My name is Erin True. I didn’t plan to be a furniture maker. It happened by accident. You could call it a creative experiment, gone right! I used Etsy to test if my idea was good or not in 2010....almost a decade later, here I am with an amazing business doing something I feel good about and that I know is good for our planet and for future generations.
I have always enjoyed creating things of all sorts. In 2009, after spending 8 years in the Detroit area as an art teacher, I moved to the Chicago area. I decided to pursue my own artistic endeavors in a new medium....furniture making with old growth wood...mixed with items I would discover at estate sales, flea markets, and old barns. I began creating small furniture pieces like benches and console tables. Not long after people began contacting me to create larger pieces like reclaimed dining tables, desks, conference tables, media stands, & shelves. I often like to add vintage boxes, locker baskets, wood crates to many of my pieces making each piece one-of-a-kind.
Possibly my favorite part about starting Urban Wood Goods has been the little adventures I have found myself on during the hunt for "Good Wood." My friends and family are always amused by the places I tell them I go to find great lumber and the interesting characters I meet. The longer I have been in this business the more often I have found myself reclaiming beautiful wood in the city of Chicago from century old or more buildings. This adds a new element of excitement to my journeys from a historical curiosity standpoint. I love being in a building from the 1800s or early 1900s and imagining the who, what and when of a million stories and events that must have taken place there a time before. It's so gratifying knowing I'm giving this wood a new life and purpose. We are offering American made, sustainable furniture that is a high-quality alternative to using new cut lumber like much of the rest of the furniture industry is which contributes to deforestation.
The significance of what we make for people with this beautiful wood, makes my days that much more meaningful. A dining table is one of the most special places you can be. People gather to eat—but also do homework, fall in love, share conversations, laugh and cry. Knowing the history of the wood adds wisdom to that meaning.
I once heard someone say "If it doesn't have a past, it's not worth having!" I have embraced this idea in my own home, in my Etsy shop and online at my own shop at UrbanWoodGoods.com.
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