After the very long, unintentional tour of the East Bay (including the Oakland docks) that I experienced while trying to find this place, all my navi cursing and aggressive wheel hitting definitely paid off as soon as I walked in the door and I spent a very enjoyable hour perusing The Wooden Duck’s vast collection of recycled and reclaimed wood furniture.
Company Backgound:
The Wooden Duck was started in 1995 when Amy Ferber & Eric Gellerman began importing recycled Teak Furniture from Indonesia. Over the years, they’ve gradually expanded their scope to include production in various countries throughout the world including China and Morocco, as well as manufacturing locally in their own factory (which is the first place I stumbled into, interrupting their company meeting to ask directions to their showroom. They very graciously stopped their meeting and helped me find my way… so embarrassing) and began producing a line of furniture from recycled Douglas Fir. The wood comes from demolished barns and warehouses throughout California and the Pacific Northwest.
My Experience:
As I said above, I’m so happy I found this place. I was impressed with their collection and customer service. Their designs really are simple but very well made. I also spoke to the sales guy for awhile about getting a custom dining table made. They’re very thorough with all of the measurements as they want the piece to be very functional and exactly what you want. You can pick from a variety of bases and tops. When they are ready to stain the table, you go out to their factory in Berkeley and tell them exactly what color stain you’re looking for. Off the bat, he said it would cost around $1500 for what I was looking for (a square table with welded metal base). This is a little expensive, but for a custom piece I thought that was a very fair price.
On a side note, after talking to him for awhile I found out he had been a fellow Bernese Mountain Dog owner. His Berner, Jack passed away last year at 8 years old from cancer. He told me all about Jack and by the end of our talk I was in tears (I had also just finished “Marley and Me”, making me particularly sensitive about the topic. Dog owner’s beware, do not read this book! I was sobbing profusely at the end and poor Lucy just sat there licking my face trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me). Tears aside it was an enjoyable and productive afternoon. I also purchased a new LCD console (pictured on the above right) for $475.
I’ll definitely be back to get started on the custom dining table, I’ll keep you posted on that process! Go to www.thewoodenduck.com to look at their pieces. If you’re in the area though, definitely go check it out in person as their website doesn’t do the furniture justice.
- Adrienne
A-Lister’s Need to Know:
Purchase: www.thewoodenduck.com
