Hello, my name is Josh Bailly and I am the founder of Birds and Boards Custom Furniture. Thanks for checking me out. I’ve been tinkering with and building stuff for most of my life, but the last 15 years have been marked by an ever-increasing interest (or obsession) in woodworking and furniture making. I am mostly self-taught through books, magazines, and YouTube tutorials. I also spent 2 years at a professional cabinet shop learning from some great mentors, and finally, life’s best teacher of all, failure, followed by practice and redemption.

Each piece of furniture I build is a journey. It starts with an idea and a pile of rough lumber but ends up as a beautiful and functional addition to the home. As with any journey, there are bumps along the way. In furniture making those bumps show up as surprises in the lumber as it’s being processed, a board with figure that demands a starring role, and even mistakes that need to be fixed. Every hang-up or shortcut that comes along adds to the excitement of the journey. When it’s all said and done, there’s not only a piece of furniture but a story and set of new experiences that will help me along the next journey.

I would love for our journeys to cross paths so we can add to each other’s stories with a piece of hand-crafted heirloom furniture to last the ages.

What’s in a Name?
I got into bird watching back in college and really took to it. I worked hard and taught myself how to identify birds by sight, sound, and habitat cues, and even worked as a professional birder for a couple of seasons. My love of birding and a budding interest in woodworking naturally led me to build bird feeders. While it hasn’t been enough to quit my day job, I’ve been building and selling bird feeders for years. When I started a blog to chronicle my builds, I needed a name, and Birds and Boards came to me. It’s the perfect mash-up of my favorite things.