. If you're looking for a great Latte, go to Thunderbird. If you'd like to have a fantastic selection of craft beers, go to Thunderbird. Basically, just get to Thunderbird and enjoy. It was fun being a part of their facelift last year, as I worked with the owner of Thunderbird and a local Interior Designer. I had the joy of building everything out of good old heavy solid American Oak. From the various sized Tables, to the Beer + Food Menu, the Merchandise Boxes and some Shelving, all things Oak. You really have to go visit this place in person (Koenig Lane) to appreciate this material, but for now, these pictures will have to do. But seriously, go visit them soon.

PROJECT ELEMENTS
Tables + Beer Menu + Food Menu + Beer Tap Handles + Merchandise Display Boxes + Bus Shelf + Exterior Cabinet + Rope Wall

categories Furniture, Shop Local, Small Business, Store, Table
tags coffee, tables, coffee shop, austin, austin business, shop local, drink local, oak, custom, custom furniture

Dan + Melissa = Responsible Consumers

March 06, 2015Elijah Godfrey

I met Melissa and Dan and their sweet newborn for the first time at my shop a few months ago and immediately clicked with them. She mentioned to me that she had been following me for about a year on Instagram and loved the pieces I was making. They are in the middle of remodeling and redecorating their home. As we walked through my shop, they expressed to me how they were wanting to use local, good quality, sustainable resources to make their home beautiful and wanted me to be a part of that process. Melissa came across my Instagram feed by searching various hashtags: #austinlocalbusiness, #localbusiness, #localatx and #madeinaustin, just to name a few. After they had bought a few small items as Christmas gifts, we discussed making them a table top. And this is what I came up with. Upon delivery, they immediately fell in love with it, which steered our conversations to more fun projects in their beautiful south Austin home. You can check out all the photos here.

This couple is inspiring to me because they encourage me to continue creating and they remind me that I myself am a client of someone else. They remind me to shop locally, shop sustainably, shop small, and shop beautifully. It pays to research, whether its through Google or through Instagram or Facebook. Find an artisan, a creator, a maker that you like and admire, save up your money and purchase that new coffee table from them, not the big corporation. Let's be honest, their stuff isn't as good anyway. Its the small artisan (or most that I know and work with) that care about you, your piece and your true satisfaction. Trust me, it pays to research and to save up, and wait.