Close detail of a hand-finished walnut tabletop, light raking across the grain
Hewn

Furniture that outlives the room it's in.

Milton, Ontario · Est. 2014 Solid hardwood, hand-made to commission.
Shop the collection → Commission a piece
A carpenter's hands cutting a mortise at the workbench, light pouring through workshop windows
By hand

Hand-cut joinery. Signed underneath.

Two makers · One bench Six to ten weeks per piece. No CNC. No shortcuts.
A finished walnut dining table in a sunlit room, ready for delivery
In the shop

Nine ready Saturday.

Take home or commission Sixteen pieces — nine finished and on the floor, seven on the bench right now.
16 pieces 9 in stock now from $95 pickup Saturday
Browse the shop
A few honest sentences

We build the way our grandfathers built. Slowly. By hand. In small batches. Signed underneath.

As seen in · illustrative placements
The Escarpment Review Hearth & Timber GTA West Living MAKERLINE Grain
The shop, all of it

Sixteen pieces on the bench this season. Nine ready to take home. Seven open for commission.

If a piece is In stock, it's finished and you can pay for it now, then collect Saturday from the shop. If it's Commission, we build to your room — typically eight to sixteen weeks. Tap any piece for the full story.

The five woods we work in

We don't work in everything. Just the five that hold up the way our grandfathers expected.

All Ontario, all kiln-dried, all from three suppliers we've used for a decade. Free wood samples mailed to anyone considering a commission — email the shop.

Close grain of black walnut
Black walnut Juglans nigra

Dark chocolate heartwood, straight tight grain, ages to a deep amber. Our most-asked wood — used in tables, chairs, casework.

Pale grain of white oak
White oak Quercus alba · rift-sawn

Pale honey, the cleanest straight-line grain we offer. Rift-sawn from the centre of the log — quietest pattern, most dimensionally stable.

Pink-brown grain of cherry
Cherry Prunus serotina

Rose-pink when fresh, deepens to a warm cinnamon over five years. The most poetic wood we carry. Best for sideboards and small casework.

Cream-colored grain of soft maple
Soft maple Acer rubrum

Cream-and-tan, mild grain, accepts soap finish beautifully. Lighter than hard maple — better for chairs and small pieces.

Open grain of ash
White ash Fraxinus americana

Bright cream with a strong open grain. We're using this for the new run of dining chairs — strong, springy, perfect for steam-bending.

In real homes

Pieces we've delivered, photographed by their owners a year later.

Every owner gets a stamped postcard a year after delivery asking for a photo. About a third send one back. These are some.

A walnut dining table at golden hour in a Hamilton home
Hamilton, ON
Bronte Table · No. 11 · 2024
 A Field side chair in an Oakville sunroom
Oakville, ON
Field Side Chair · 2023
 A Reading Armchair in a Toronto reading room
Toronto, ON
Reading Armchair · 2024
 A Steeles Sideboard in a Burlington dining room
Burlington, ON
Steeles Sideboard · 2023
 A Hewn workshop visit on a Saturday afternoon
Milton, ON
Workshop · Open Saturday
 Hewn chairs around a family table
Niagara, ON
Field Chair set of 6 · 2025
"The Hewn workshop builds furniture the way nineteenth-century shops did — by hand, in batches small enough to count, signed by the maker on the underside. It feels like a quiet rebellion against everything that's wrong with modern furniture."
— Mira Holt The Escarpment Review · sample feature (fictional)
On the bench, this week

Friday photographs — what's actually being made right now.

Every Friday the makers send a photo of whatever's most-finished on the bench to anyone who's commissioned a piece. Below is the public version.

Plane shavings curling off a walnut boardMay 16, 2026
Bronte top, hand-planedStage 4 of 6. Three more days, then breadboard ends.
A carpenter's hands cutting a mortiseMay 12, 2026
Field chair frames, M&TStage 3 of 5. Two pairs in dry-fit. Drawbore pins go in tomorrow.
Workshop interior, hand tools on a wall, late afternoon lightMay 9, 2026
Cherry stock for the SteelesStage 1 of 6. Boards selected. Acclimating two weeks before joinery.
A finished chair seat being hand-rubbed with finishMay 5, 2026
Niagara dining set — finishedDelivered Saturday. Five chairs, one bench, walnut.
The makers

Two pairs of hands. Both signatures on every piece.

