The wall of driftwood got me — and brought me right back to childhood summers spent on the beach, my father collecting sticks and branches and stacking them into precarious sculptures. Folks have been dragging these bits of ocean-bleached flotsam back to their homes for eons for that very reason; to remind them of carefree days and the calm of the sea. Since James Pepitone (Pep) opened his custom furniture shop in Westbrook, now you can bring a piece of summer home, too.

The guy loves wood; hewing and finishing tulip, elm, black maple or barn wood boards into live-edged, custom tables of any width or length. He’ll use his collection of driftwood to fashion log benches and table bases. He’s a happy collaborator and will work with you to come up with the exact piece you’re after, whether it’s a massive table for a crowd or a coffee table in any color finish of your choice (yup, he does that, too). Pep’s enthusiasm for his craft is obvious, he earnestly discusses finding beauty in imperfection and proudly presents an ingenious table with fishing lures inset in epoxy. Eventually, we discovered that we both hail from Brooklyn (born in the same hospital, in fact) and we were off on a nostalgic tour of favorite childhood noshes. He’s that sort of guy; you’ll be his best friend before you leave and you may just take that bleached log bench with you because, as he says, EVERYONE loves to sit on a log.

Open Tuesday thru Friday 10 – 3 and Saturday 10 – 2. Also by appointment.

www.beachandbarn.furniture

1258 Boston Post Road in Westbrook

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