Catching Up with Wachs Woodcraft
Article by Sable Massingill Martinez
Photography by Jonathan Wade
Community is at the heart of Wachs’ work. He sources wood from a local non-profit, the Atlanta Wood Foundation, that mills salvaged urban trees into wood. In addition to custom commissions, he is also working on a line of his own designs, including a dining table and chairs set at a fixed price, so that everyone can have a piece of his art in their home.
"Communal pieces, like dining and coffee tables, are Wachs' most popular requests, which makes sense as he describes his pieces as made to warm the home, and a buy-once, keep-for-life item."
300 lb coffee table
Originally from Alabama, John Wachs now calls Decatur home; that includes his Avondale Estates workshop, where he creates beautiful custom wooden pieces.
Growing up, he was always building and working on DIY projects with his father and brother. As he trickled out of his work in the film industry, he decided to take furniture making seriously and launched Wachs Woodcraft three years ago.
“It was a really large coffee table,” Wachs said of the custom piece he crafted that encouraged him to launch the business. “While it was simple - it felt more high-end than other pieces I’d done. It was huge and very thick, made of solid wood. It weighed 300 pounds.”
Communal pieces, like dining and coffee tables, are Wachs’ most popular requests, which makes sense as he tells us that he designs pieces to warm the home.
Originally published in Decatur City Lifestyle
March 2024 Issue