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Read the full story at: MLive.com

MARNE — Turning old barn wood into trendy new furniture rewards Chad Klein in many ways, he said as he coated a bed frame with a poly-acrylic to maintain the natural color of hand-hewn timbers.

He gets to use his creative side, he stays mentally stimulated as he figures out how to build customized pieces, and he sees the satisfied faces of customers.

“And you know the wood’s not going to waste. It’s not new trees that are being cut down,” he said.

Fence Row Furniture, where Klein works, has kept a lot of rustically beautiful wood from bonfires and landfills and seems poised to turn out more hand-made pieces — from tables, chairs and bookcases to cabinets, doors and even flooring.

The business started as a sister company of Chip Shot Construction, which restores old barns. Owners Mike Kluting and sons Joe and Bob would sell the torn-off wood, for which a large market exists.

But workers started making their own furniture with it. Soon they were selling it online. Last October, the company opened a showroom at 1475 Franklin St., right off the I-96 Marne exit.

Tammy Kluting, who runs the store, said custom orders originally took two to three weeks to make. Now, a backlog has pushed it to four to five weeks. In the past two months, Klein made about 25 pieces for the store and orders.

Product prices range from $40 for a box with braided rope handles to more than $1,000 for a six-person table.

Going beyond the restorations, workers now approach the owners of falling-down barns to ask for the wood.

A demolition might cost the owner, but at a much lower price than a wrecking crew’s. And since burning is illegal in most areas, it makes sense for owners to allow Fence Row to take an unsafe barn apart piece by piece.

Kluting said in addition to the charm and uniqueness of the furniture — no two pieces are the same — customers like the sturdy, hand-made quality and the fact it is local.

“We’re going back to the quality, not the quantity,” she said. “People also like to know that it came from a barn maybe five miles away.”

Some of the pieces come with a certificate explaining where the barn stood.
The furniture is made at a home shop a couple of miles from the store, where the owners’ other business, TS Max Poured Wall, operates. The owners employ five in addition to Kluting.

Fence Row Furniture was recently in Grand Rapids Magazine, read the article by clicking here.

Chad, our builder for FenceRow Furniture, gives you a brief tour of the workshop, as well as show as few pieces that he is working on. Looking Good Chad!

Tammy lets everyone know about our promotion at the showroom.

Joe and Tammy take us through the Fence Row Furniture showroom, and Tammy shows us the 3 different styles of custom furniture that Fence Row can design for you.