Jonas Mireille and Dana Kessler. We've worked together for nine years. Every piece that leaves the shop is signed by whichever of us did most of the work.

Portrait of a craftsman in a workshop apron
Founder · joinery, finishing

Jonas Mireille

Trained at the College of Crafts in Hawkesbury, then twelve years in two shops in Quebec before opening Hewn in 2014. Does the joinery on every piece. Won't use a CNC. Will use a router for the easy cuts and then act like he didn't.

Portrait of Dana Kessler, partner at Hewn Furniture Co.
Partner · design, finishing

Dana Kessler

Started as a furniture restorer in Toronto. Joined Hewn in 2017 after a year doing the books for free while Jonas figured out he needed help. Does most of the design sketching and almost all of the finishing.

How a piece gets made

Four months, four stages, no surprises.

From the first conversation to the day we carry it through your front door. Friday photographs every week; visit the shop any time it's open.

Stacks of kiln-dried hardwood boards
01.

Conversation

You visit the shop, or we visit your space. We sketch on paper. We agree on a number, in writing, before anyone signs.

Hands selecting hardwood boards
02.

Lumber

We hand-pick boards together if you'd like to come. Kiln-dried Ontario hardwood from three suppliers we've used for a decade.

A craftsman at the bench shaping wood
03.

Build

Six to ten weeks at the bench. Joinery by hand. Hardware fitted dry. You get a photograph every Friday.

A finished chair being placed in a room
04.

Delivery

Hand-delivered within the GTA West. We carry it in, level it on your floor, and stay an hour while you live with it.

From the bench

Workshop notes on wood, joinery, and the occasional mistake.

Dana writes about three things a month from the bench. No marketing emails — just whatever's on her mind that week.

Read every note
Plane shavings curling off a board
Joinery8 min read· May 14, 2026

Why we still drawbore our mortise and tenons.

Glue alone holds. A drawbore pin makes the joint hold for a hundred years. Here's how we cut them and why the offset matters.

Read note
A stack of kiln-dried hardwood boards
Lumber5 min read· May 7, 2026

The walnut shortage nobody's talking about.

Three of our Ontario walnut suppliers have raised prices 40% in eighteen months. Why it's happening and what we're doing about it.

Read note
A craftsman hand-planing a board
Finishing12 min read· April 30, 2026

A finish you can repair in your own kitchen.

Why we still use oil-and-wax instead of poly. The actual recipe we mix, the brand of wax, and how to refinish a scratched top yourself in twenty minutes.

Read note
The Friday photographs

A single photograph from the bench, every Friday.

No marketing, no sales push. One photo of whatever's most-finished on the bench that week, with one paragraph about what's happening with it. We send it Friday at 4 PM. Unsubscribe in one click.

2,840Readers
114Issues sent
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A valid email, please.

One email per Friday. We never share your address. Unsubscribe in one click.

Thank you. The next photograph lands in your inbox this Friday at 4 PM from dana@hewnfurniture.ca. Reply any time — Dana reads every one.
Commission

Tell us about the room, the wood, the rough size.

Two or three sentences is enough to start. We'll write back within two business days from hello@hewnfurniture.ca with questions, a sketch on paper, and an honest estimate. No discovery call. No deposit asked for until after we've agreed.

Shop
347 Steeles Ave E, Milton
Open
Saturdays, 10 — 3
Direct
905 555 0184
Lead time
12 — 14 weeks
Please tell us your name.
That doesn't look like a complete email.
Pick the closest — we'll refine in writing.
A sentence or two is enough to start.
Thank you. The brief is in. We'll write back within two business days from hello@hewnfurniture.ca. If it's urgent, the shop line is 905 555 0184 — Jonas or Dana will pick up.

Visit the shop, Saturday.

The shop is on Steeles, between the old Halton flour mill and the Mattamy plant. You'll know it by the woodpile out front. Saturdays we're at the bench from ten to three — knock or walk in, the door's open.

Address
347 Steeles Ave E, Milton ON
Open
Saturdays, 10 — 3
Other days
By appointment, email or call
Parking
In the lot — pull around back.
The Hewn workshop on a Saturday morning
Make something worth showing off?

A custom site that makes the work the salesperson — the photography, the story, the craft, front and centre. No template, no monthly fees, and it's yours to keep.

This is The Signature Site by Glass Floor Studio · $4,800 flat.

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