Jolene and Roger England take pride in helping out the environment while at the same time making unique products from reclaimed wood at their business The Woodbox in Gillams.
“We absolutely love it,” Jolene said in an interview on the business the couple, both 34, started in September of this year.
To date, everything they have made was out of reclaimed wood such as pallets, old doors and even driftwood off the beach. They also make coasters out of sawn logs, decorating them with ink designs.
Jolene said this means there is a lot of pallet wood and other wood from buildings that are being torn down not making its way into landfills. It is used to make products like signs, shelving, wooden boxes, tables and other furniture.
“Helping the environment is important to us,” she said on behalf of her and Roger.
The business is on Facebook, Etsy.com (the Global online marketplace) and their own website www.thewoodbox.ca.
Jolene said sales have been pretty good so far with more interest than what they were expecting as people like the products they’re making.
The couple just purchased a professional grade vinyl cutter that they’ll use in making different types of signs, including some for wall decor and others for the outdoors so they will stand up to the elements.
While Roger is not a carpenter by trade, he has lots of carpentry experience, is well equipped with tools and fabricates the products. Jolene steps up to do the painting and the design work on different items.
Jolene said they are open to taking custom orders and just recently created a world map on pallet wood from scratch from a photo that a person found online and sent to her.
Roger is originally from the east coast of the province; while Jolene is from New Brunswick. The couple has been living in Gillams for the past 14 years and their business is located on Meadow Heights in the town.
“Our hope is to expand our business as the only limitation with what we are doing is our imaginations,” she said.
“It’s a win-win, making quality products from things that most would discard.”
