Happy. Home. Austin.

I LOVE my kitchen table, and Dena could not have been more pleasant– and patient– to do business with!
Dena makes home goods from recycled wood sources. My table has a mix of warm browns and greys in the wood, with streaks of the original paints left on for effect. The final product is lovely, appealing, warm like a favorite leather jacket, and very well made. For a very moderate price, we have a lovely kitchen table.
I live in Boston and Dena shipped to me. I was not the easiest customer, as our household was in flux at that time and I wasn’t checking my email as much as usual. Dena went out of her way to be helpful.
We’ve referred friends to her, and wouldn’t hesitate to buy from her again.

«Happy Home» is a combination of bad craftsmanship and even worse service. Three legs of the table are crooked and several nails pop up from the table. One leg is indeed shorter making the table unstable. It is a piece that calls your attention but it is not well-​made (rustic or not). Dealing with Dena Traweek was a nightmare: she is plain rude, unprofessional, condescending, and unreliable. Throughout the process [which took at least 3 weeks longer that she had told me] she made me feel she was doing me a favor rather than completing a [over] paid job – $ 615 plus shipping and packaging. She grudgingly changed the color, since it did not match the one we wanted, and two seriously cracked legs – that she used without checking with us if we would be happy with them. When, after a terribly rude email, I wrote back telling her I was surprised by her lack of professionalism, this is what she responded: «I am sorry that you didn’t get the level of professionalism that you were hoping for. Perhaps next time you will consider a national chain like Crate & Barrel. We are done here.» In any case, this is how she understands professional, committed artisans establish harmonic relations with their customers. I think she truly needs to re-​evaluate the meaning of the word and look for some anger management counseling.