We began in 2022, when Caleb left a secure welding job to build a dream in our cramped two-car garage. We had no tools and no steady income — just a sheer will to work hard, and a habit of praying over every piece of wood and metal that passed through our hands.
It wasn't a calculated business plan. It was obedience — a leap taken because we believed God was leading us somewhere, even when we couldn't see the whole path in front of us.
Just as Caleb realized his true passion was crafting dining tables, we found out we were expecting our first daughter, Emma.
Right before she was born, I took a terrifying leap of faith and left my teaching job, too. The safety net was gone. We had nothing but our faith that God would provide and lead us.— Janae
Looking back, our story looks a lot like the tables Caleb builds today. When you look at a handmade table, you see a beautiful centerpiece where families gather. But what you don't see is the raw wood shaped under immense friction, or the intense heat joining pieces of steel until they are unbreakable.
Our family was forged in that garage. We were built under pressure to withstand the heavy seasons of life — exactly like the tables we build for your home.
We didn't forge ourselves. God did — the same way He shapes anyone willing to walk through the fire with Him.
That leap became Ironwood — the place where Caleb's craft first took shape. It started with custom orders: a handcrafted bench here, a live-edge conference table there, steel and wood joined the same way our family was — under pressure, on purpose. Whatever a client could dream up, we said yes and figured out how to build it.
Janae was right there in the shop too, not just running the books — running the saw, sanding slabs, doing the same hands-on work Caleb was. This was never a one-person leap.
But somewhere along the way, families kept telling us the same thing: they wanted that same heirloom quality and the same care in every joint, in a table that felt like home instead of a showroom. So we built Silver Oak — not instead of that first dream, but because of it.
None of it happened because we were smart enough or brave enough on our own. Every order, every referral, every table that's left this shop — that's been God providing, one piece at a time.
Curious what else has come out of that shop? Take a look at Ironwood →