Industrial Chic
Startup Pipes and Sawdust among exhibitors at OKC Home + Outdoor Living Show
All in the world Christian Lowden wanted was a decent shelf where he could showcase his steampunk collectibles. So he and his husband, Jake Lowden, started a search.
“We went online, and we didn't like what we were seeing for the price,” Jake Lowden said. “We had this idea to build a shelf ourselves and use black pipe.”
That idea led to another and another, and a shelf. And the shelf gave Christian, 33, and Jake, 23, the idea to start a business, Pipes and Sawdust. It will be one of hundreds of exhibitors at the OKC Home + Outdoor Living Show next weekend at State Fair Park.
Christian, a former machinist and surgical unit nurse with no carpentry experience, bought a few tools and set to work. That was last June.
Things could have lurched into sitcom territory at this point, possibly ending with Tim Allen somehow stumbling onto the scene with a laugh track. Luckily, Christian's instincts and machinist background served him well.
He first created a pair of simple valances to mount above the living room windows. With that experience under his belt, he set to work on the shelf.
He emerged from the experience with all fingers intact, the perfect shelf he wanted and an artistic vision: He would repurpose castoff items into pieces the Lowdens describe as Industrial Chic.
“I've always been a tinkerer,” Christian said. “I was a machinist for two years, and that background helps me understand how things are put together.”
The shelf now sits along one wall in the Lowdens’ living room, its simple lines of black pipe and found wood providing the perfect setting for the rubber-band-powered safe, hat with goggles and other steampunk treasures.
It has more handcrafted company now — a table mounted on the pedestal of an old sewing machine, a collection of picture frames, lamps pieced together from industrial bits and pieces, all the first steps of their blossoming business.
Pipes and Sawdust will have a big audience at the OKC Home + Outdoor Living Show on Friday through March 26. The show runs noon to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Adult admission is $9, and children 12 and under get in free. Advance tickets are $7 at www.homeshowokc.com or at Buy for Less stores. Active and retired fire, police and military personnel get in free with a valid ID on Friday for Hero Day. Teachers get in free with a valid ID on Sunday.
‘Touch of industrial’
Visitors to the Pipes and Sawdust booth can see for themselves what combining wooden pallets and other found items with imagination can produce.
More recent projects include smaller items such as picture frames and serving trays. Those have proved popular, Christian Lowden said. “You can have a touch of industrial without fully investing in a room. It adds a little flair.”
In the workshop in their southwest Oklahoma City home, he runs a hand over a table-inprogress that also will make an appearance at the show before it goes to its new home. Cargo wood forms the top, oak plugs filling the holes left by the bolts that once fastened the planks to the floor of a truck trailer. A piece of beam salvaged from an old barn will add a rustic touch.
“Apparently, the barn burned,” he said, turning the beam over to reveal a scorch mark. “But the customer wants us to paint around it so it can be a conversation piece.”
The workshop shelves hold lots of fodder. One recent project turned an old microphone into a table lamp, and future projects could incorporate any number of junk store finds or maybe what appears to be a oilfield drill bit that recently joined the collection.
Some projects come together; others not so much.
“Lots of lessons learned to apply in the future,” Jake Lowden said with a laugh.
Customers get plenty of input, able to choose woods, hardware and finishes. Jake has been taking care of finishes and other details.
“I’ve been a loving husband and supportive partner, but I want to become a full-on partner in this,” he said. “I’ve started taking a more active role, a little more carpentry. It’s all been very much a joint effort, but I had to grow.”
They eventually want to open a brick-andmortar store, and they’re already close to opening.
“We’re nothing if not adventurous,” Christian said. “Welding is a goal this year. We want to add more metalwork to our pieces.”
The OKC Home + Outdoor Living Show will also include live cooking demonstrations, “Backyard Wars” pitting four local landscapers against each other, and appearances by two DIY Network stars, Alison Victoria of “Kitchen Crashers” and Sara Bendrick of “I Hate My Backyard.”
This year’s event will highlight The Homeless Alliance, and art produced by the organization’s Fresh stART program will be available for purchase. The Curbside Chronicle, a publication produced by the shelter, will be available for purchase as well. Guests will also be able to learn about how to help end long-term homelessness in Oklahoma City.
For more information on the home and garden show, go to www.homeshowokc.com. For Pipes and Sawdust, go to www. pipesandsawdust.com.