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Nathan Payne, London, ON (2026)

07/09/2025

Custom Storm Door with Interchangeable Inserts - Design that Honours the Heritage of the Neighbourhood:

I have been taking on several jobs supporting families and their homes this Spring. I had an opportunity to create and install a storm door on a century-plus home. The client was gracious enough to share the story of the home and the neighbourhood where they reside. It is very exciting to hear these stories and understand the history.

They had an existing storm door for their side entrance that they wanted to use as inspiration for a storm door to be installed for the front entrance. The design should be sympathetic with the era of the home and complement the finish of the solid oak front door.

The client wanted to have a storm door that would include two removable inserts - a screen insert and an insert with a stained glass pattern.

The wood chosen for this project was a vertical grain Douglas Fir. It was chosen for its stability and lovely grain orientation. After staining, the wood was finished with an exterior-grade hard wax oil. Traditional joinery methods were employed to ensure it was durable enough to stand the test of time.

Prior to installation of the storm door there was a significant amount of preparation required for the door jam and brick mould. I was able to fabricate some new moulding and then complete some touch-up painting.

As seen in some of the photos, the client chose some beautiful solid brass spring-tensioned hinges and handles.

A special thanks to Sunrise Stained Glass for making colour recommendations and preparing the glass. I would also like to thank some of the very talented craftspeople at the London Community Woodshop for their input and support as the project slowly manifested over many weeks in the shop!

06/10/2025

Just two more weeks until our 29th annual Indigenous Solidarity Day in celebration of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities! This year's event will be held Friday, June 20th, 2025 at The Green in Wortley Village (206 Wortley Rd, London). We invite you to join us for this in-person gathering featuring Sunrise Ceremony, Singers, Dancers, Food Vendors, Craft Vendors, Community Service Providers, and more. Bring your family and friends - everyone is welcome!

This community initiative is brought to you by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, Atlohsa Family Healing Services, City of London, N'Amerind (London) Friendship Centre, and Southwest Ontario Aboriginal Health Access Centre.

Please share this event with your contacts, socials, and communities!

05/30/2025

These are two projects centred around rocks and highlighting their beauty and utility.

The floating shelves were created from solid maple wood, and the wood boulders or faux rocks were carved out of solid maple. They were designed to create the illusion that they are supporting the shelf above. The boulders were stained slightly darker for contrast.

The second project is rip rap, spanning the entire fence line overlooking the Thames River. This was done to reduce erosion along the hillside and is an attractive form of hardscaping. The fence was reinforced with T-posts driven deep into the hillside. This approach created a suitable retaining wall.

It was a wonderful experience working with both wood and rock. The rear yard has been enhanced, framing the beauty of the river while also bringing a touch of nature to the inside of the home with faux rocks.

Check out the finished results and some of the photo’s illustrating the process.

03/31/2025

It's always a treat when I have projects that reveal the building philosophy of the previous craftspeople. They may not realize it at the time but they are leaving their mark and sharing their aesthetic for future generations.

In this century home, the upstairs bathroom was one example. The top floor was previously an apartment. The previous owner had created a built-in vanity and everything was custom fitted above the stairwell. Several of the fixtures, including the towel rod, used ceramic brackets that were set into the tile with mortar. The cabinet itself was assembled in place by nail and hammer. Once completed, the vanity, light fixture and medicine cabinet were tiled in.

The clients wanted to keep the original tile and preserve some of the history while updating the vanity, mirror, light and some of the other unique fixtures such as the wall mounted cupholder and soap dish. It was a lot of fun putting on our design hats and sourcing the appropriate fixtures.

Not disturbing the original tile posed a few challenges during the demolition and installation phase. Removing the old cabinet revealed the original tiling outline and this could not be changed. There were only a few spare tiles left over for repairs.

To ensure a proper fit, I built a frame or model offsite that matched the slope of the stairwell that this new vanity would sit atop. I decided on using floating tenon joinery, baltic birch panels with solid maple wood edge banding.

