The BDDW shop. (Photo credit: David Allee)

BDDW
5 Crosby St.
212-625-1230

Because the store itself is the perfect, dreamy iteration of a New York City loft, it’s easy to imagine that this is where designer Tyler Hays’s handmade furniture belongs; its large scale and simple lines seem destined for some place with high ceilings and long sight lines. Hays, a painter and sculptor, works exclusively with domestic hardwoods (claro walnut, sugar maple, Douglas fir, and holly, to name a few of his loves). Under his gaze, what some would consider flaws—cracks, rings, bark—become dramatic elements in his overall design. In one recent example, Hays cut a jagged-edge slice of walnut, polished it to a glassy finish, and made it into a long runway of a dining table—but left the bark attached.