Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Baumgartner and Theresa Hines.
Hi Tim and Theresa, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Tim’s woodworking journey started with a box store power tool combo pack. He looked into what he could build with it and found a set of plans online. His first project was a queen bed, followed by a desk and a dining table. Theresa grew up watching her dad build projects at home and do basic woodwork for college art classes. When the house needed new furniture and a deck, she was happy to jump in and help. After helping knock out a few projects, she quickly saw a fun opportunity to make wooden wall art from our project scraps. We started building more projects for ourselves and soon for friends and family. Then, friends of friends, we’re not necessarily looking to grow a business, but we took on the various projects that steadily filtered in. The small income allowed us to upgrade our tools, improving the efficiency and quality of our work. Since then, we have moved and built most of our furniture, upgraded our tools and shop space, and transitioned from DIY plans to designing and building our pieces. Looking back at where we started, we’ve come a long way. We’ve traveled to other cities to meet and learn from other small successful woodworking companies, where we picked up new woodworking and business skills. Over the last year, we have spent some time developing our designs and style. We traveled to Arizona and California to William Douglas Co and Jory Brigham Workshop to attend each of their chair-building classes. These classes helped us grow with new techniques and challenged us to rethink our design and build process. Throughout 2022 Tim devoted themself to exploring Mid-Century Modern design and template-building techniques. I have found a design and woodworking style that I enjoy and represents the kind of maker I want to be. Over the last several months, I have designed several pieces of furniture that I plan to spend the beginning of ’23 to take off of paper and bring to life.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are always learnings and things you would do differently if you got the chance. We both have day jobs that limit the time we’re able to work on projects, often filling up our nights and weekends. Time management is critical to balancing our full-time work and our woodworking hobby. Alternatively, that has allowed us to spend more time being creative and exploring the craft rather than stressing over making a living out of it. I am self-taught, and I spent a lot of time figuring out what I didn’t know, I didn’t know, slowly turning them into new skills. While I have spent a lot of time discovering the types of projects and styles I don’t enjoy doing, every project has allowed me to grow in my skills and gain a greater appreciation for the craft. When it comes to Theresa’s wall art, it can be easy to make a large batch of patterns at once, but much harder to find a solid avenue for selling artwork. We’ve participated in various craft fairs around the St. Louis area, some very successful and others less. Sourcing a variety of scrap wood in enough quantity can be difficult at times, but it usually works itself out one way or another. Since we have a steady flow of projects, we have plenty of scrapwood for her to test our various designs and ideas. Another challenge has been growing our client list; marketing is our biggest weakness, and I prefer to make sawdust. It can be difficult to find the right clients not looking for a quick “value” build but instead to invest in a future heirloom. We have been fortunate that word-of-mouth commissions have kept us busy enough to keep a several-month project backlog.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I make a lot of fully custom dining tables, console tables, and vanities. Moving forward, I plan to transition from fully custom projects to more of a product line of my mid-century designs that allow for some customization while holding to the original design intent. Looking back, I am most proud of my growth as a maker; my early projects left much to be desired, and my current work and upcoming designs show a growth I am truly proud of. I am fortunate to run a small shop with low overhead. Because of this, I can pass on those savings and build unique furniture at a more competitive price than is typical for quality and style. When Theresa is not helping with our latest project, she typically works on wall art designs. She works hard to design her unique styles and patterns for her designs, often guided by the various materials available at the time. Over the last few years, she focused on creative ways to make her geometric designs functional, adding shelves, hooks, and vials to make useful home decor with her various patterns.
Can you talk to us about the role of luck?
A rehabber bought the vacant house next door when I was still beginning my woodworking journey. We got to know him as they worked on the full gut rehab. After seeing us build a few projects for ourselves, he became one of our first clients, commissioning us to build vanities and kitchen fixtures for several rehab properties. Thanks to his support, we expanded our portfolio outside of personal projects. We have also been very fortunate to meet the owner of the Koken Art Factory, who took a chance on a couple of strangers and provided us with a flexible shop space within our budget with room to expand as we grew. With a little luck and some hard work, we were able to seize these opportunities, which had a strong and positive impact on our business.
Pricing:
- Bookmatch Slab Dining Table / Steel Legs $3400
- MCM 8 Person Table $4400
- MCM Game Table $4400
- Credenza $3200
- Dining Chair $885
Contact Info:
- Website: www.eisenbaumstl.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/eisenbaumstl
Image Credits
Harry Boston @wtfdidharryshoot
