Ironwood Industries
The Texas based design house, Ironwood Industries creates custom furniture, sculpture and accessories for both residential and commercial clients. They were kind enough to share this beautiful, custom fireplace screen with me, and I’m passing it along to you.
The screen is made of steel with a patina to create a sense of age and dimension. It’s the kind of detail that is so important in creating a room that’s personal and doesn’t look “decorated”. ¬†Many people believe that anything custom must be too expensive to contemplate. Not so. Or, not always so.
I’ve had all kinds of things custom made for clients where the price was actually less expensive than what’s offered ready made. Brass curtains rods, firescreens, and iron fences are just three examples.¬† The key to this involves taking a little time to search out craftsmen in unusual places.
The guy I hired to make the curtain rods looked like he took a shower in grease every morning. But then, he works with metal every day – and usually for automotive things. I found him in the yellow pages under “metal work”.¬† He was so excited to be working on something that had nothing to do with cars that he brought extra enthusiasm to the project and came up with some great solutions for the job.
Ironwood Industries is, of course, a different animal all together. You’ll pay more (not necessarily a lot either). But if it’s right for the job, then it’s worth every penny – especially when artistry and attention to craftsmanship is vital. You can also work both sides of the fence when it comes to custom work. ¬†Don’t let the word “custom” scare you away. ¬†Estimates are almost always free.
One Response to “Ironwood Industries”
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Thanks, Jennifer, for featuring this project on your blog.
We built this screen for clients in Austin who have an amazing collection of contemporary craft and fine art. Since they’re big fans of Alphonse Mucha, they asked us to design a fireplace screen based on Mucha’s art nouveau style – to update their fireplace in their ranch-style house.
This is the result. It’s a fireplace screen that’s anchored to the fireplace, with double doors for access to the logs. The doors have a tapered, operable latch, and the entire project has a black patina with a heat-rated protective finish.
This sort of project costs considerably more than an ordinary store-bought fireplace screen, largely because it’s designed to custom-fit inside the fireplace, and also because it’s a labor-intensive design. But, on the other hand, because it’s so distinctive, it becomes a focal point for the room.
Thanks again for your interest in our work. I really appreciate it.
Wells Mason
Ironwood Industries
Coupland, Texas