Media & Press

Conroe Courier - August 6, 2000

Pristine Simplicity
Family Builds Handcrafted Furniture

From The Conroe Courier
Sunday, August 6, 2000
By Jim Belew
Business Editor

Shane Rodarte, 32, so admires the pioneer spirit that led to the settling of the American frontier, he has found a way to continue a part of that tradition in the 21st century.

Rodarte, along with his wife, Kandas, owns Wood Designs, Inc, which specializes in handcrafted furniture inspired by the pioneer era.

Since 1998, he has been building furniture modeled after that produced by the Shakers.

The appeal of the design, he says, is its "pristine simplicity."

Rodarte is a native of Saginaw, Mi where his father was a home builder. As a teenager, Rodarte worked worked with his father and learned how to build cabinets.

After his parents divorced, he moved with his mother to Texas. For a while he lived in Bryan, where he earned his general equivalency diploma (GED) and later to Houston.

In Houston, the young carpenter found work building cabinets. "I got so good at it I got bored, so I began building furniture."

In the summer of 1998, he and his wife, who was a buyer for a mid-sized chain of sporting goods stores in Houston, learned they had a child on the way. They decided they wanted to relocate to a place where they could combine child-rearing and work. "We were tired of being surrounded by concrete, spending hours each day commuting. We longed for a simpler life," he recalls.

Their search for the simpler life ended shortly thereafter when they discovered an old warehouse in Willis. The couple decided to take the plunge of starting a business and founded Wood Designs, Inc.

Rodarte says each furniture item is made from locally grown, rough-cut pine. "We use the standards of quality set forth by master craftsmen for centuries: dovetails, rabbets, mortise and tenon joinery and cut nails. Our finishes are second to none. Each painted piece is taken through a five step process, resulting in an antique appearance. Your grandchildren will furnish their homes with these heirlooms."

Though the furniture is carefully crafted using techniques from a bygone era, the marketing is decidedly modern.

In addition to selling the items through a specialty retail store in Spring, the couple also reaches customers through the Internet. Rodarte says his wife ramrods that part of the business. She is so computer savvy, he says, that she will teach an introductory computer course at Willis Library in September.

Their strategy seems to be paying off. They're talking to a company about representing their product line to build more sales. And as of Aug.1, they moved into a bigger facility located at the intersection of FM 1375 and SH 75 in New Waverly. In addition to housing the shop, the facility will also include a small display room, Rodarte says. A grand opening will probably be held sometime in October, he says. 

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