As you can see, we updated the look with shaker style doors, a paint finish, modern under mount sink, contemporary fixtures and quartz top.

I think this is a really nice refresh of the bathroom while still maintaining some of history and adding to its story.

Check out the "Before" pictures shown towards the end.

10/09/2024

I’m excited to share the completion of a recent project where I had the privilege of designing and installing two custom fabricated handrails and guardrails for a beautiful home. This installation was thoughtfully crafted to align with the visual design language of the home, blending seamlessly with its architectural character while also incorporating some contemporary elements.

For the oak handrail, we included a straight gooseneck easement at the top of the stair rail, ensuring a continuously graspable handrail that combines both safety and style. This was finished with a stain and hard wax oil finish.

For the basement we went with a painted handrail design and matching stairs. These stairs will be adorned with a beautiful wool runner at a later date.

A special thank you to my clients for their patience and flexibility throughout the process. I appreciate the opportunity to occupy their space and bring this project to life. It’s always a pleasure to work with clients who value quality craftsmanship and are as invested in the design as I am.

Looking forward to more projects like this that honor the unique style and history of each home!

09/21/2024

This was a really exciting project to assemble and install!

The client had a huge ash wood timber and 2 - 7 foot tall painted columns that were salvaged. They wanted to repurpose this wood to make a new stand for their reclaimed cast iron sink.

The sink was recently refinished (sandblasting and a new enamel coat). I plumbed it all in, with a shiny new faucet set, creating a functional decorative laundry room sink.

Given the weight of the sink (150lbs) I chose to use some large mortise and tenon joints and then created a lovely shelf to brace the legs. I used some of the existing ash to turn a couple of new legs on the lathe.

They finished it with a tung oil. This really brought out the character of the wood.

Check out some of the before and after pics. It has become a beautiful feature of the laundry room.

Enjoy!

08/06/2024

This porch had been through many years of wear and tear and it needed a refresh.

We decided on replacing some structural elements that were rotting out, including joists, stairs (rebuilt), lattice and balusters. I poured a cement pad to support the new stairs and fabricated handrails to bring it up to code. I think that it matches the existing aesthetic of the porch very nicely.

The client patiently waited several seasons to let the wood dry out. Once it was ready we finished everything off with several coats of fresh paint.

It was worth the wait. Check out the "before" and "after" pictures. Enjoy!

05/30/2024

It is with great delight and satisfaction that I have completed this custom studio project. The client patiently waited for over 3 months to have this makeover completed and it turned out beautifully!

The client had a vision for the space and together we decided on a pre-finished maple veneer wall and ceiling treatment with a 1/4 inch negative detail or panel gap. The colour revealed between this gap was an attractive deep blue. This colour choice contrasted beautifully with the satin pre-finish maple veneer panels.

I designed the panel arrangement, to orient the viewers gaze, comfortably following the negative detail which tied the ceiling to the wall. There is also a continuous flow of wood grain in one direction when you enter the room. Screw fasteners were used to secure the panels and then these fasteners were all concealed.

All the hatch covers required for services in the ceiling and wall
(e.g., breaker box and outside water cut-off) were designed with a minimalist approach. We used embedded magnets hidden behind the covers to secure the hatch. Moisture levels and air flow are critical for basements so we decided on air vents for the walls. The vents had custom covers milled out of solid maple wood.

Bespoke interior windows and a shaker style door were made from both solid and pre-finished maple wood. The frosted vinyl film provides privacy and allows light in from the adjacent finished basement space. This makes the space feel larger and more inviting.

We went with a larger format luxury vinyl blank floor to complement the colour.

My sincere gratitude to the client for waiting to have this project completed. Our creative collaboration propelled this work forward.
Special thanks to Jim from Columbia Forest Products and his product recommendations, as well as to Cam, Devon and Lori from London Community Woodshop for their support.

