New furniture shop opens on Van Brunt, by Micah B. Rubin

The furniture created by BLKWD, a new furniture shop on Van Brunt Street, personifies the past, present and future of Red Hook. Their designs incorporate an industrial aesthetic that blends polished metal with salvaged (and new) wood and would look as perfect in a workshop as in a sleek private apartment.

“We like the industrial look but we wanted to bring something different,” says Arturo Contreras, 28, the co-founder of BLKWD (pronounced black wood). Through polishing the metals and adding accents like wood handles and rustic wood to their pieces, their creations project a clean, streamlined look, he says.

Contreras met his business partner Adam Taylor 3-years ago through their mutual love of creating furniture. Contreras worked as a display artist for the retail chain Urban Outfitters prior to becoming a woodworker. “I was always handy, good at building things from scratch,” he says. After buying a broken down Vespa scooter, Contreras used his self-taught welding skills to fix the classic two wheeler and now incorporates those skills into BLKWD’s products.

His partner Adam, 32, speaks with a southern drawl, served in the military and originally got into woodworking as a way to make money between jobs. “I always liked to use my hands,” he says. “We compliment each other,” Taylor says. “His metal work versus my wood work goes really good together. We have a really distinctive style.”

And artists, businesses and individuals are taking note. Since opening in January 2014, BLKWD’s work and commissions have grown to include Crossfit gyms, real estate offices, The Bowery House (a hip Manhattan hostel) and countless residential clients. They are currently completing the entire interior of The Rebel, a new restaurant on Bowery Street whose accents will include a wall divider made of 100-year old factory windows salvaged from the 160 Imlay Street condo development. (A member of Estate4, the company developing 160 Imlay with many real estate and business interests in Red Hook and a track record for transforming neighborhoods, is an investor in BLKWD.)

“Red Hook is changing,” Arturo says. “We want to be part of that in a positive way.”

Before moving into their current storefront, BLKWD worked out of a warehouse at 78 Sullivan Street now slated for redevelopment into condos. “We were really just looking for a space to work out of,” Taylor says. And it was total luck they found the storefront on Van Brunt Street, he says.

All of the BLKWD’s furniture is named after neighborhood streets and when using reclaimed wood in their projects, they try to know the wood’s providence. “People like to hear the story of the wood,” Arturo says.

The price of BLKWD’s furniture starts at around $350 and up, depending on the item.

BLKWD also works to collaborate with other neighborhood businesses such as their next-door neighbor Tribe Bicycle Company with whom they’ve developed a wall bike hanger.

“We feel like we’ve been welcomed here,” Arturo says. “You can’t really go anywhere and just be accepted like that. We feel really welcome.”

BLKWD, Inc. 252 Van Brunt Street (between Verona and Commerce Streets) Brooklyn NY 11231 888.973.7901 Hours: Monday – Friday 9:00am – 6:00PM