Showerthought: A client asked me to build a bench that matched her 'grandma's vibe' and handed me a photo of a kitchen chair

Mason Hall · 2026-09-23T11:40:04.804776+00:00

Tbh I still think about this one lady from a job back in March. She called me out to her place near the river to talk about a custom bench for her front porch, and she kept saying she wanted it to match her grandma's energy. So I ask her, do you have a photo, any measurements, anything I can work off? She digs in her purse and pulls out a picture of an old wooden kitchen chair with three legs and a crack down the seat. I stood there for a second waiting for the real photo. Nope, that was it. She goes 'see how it feels loved?' and I'm standing on her porch holding a picture of a broken chair trying to figure out what to say. I asked if she wanted the bench to look worn on purpose and she goes 'I want people to wonder if it might fall apart.' We built it out of some rough reclaimed oak and hit the edges with a chain, and honestly it came out pretty cool. Has anyone else had a client describe a build with a feeling instead of a drawing? How do you even price that?

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Showerthought: A client asked me to build a bench that matched her 'grandma's vibe' and handed me a photo of a kitchen chair | Carpenters - HW Forums