Reclaim your wood

Cutting out the middleman's easier said than done, especially when going to the source involves time, money, danger, or convincing a freaked out Pookie that Nino Brown wants to meet you. Biting the bullet to save you cash, the dude behind The Wooden House

Now open in the former Cierra, TWH sells quality used or reclaimed solid wood furniture brought over from Indonesia and India, where the owner himself travels every two months to re-stock; for a decade he sold to trade only, until this prime Knox-Henderson space freed up, prompting him to move his entire operation from SoCal for an all-out assault on Dallas retail and, during lunchtime, Dickey's. Most commonly teak or mahogany, the pieces are found in homes, rail yards, ports, and markets, and often reflect European styles & build techniques (Queen Anne, Art Deco, Bauhaus...); upon arrival here, the owner cleans/buffs/polishes, makes minor repairs, then sets mad-low prices -- even large chests rarely top a thou, prices even the most cut-rate plastic surgeon can't compete with. Among the deals: a solid mahogany writing desk for $215; a hand-painted/distressed Queen Anne drawer desk for $369; a six-foot-wide lodge-style teak-root bench for $595; a massive round mahogany dining table with a figured-teak top for $600; and, for $750, a seven-foot-tall armoire with doors transplanted from top-flight cabinetry (I-KEA-d you not)

TWH also stocks smaller home-decor objects like carved-teak bird screens, iron wine racks, tree trunk stools, and storage units ranging from re-purposed century-old safes to a Hindi-inscribed lock box that looks to have once housed swords or an elephant gun -- but as Judd Nelson would say, it's not a sword thing, or an elephant gun thing, it's a death thing.