Mission Window Seat

As I researched different construction techniques, types of furniture, and architectural styles, I found the early American Craftsman style very appealing. Aesthetically, I really appreciate the strong, well proportioned designs without excessive ornamentation. Philosophically I liked the value it places on quality and longevity, and the focus on using locally available woods over exotic imports.

As a first project, I wanted to build something which would be useful to me from an existing design. I picked up a used copy of the 1980s reprint of Popular Mechanics “Mission Furniture: How to Make It (Parts I, II, and III, Complete)”. I landed on the plans for a “Hall and Window Seat.” Luckily, my 1980s book was a strict reprinting of a 1909 book, so there are plenty of free digitized versions available! This is the exact plan that I followed.

I made a few changes, including choosing to use flatsawn red oak because it was much cheaper than white oak or anything quartersawn. In hindsight I think working with red oak was a good learning experience because it is much more difficult than white oak. Red oak tends to splinter much more easily, so when learning to cut my mortises and tenons I had to be sure I had sharp chisels and that I had everything well supported.

The other design change is that I decided I wanted to pyramid the tops of the posts. I had seen that detail on other mission and craftsman furniture and I really liked it. One common place to see it is on the tenons that pass through the arms on Morris chairs.

The following work in progress picture show the natural red oak color and some of the joinery. I cut the tenons using a jig I made on my tablesaw which really worked great. The mortises were more work. I hogged out most of the material using a handheld drill, then brought them to final size and shape using chisels.

The finish was a simple oil stain followed by a coat of semigloss poly.