Our story
About US
San Diego's Eco-Friendly Custom Design and Fabrication shop
At Old Fashioned Lumber, we work with locally sourced reclaimed wood to create custom live edge furniture. We begin with the harvesting, milling and drying processes. Our team then designs and builds furniture and fixtures from these trees. Many of our building materials come from timber reclaimed from historic buildings and piers.
We hand make custom rustic furniture out of reclaimed and salvaged wood slabs. Our elegant, one-of-a-kind live edge wood slabs are created from upcycled high-quality lumber.
We specialize in crafting custom furniture and unique wood products. We take the time to carefully select each individual piece of wood for a personalized creation. Gifted to us by nature and refined here in the heart of San Diego, our products are sustainably sourced from throughout the United States.
Our standard line allows you to provide your client with a customized piece. We can also build anything that you design – let your imagination to run wild!
Discover our process
Our team
Don Woodard
Growing up in the outdoors was the guiding force that influenced Don on his career path toward becoming the skilled Craftsman he is today. Drawn to the Pacific Northwest, he refined and honed his skills as an arborist and tree surgeon enjoying his time away from work to explore the rivers as a guide. That love of nature is now expressed brilliantly in the works of art he creates. Whether reclaiming lumber from old barns, or repurposing a family’s dying favorite tree, Don is a natural craftsman who sees nature’s beauty beneath the surface. An avid contributor to San Diego’s sustainability ecosystem, Don is working with Trees San Diego and other environmentally conscious organizations to improve the recycling of our natural resources.
Drawing inspiration from the unique geographic location of San Diego and paying homage to the bond between the forces of nature, I work with the organic canvas that is wood and lend a physical embodiment to the purest forms of life; a spectacle of elements. I use chainsaws and other hand carving tools to create textures that represent fire and all of its warmth, water and the crests of waves that reveal a sign of friendship with the moon, air and the vitality to which we owe our every waking moment, and wind, which carries seasons to bring change. In an effort to incorporate history and tradition into my study of elements, I strive to go back to the primitive by exploring tribal themes and designs. Ultimately, what drives me as an artist and taking time to feel the joy in creating a natural and collective work that honors life at every level and not forgetting to bask in the freedom, the reverie, and the reciprocity of life and existence of this earth and all that it supports.
ZAKHAR SMIRNOFF
Don and his staff are so passionate about what they do and create beautiful pieces! They crafted a 10 ft live edge dining table and an amazing fireplace mantle for my new farmhouse and I absolutely love how they completed the look I was going for!! True artisans with an incredible selection of wood types. Give them your vision and they’ll make it happen. Everyone who visits my home oohs & aahs over their work. I couldn’t be more pleased!
