Chad and Lorie Beth Haynes are the owners and operators of
Natural-is-Stick rustic furniture.
Both are graduates of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, each having received a degree in Specialized Technology/ Industrial design. Our interests then were a bit different from what we have decided to do with the knowledge obtained. Chad had gone into Automotive design, while Lorie Beth was studying Special Effects Makeup, Animatronics and Set design. Though neither moved to Hollywood or Detroit... we still use all the valuable lessons we were taught.
Earning our degrees, we were shown proper use of shop tools, attention to detail, form follows function, and the basic principals of design. Main courses of study in both fields included; human anatomy, mechanical and electrical design, rendering, CAD, Form Z, and Photoshop, as well as many shop classes.
After graduation we tried to find jobs that pertained to our fields of study. But we soon found that without moving to the previously mentioned areas, all we could find were off beat jobs that sounded much more glamorous then they really were. We wanted to do something extraordinarily different, yet remain in the shop we had become so accustomed to.
Both of us loved working with wood and sought a job where we could work together, with wood and utilize design principals. We each have a tendency to study everything around us... how it's made, what was used to make it and most importantly, how it can be improved.
Rustic furniture is usually very pretty to look at, but not very nice to touch. Nor are rustic chairs very comfortable. Knowing this, loving wood and wanting to design new improved things made rustic furniture a perfect fit for the two of us.
Through a bit of research we decided to contact a few selected Rustic furniture makers on the Internet and ask for some advice and guidance. Most of the individuals we contacted ignored our pleas, but we were fortunate enough to find one who was willing to teach us the basics. We made our decision, packed our things in less than a week, and moved halfway across the country to meet our instructor. After living and breathing nothing but Rustic furniture for months, we came back to Pennsylvania and decided that we could do this for ourselves.
With the love, help and guidance of both our families we were able to get back on our feet and get a name for ourselves. We started doing shows on the road all the time and found that there is more of a market for our style in the South. So with a few long goodbyes we packed again and moved to Tennessee.
Now we are spending as many hours as we can in the shop, striving to complete the best quality, detailed pieces of log art anyone has ever seen.
Due to the lack of comfort found in most Rustic work, that has become our number one concern when it comes to our chairs and settees. The unique look of our seats and backs are designed in such a way that you can achieve a perfect fit for any size or shape person. The backs wrap around you with nothing protruding into your spine. And our seats dip back and welcome you into the chair. Unlike most rustic furniture that looks good, but doesn't feel good, our furniture is built with contours to fit whom ever it is designed for perfectly.
A lot of time and heart is put into everything that we make. We hope that you enjoy our furniture as much as we enjoy building it.
Hope to hear from you soon,
Chad and Lorie Beth Haynes / Natural-is-stick
