What makes something beautiful? Is is the color, the style, the material used?
Maybe.
But I think there’s more to it.
I think that true beauty comes from how something makes you feel. A beautiful home is great, but if you don’t feel comfortable or “at home” what good is beautiful? The same goes for the things you put into your home. My home is full of old things, new things, things passed down from a family member or friend (and maybe a few things stained with orange marker). Every single piece that means something has a story. It reminds me of a particular person or time in my life. To me, those are the things worth hanging on to.
When we packed up our house over a year ago, we made some big decisions about some of the “stuff” we’ve accumulated over the last 12+ years. There were some keepers that were easy to determine with no discussion at all. Those were the special things that brought out all the good emotions or were sentimental to one or both of us in some way. Then there were things that were purchased in a season that were useful at the time that we just no longer needed. Those were donated or given to friends or family. Then there were the things, we all have ’em, that were just a bad idea from the start. Those… uh… met their demise as well. Ahem.
As the house project has wound down (not that that sort of thing is ever really done), we’ve had more time to think about our goals and dreams and what we hope to achieve with Tenpenny House.
We want to continue building beautiful furniture. We want the pieces to be the kind of beautiful that everyone wants to hear their story. We want them to be the ones your grandchildren fight over one day! Not just because they look pretty, but because they feel like “home”. We want to create pieces that are one of a kind, that are made from materials that have their own story, if only they could tell it. We want our customers to FEEL good about spending their dollars on a piece we’ve built. We want you to take comfort in knowing that the piece is hand crafted. And made right here in the good old USA.
We can’t bottle up “home” and sell it. But what we can try to do is build something solid and strong, with a story that begins long before any of us and continues with you.
So back to my original question- Can building furniture be a calling? We aren’t sure. All we know is that we love what we do and we are thrilled that you are following along on this journey of ours.
And we’re beginning to think maybe so.
