Old treasures turn into RustiCustom creations

JP Mazanec has four barns and five houses in his yard.

Those old structures have all been disassembled, cleaned up and stored away. The boards are piled outside. The metal fittings neatly sorted. The window frames are hanging from the wall.

JP — which stands for Jon Paul — owns RustiCustom Furniture. He searches far and wide for old wood and other furnishings then brings his treasures back to Wimberley where he turns the pieces into “refined rustic” furniture.

JP’s creations can be found in Booths 350-351 at Wimberley Market Days on the first Saturday of the month. In addition, JP plans to expand his store into Booth 352 in the coming months. He also sells at Old Gruene Market Days on the third weekend of each month. In Wimberley, his booth at Market Days is one of the biggest around. In Gruene, he sells out of a 10 by 10 canopy. When a customer in Gruene wants a larger item he directs them to Wimberley.

“I want a whole booth dedicated to benches and tables and a whole booth for handmade chairs, then a booth for smaller items,” he says. “That’s my concept.”

JP worked construction for years, but a hand injury convinced him it was time to go into business for himself. Paula Wright, his mother, dared him to start building furniture. Nine years ago, he accepted that dare and has seen his Wimberley-based business grow steadily.

Chairs in the future

He remembers making furniture with his father when he was younger. “I hated it,” he recalls. “I was out in the sun sanding away. Now things have changed. What I do reminds me of my father. I like that.”

Today, he specializes in dining tables, benches and coffee tables made from reclaimed wood. He has added smaller, less expensive items such as wooden hearts, flags and wall art. Next he will concentrate on making chairs that complement his tables. “People ask, ‘Do you have chairs that match the tables?’ I want to be able to say yes to everything,” says JP.

Making and selling furniture is only half the battle. Finding old wood and fixtures, and keeping it safe for future use, is an ongoing challenge.

The yard at his two-acre home is piled high with old boards. There are storage containers packed with the boards arranged by size and color. There are tents packed with wood. He had a chance to get some cedar logs from the Bastrop area. They are now stacked, color coded and waiting for a trip to the sawmill. “When I started this I didn’t think about storing all this stuff and keeping it dry,” he says.

Helping with demo

Over the years JP has salvaged wood from four barns and five houses. Often, he helps the owners with the demolition process. Not much goes to waste. The window frames become wall art. The hinges adorn some of his tables. He’s made tables out of old barn doors. Even the old square nails are put to use.

In addition to helping with the demolition, he makes the property owners a piece of furniture out of the old building. “So they have something to remember,” JP says. “They really want to know you are going to preserve the story and the wood. It becomes an emotional thing.”

A typical table JP and his co-worker Pat Kelleher make, sells in the $1,500-range. Some go as high as $5,000. A table takes about a week to make — three days to build the table and three or four days to finish it.

“I didn’t know I had any artistic talent until I started building furniture,” says JP. “Over the years, my style has evolved into what I call modern rustic. We now use a wide range of reclaimed materials. I remember when I first started I was just using cedar fencing.”

JP is experimenting with making custom cabinets as well.

JP and Pat used to do almost all their work out of a two-car garage, but recently completed construction of a two-story, insulated workshop. “This will make it a little better during the hot summer months,” JP says. The old garage will now become a room dedicated to wood finishing.

Things are going well. “I have a lot of customers, so I am working at a pace I want to,” says JP. “I am really fortunate to be working in my hometown and be able to make a living at something I love.”