Jirak's furniture hobby unveiled at Art in the Park
Staff writer
When Marion contractor Jeff Jirak isn't busy building custom homes or involved with Ducks Unlimited activities he likes to unwind by working on his hobby — making rustic furniture.
Saturday, Jeff will be unveiling his "hobby" to the public as one of the first-time vendors in Marion's 26th annual Art in the Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Central Park.
Jeff is one of numerous vendors from the Marion area who plan on exhibiting during the festival. Approximately 240 vendors are scheduled to set up in the park offering a variety of crafts, food, or other wares.
Jeff will bring several "rustic furniture" items to the park including end tables, benches, shelves, quilt ladders, three-legged stools, and other items.
Although he purchases some lumber for his projects, the vast majority comes from native Marion County trees including hackberry, ash, and elm trees.
"We'll timber scout along the creek banks," Jeff explained. "I use all native hardwoods."
Most of his supply comes from some "bottom ground" near Cedar Point.
Jeff said his first big endeavor in making rustic furniture came recently when he and wife, Tammy, decided to redo their living room using the lodge look. He built a log couch for the room. Jeff said he plans to bring his log couch to Art in the Park so people can get an idea of what it looks like.
"If someone wanted one we could take orders," he said. "I can work all winter in my shop."
Jeff isn't the only member of his family who likes the rustic look. Tammy said she was really pleased with their way their "lodge look" living room remodel turned out.
"I like everything he's made," Tammy commented. "The lodge look is very popular."
The "lodge look" is not only popular in terms of home decorating, but house building as well. Jeff said he built a home east of Emporia entirely out of log timbers.
"When I looked into building a log house I found most (logs) are hand hewn," Jeff said.
Jirak also uses the "hand hewn" method to create his furniture.
Depending on the piece, Jeff said he can build most furniture items within 16 to 20 hours. As with most hobbies, he does most of his work in the evenings or on Saturdays at his shop, located in Marion's business park.
Building is nothing new to Jeff. He first went to work for his father, a remodeling contractor, spending 20 years in the business. He's been the owner of his own business for 11 years.
But when it comes to the new rustic furniture endeavor, Jeff is the builder while Tammy is the designer.
"She comes up with the ideas," Jeff said. "She came up with the idea that I should do something with rustic furniture to go along with the custom home business.
"If people have a picture of something they'd like I can usually look at the picture and come up with something pretty close to it," he added.
For the Jiraks, the rustic furniture hobby is a family affair. Their children, Anne, Megan, and Joel, often are called on to help when gathering hardwood along the creek banks for the projects. Both Jeff and Tammy plan to man their booth at Art in the Park and said they are excited for the big day.
"We'll just have to see how this goes," he said.
