We started building furniture in 2010, just myself and my dad, Verne.
Verne and I made our first reclaimed wood table from a pile of weathered fence boards. They were just sitting there weathering patiently over the course of the last couple years waiting to be constructed into something beautiful, something with character, and something that carried a story.
My dad has always been the builder in the family, and I... well I take after my mother May. She was a perfectionist when it came to finishing, and unfortunately/fortunately I got that same gift of PERFECTIONISM. It drives my wife nuts some days, but I think our clientele prefers it.
After posting a photo of our first ever table being delivered to one of my best friends as a wedding gift, we were inundated from family and friends inquiring about our tables.
I always envisioned building and creating furniture, and this inspired me to take things further and look for a space outside of our home garages.
Speaking of garages… in the fall of 2013, we found our first (and current) Edmonton location in a historic downtown building. It turns out the lot was home to Sandford Oil, and we now reside in the old service garage.
It took about 4 months for Leanne (my now wife, and business partner) and I to build the store. We would work 8 hours at our day jobs, then put in another 6-8 hours after work to complete the showroom. Blood sweat and tears (literally ) are laid into this floor!
In the meantime, Verne was still working out of his home shop in Regina building the pieces and shipping them to us in Edmonton for finishing. However in late 2014 he moved to Lethbridge and opened our first mill location. We hired our first employee outside of the family in July of 2014 and have now grown to a family of 10 people!
Since then we had out grown the shop space, and Verne finally wanted to retire. Thus we bit the bullet and moved our mill to Edmonton in July 2018, and let me tell you - that was no easy feat.
We have an amazing team of craftspersons here in Edmonton now, that build the most incredible quality pieces to last a lifetime.
As for my mother, several years ago (just before opening our Edmonton Showroom) she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She now resides in a full time care facility in Lethbridge and does not recognize our words or faces. Before this disease robbed her of her memories, she was involved in the early inception of Urban Timber. Our family has always been involved in woodworking from when I was a very young age. My dad constructed and built our entire home, and as mentioned before my mother had the patience and eye for finishing. My mother's handprint is on many of our early Urban Timber projects. She worked with my father until she was no longer able to help around the shop.
We have sold many dining room tables through Urban Timber, and with that we also wanted a way to give back, which is why we started Wood to Remember. We started "Wood to Remember" as a family, to keep my mother close, as if she was still working on our custom made furniture. A percentage from all dining tables goes directly to the Alberta Alzheimer's Association in hopes of finding a cure.
May Cunningham, February 11, 2016
Thank you for following along, you have been on this journey with us from the beginning and it means the world to us.
~Bring The Story Home ~