A spring skiing trip in Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 1990 changed Karen Holt’s life.
She fell in love with the rustic furnishings in the ski lodge, and when she returned home to Chicago, she quit her job as a kitchen- and-bath designer to create her own rustic furniture.
“I taught myself how to make things,” says the 39- year-old furniture artist. “I started buying tools, asking for power tools for gifts. I work with willow and barn wood — barn wood is like gold to me …I usually don’t even make a sketch of what I make , the wood is so beautiful that it tells me how it should go “
Most of it comes from farmers taking down trees or tearing down barns in the collar counties, she says.
Today, she sells her rustic creations, ranging from birdhouses to dining -roomtables, under the name K.L. Holt Rustic furniture, through Sawbridge Studios, 406 N. Clark St., and Points of Origin, 1318 Waukegan Rd., Glenview , as well as by appointment from her 5,000 square-foot studio on North Ravenswood avenue. Gucci used her furniture in its North Michigan Avenue window in November.
Prices range from about $30 for a picture frame to bookcases for $1,000. bed headboards start around $450; stools are $125.
For information, call 312-549-7154.