In spite of the pandemic, a new Orcas business blossoms

— by Lin McNulty, Orcas Issues Editor —

Last year, Orcas Islander Nik Schulz decided it was finally time to take the big step to pursue his dream career. He refers to it as a mid-life crisis, but looking at his work, it is apparent that he was meant to hand-craft wood furniture.

Two Hands Furniture, an Orcas-based designer and maker of modern furniture and housewares was born — just in time to meet up with the coronavirus.

Schulz previously worked as a freelance illustrator for magazines like Wired, Fortune, and Fast Company. A magazine may itself be tangible but he felt his contribution, the illustration on the page, wasn’t. He wanted to put his Industrial Design degree to a use that is more substantial, touchable, useful; after all, a magazine usually gets thrown away, he points out.

Two Hands is based at a workshop next to the West Sound Lumber mill in a building also shared by blacksmith Zack Leck. “I’m grateful to support and be supported by local sawyers, landowners, and businesses, and to be here designing and building furniture and furnishings with character, that amaze, and that are worthy of the beautiful island on which they are built,” said Nik.

Schulz, the designer and maker behind Two Hands had been designing pieces and building prototypes for about a year before the pandemic hit. “My mission to offer timeless design and hand-built pieces still feels relevant, so I made the decision to continue to launch,” said Nik.

His housewares line includes a wooden “Yacht Tray,” so called because the high-end teak-and-holly plywood that it’s built from is the same material used in the cabin soles of quality wooden boats.

Some pieces, like the Two Hands American Adirondack Chairs can be sourced from local cedar, sustainably harvested on island.

Two Hands Furniture will offer in-person sales for the first time through Material Wit‘s new Eastsound location on Main St. starting the middle of June.