Scott James has been right where he has always been for the past 20 years–in Tiverton, Rhode Island, crafting custom beds from Maple, Tiger Maple, Cherry, Mahogany, Oak, Walnut, Ash, and Alder wood. At the age of 15, Scott acquired an after-school job, sweeping the floor of Stephen Plaud’s 28,000 square foot woodworking shop. For more than 30 years, Stephen produced custom furniture and beds for architects and interior designers. Scott followed in his footsteps and eventually worked alongside Stephen to create thousands of traditional and contemporary style pieces of furniture. He worked his way up and took over the shop when Stephen retired in 2017.
Today, Scott arrives to work and parks in the same spot he always has for over 20 years. He and his team of craftsmen – most of whom he has worked with for eons – can make any style four poster bed, from museum-level antique reproductions to contemporary designs with a myriad of options in-between.
Scott works with various species of woods regularly and he has access to more exotic woods like Zebra and Lace wood when clients request them. He keeps the shop well stocked with 10,000 board feet or more so clients aren’t waiting for wood to be ordered and shipped before their project can begin in his shop.
Scott gets personal joy from helping his clients select the best species of wood for their projects. He offers options so they can make informed decisions that meet their design needs and budget. And here is why we at taste love to work with Scott. He’s always looking out for our client’s best interests. For instance, he gets many requests for furniture made from Walnut due to its warm brown tones. Often homeowners may not realize the recent spike in the cost of Walnut or the alternatives available to them. Scott can make samples in Cherry or Maple in warm brown tones to simulate the look of Walnut without its high cost.
We partner with Scott James on projects because he takes the time and the extra steps to ensure our clients’ investment results in an heirloom piece of furniture, that captures the homeowner’s desired look. We crush on his work so much that we had to have some of his creations for ourselves. Scott helped taste design a custom conference table, an ottoman with an overlay, and a console. He suggested we use walnut with a white oak pinstripe as an accent to really set off our new furnishings. The conference table will stand 36” high so that it may double as a work island. While the conference table is all business, our console table and ottoman are quite the opposite. These two pieces will come into play when we entertain. The console is designed to store serve ware and wine bottles to easily host a dinner or wine and cheese. And the ottoman is perfectly suited for casual seating and its companion overlay makes the perfect serving table for appetizers or displaying art. We won’t miss the opportunity to put Scott’s work to good use this fall when we celebrate the opening of our new House of Taste. With their book match veneer detailing complimented by light white oak and a lacquered finish, the console, ottoman, and conference table will truly be the talk of the party! We hope you will visit us in Middletown when our new location is complete and when you do, keep an eye out for these hand-crafted gems.
All the best,
