Nik Shulz – Two Hands Furniture

My goal with Two Hands Furniture is to design and build exceptional furniture and housewares. All of my pieces are created with high-quality materials and are made-to-order or built in small batches on Orcas Island.

Some of the pieces are built with solid wood and some are built with Baltic Birch or other high-end plywoods. I design and and build everything in-house at my shop next the Westsound Lumber sawmill. It’s a place where good work has been done for decades and I’m grateful and proud to be a part of that space.

I’m also grateful to help support and be supported by an integral community of skilled craftspeople and landowners, whether it’s working with sustainably-sourced local timber, working with local sawyers to get the wood milled, or serving the needs of local businesses and residents.

I work to design and build furniture and furnishings that have character, that amaze, that will stand the test of time and are worthy of this beautiful island on which they are built.

And a bit about me:

I was born in Germany, grew up in the midwest, and studied industrial design in California in the early 1990s. After I graduated I worked for IDEO in the San Francisco Bay area but wasn’t moved by the electronics and consumer products that were the majority of the company’s work at the time, so I veered off into graphic design and eventually illustration. Since the early 2000s I’ve contributed illustrations to magazines like Fortune, Wired, ESPN, and many others through my site L-Dopa, and created illustrated automotive art and clothing through Nik Schulz Illustration.

In 2018 though, I wanted to go back to product design. I’ve always loved well-designed products. The best are satisfying to use and bring a real joy of ownership. I want to create products that offer people that experience but in a craft-based context. It feels more personal and meaningful to design and build something on a small scale for someone. It feels more connected, like a personal exchange. It feels human. And it feels amazing to make something that brings someone joy.

I live on Orcas with my amazing partner, Natalie, and our dog, Kingsley.