A simple online search will quickly show that wood pallets have become more than a shipping material.

They have become coffee tables and coat racks, memo boards and herb planters. With the help of the blogosphere and a healthy dose of inspiration, pallet wood has proven to be a pretty versatile material, and a free one, at that.

In the past five years, do-it-yourself books have offered step-by-step instructions for a handcrafted pallet wood creation. Jared Rohrig, a 32-year-old self-taught carpenter, launched his own furniture business when the pallet movement just began to surface. 

“I started using older wood that people would be getting rid of,” he said. “Furniture made with pallet wood has become so popular, and the wood is available everywhere and anywhere.”

Growing up in Milford, Rohrig said he had always worked in carpentry, learning from friends and family. While operating his own landscaping business, Rohrig said he began dabbling with pallet wood by making a coffee table as a Christmas present for his mother three years ago.

He said he began making small pallet wood items like coat rack shelving, wine racks and signs and expanded over the next two years, adding handcrafted furniture pieces.

Rohrig said he has recently made the shift into using reclaimed lumber, like cherry and mahogany.

“With pallets, you don’t know where the wood comes from, you don’t know what it was used for. A lot of pallets were used for carrying chemicals and unsafe materials you wouldn’t want in your home,” he said.

In July, his home operation officially became Wood + Grit, a name inspired from his friend Amy Cagginello, owner of Amy Champagne Events.

Wood + Grit, Cagginello said, is unique in its approach to design bespoke furniture, which is completely handmade and one of a kind.

“The name Wood + Grit was the obvious choice because when creating each piece Jared combines the obvious, wood, and a ton of grit,” she said. “Old-fashioned elbow grease mixed with ingenuity. His work is creative, sturdy, and each one arguably pieces of art, which is something you simply cannot find in a big box furniture store.”

Cagginello, said as a wedding planner, she has used Rohrig’s work when designing weddings for her clients.

As Wood and Grit has grown from signs and coffee tables to custom wall installations, barn doors and farm tables, so has Rohrig’s need for space. Moving all operations to an 1,800-square-foot workshop on Woodmont Road in Milford, Rohrig said his hope is to one day offer a retail showroom.　

But, even with his 70-hour work week, Rohrig can’t seem to keep the shop stocked. “As soon as I finish something, it goes out,” he said.

For Chelsea and Logan Casey, of West Haven, Wood + Grit’s handmade furniture and pallet installations made their first house a home.

“When my husband and I first bought our house, we were so excited because it was our first house,” Chelsea Casey said. “It wasn’t until a few short days after that I came home and all my furniture from Wood + Grit was finished and set up in my house when I realized the furniture he made for us made it our home.”

Later, she and her husband would take out a wall in their home, replacing it with a custom sliding barn door designed by Wood + Grit.

Rohrig has worked in local businesses like Milford Cross Fit and Dune Up Salon installing custom pallet wood and corrugated metal wall installations.

While he has shipped his pieces as far as Canada, Wood + Grit primarily works throughout Fairfield County and up through Hartford.

Joining the modern handmade movement, for Rohrig, meant joining the blue collar community, one that he believes offers plenty of opportunity for the younger generation.　

“I think it’s important for young people to know that there are other options out there besides going to college and obtaining a massive amount of debt and finding it hard or difficult to find a job after you’re done,” he said. “We have come so far technology-wise that I think people are turning back to their roots. We can only go so far in technology. People want handmade. They want to know where things are coming from.”

(Source: ctpost.com  Author: Makayla Silva)