Inside the Wood Shop: An Interview with Ezekiel & Stearns

Here’s a little of the inside scoop on what goes into making our tables, benches, chairs, and other handmade wooden products that add a warm and inviting touch to any home.

What’s the hardest thing for you to make?

Chairs. The labor involved with one single chair is more than an entire table. Chairs have so many intricate parts that have to be done correctly that it’s just time consuming.

What’s your favorite thing to make?

I enjoy making our Yukon table the most, mostly because it’s my favorite table. I have a 12 foot Yukon table in my own home. The rich dark stain goes with just about anything. It can be dressed up or kept rustic and casual.

You take custom orders. What’s the weirdest thing someone has asked you to make?

Wow. Well, We get all kinds of requests. I’m working on one right now that’s a really large table and thick top with really skinny legs. I’ve made an all pink dining set. I’ve done kitchen counters too which are interesting.

We also get requests for kitchen cabinets and gun cabinets. I’ve turned those down. When it comes to custom orders it’s really about orders that fit us. If a product request is too far outside of our scope or style we’ll turn it down.

How long does it take you to make a table from start to finish?

Theoretically it’s 24 hours but production realities make it 3 to 4 days from start to finish. It all depends upon how many backorders we have at the time, where we’re at in the production process on other orders, and a number of other factors. Things get really busy around the holidays which slows order processing down a bit, so order early.

Do you have any tips for folks when it comes to taking care of their E&S farm table?

Almost all of our products are completely solid wood so there’s not as much too worry about compared to other furniture types. A good quality furniture polish is about all you need. That’s the beauty of solid wood, it’s simple. Our tables and benches will long outlast your initial intention. Some people might eventually refinish them which is a simple sanding and re-staining job. I like to think of all those nicks, scratches, and indentations as memories though, like a book of photos. My brother has an old farm table at his house. It’s one we grew up with. You can still see my sisters handwriting pressed into the table from 20 years ago; it says “Girls rule”. I wouldn’t want to sand that out. It’s a memory you can run your hand over and feel. If you did want to sand it out though our solid wood tables could be sanded and re-stained many many times. If you wanted something to capture those “indented” memories I’d recommend a lighter colored table like our Ranch style, they show more.

Do you have any plans for new products?

A lot of our new products come from custom orders actually. We’re always adding more though. We’re specifically focusing on adding more home accents and living space furniture. We recently added photo frames and media stands.