01/21/2024

I have a small workspace that needed a very compact “utility” sink. An area where I would clean brushes and tools.

I chose a floating vanity to enclose a deep stainless steel bar sink. This approach eliminated any floor foot print and reduced the visual clutter. I added some warmth to the vanity with a top made from solid Ash wood. The ash wood was waterproofed using several coats of a penetrating hardwax oil.

I contrasted the wood top with an enclosure painted to match the existing painted trim and walls. You may notice a slight radius to the corners of this enclosure. This softens its appearance and protects the edges.

I was reluctant to add a tiled backsplash for aesthetic reasons but based on my useage I needed something. To keep with a minimalist aesthetic I decided on a simple piece of thick glass with polished edges and a slight radius to the top corners.

Enjoy!

12/28/2023

This century-plus farm house was needing a bit of support. The clients wanted to blend some newer design elements into the space while also preserving some of the original elements.

The existing materials consisted of plaster, drywall, decorative surface treatments, pine and painted surfaces. Like many homes of this vintage the beautiful character comes with some challenges. Walls are often not flat, plum or level!

We added some crown moulding throughout the kitchen and bedroom space. The original pine trim had to be modified so the crown moulding could wrap around the room.

The bedroom closet was also in need of some love. We decided to modernize it and add some drywall, custom pine floating shelves, paint, pine baseboards and a low profile ceiling light.

I'm very grateful for their patience while I took over the space for staging, fabrication and installation.

Look through the "Before" and "After" pics. It turned out great!

12/18/2023

Keeping busy this season with lot's of repairs and improvements. It's always a delight for me to have an opportunity to assemble something beautiful for a client. This latest creation was in the minds eye of my client for some time.

They wanted to re-purpose some existing wood they gathered from the community. It was an old maple wood top and a massive Douglas Fir timber.

The maple wood top was so deformed from moisture and exposure to the elements that I had to cut it up again and re-laminate it.

Instead of making something "sparkling" and new, we chose to find a way to return the grey and wonderful imperfections that were originally present.

There was plenty of moisture trapped within the centre of the Douglas Fir timbers. In oder to counteract any further expansion of the cracks, I installed several bowties. I'm really happy with how it all turned out.

Enjoy!

07/29/2023

This 20 year old cedar deck needed to be renewed. The client decided on a using red cedar for both the deck top and installing a new privacy screen.

After removing the existing deck top, we noticed that there were some existing structural elements that needed to be replaced using pressure treated wood. For the privacy screen we went with a mixture of 2x4 and 4x4 timbers that were staggered and cut in a descending fashion.

The deck top was installed using a concealed screw system. Installing screws on an angle from the side of the board creates a very nice walking surface, illuminating any screw popping up from the top of the board.

One of the goals with the deck renewal was to improve airflow and reduce rot. This was addressed by concealing the screws as mentioned earlier; as well as increasing the spacing for the deck boards and privacy screen. The rotting at the end of the boards was addressed using the Japanese wood burning technique (Shou Sugi Ban), whereby the ends of the boards and the adjoining surface, were burned prior to installation.

The entire patio also needed to be corrected and expanded. There wasn't adequate slope to assist with water runoff so all the paver stones were removed and refitted. The bedding layer beneath the paver stones was also updated to improve longevity.

We could not match the original patio stone so we decided on using some contrasting pavers stones and complement this expansion with two new pathways for the side gate entrances.

The client had a lot of creative energy and valued repurposing existing materials whenever possible.

It was an amazing backyard to be working on and I was enchanted by the sounds of the nearby river and regular visits by Toby the family dog.

Thanks for the opportunity!

Nathan Payne

07/09/2025

06/10/2025

05/30/2025

03/31/2025

10/09/2024

09/21/2024

08/06/2024

05/30/2024

01/21/2024

12/28/2023

12/18/2023

07/29/2023

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