Check Out Tom & Karen McManners’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tom & Karen McManners.

Hi Tom & Karen, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Early in our budding relationship, Karen arranged our first romantic weekend getaway to Charlotte, NC. The winding roads led us to Shelton Vineyards, a beautiful winery in the heart of the Yadkin Valley. It turned out that they had an entire wall of french oak barrels for sale and with both of our birthdays just ahead in October, we decided to treat ourselves to one. It sat in our home for over a year before I made the decision to open it up and create something. It became a barrel cabinet that we decorated for Halloween and in short order both friends and family would visit requesting us to make them one. It basically cascaded from there. We joined an online store, created our own website, starting attending local craft shows and seven years later, here we are!

We’ve grown significantly and become quite well known around Georgia and North Carolina. The business has afforded us both the opportunity to retire from our long time corporate jobs to concentrate on our personal quest. Karen was a NICU nurse for 30 years of evening shifts! I sold surgical instruments to hospitals around Georgia. No more ZOOM calls for us!!

We’ve explored land and building a brick and mortor for the business, but right now we’re just content to enjoy what we do from our home together.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We’ve been blessed, for sure. Maybe some hiccups or small challenges here and there, but for the most part our road has been smooth.

Some of the challenges have been navigating taxes of a business, space to build and store product within and learning how to drive with a long trailer to shows.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We are often asked “Were we woodworkers before beginning Whiskey, Wine and Design?” Nope. Cold turkey. What we have found interesting is, on occasion, we need some help during the busy season and we’ve hired folks with significant building experience that are quite challenged with working with barrel decor.

The big difference is that with barrels, all of the American white oak is curved and cupped and of various sizes presenting multiple challenges most woodworkers have never experienced before. There are no straight edges or 90 degree angles during the creation of barrel decor. At the end of the day, we learned that it is a unique talent to create high end barrel furniture. One that apparently both Karen and I possess!

We did uncover that we are not alone in selling items made from barrels. What we have discovered is that most of the other folks don’t detail and finish their work like we do. Case in point, peruse almost any other barrel decor artist and you will immediately see that their products are created with self tapping screws from the local hardware store. Cheap and easy and certainly not the extra mile. We made a decision early on to find a signature to our business.

We found it in our blacksmith bolts. Elegant, vintage, even medieval looking bolts that adorn our products and create our signature look that no one else in the country has. We definitely go the extra mile with these bolts and it is immediately recognized by customers as a tribute to our artistry.

How do you think about happiness?
Karen and I basically spend 24/7 together since we operate Whiskey, Wine and Design together. This would be a hurdle to a lot of couples but we absolutely are soul mates that enjoy every minute together. Small snippety moments? Of course, but the underlying devotion easily overcomes any nuance that gets in our way.

We enjoy being away from corporate America, that makes us very happy!

We absolutely love the people we meet and talk to at the craft shows. So many genuinely good people that we’ve had the chance to meet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whiskeywineanddesign.com
• Instagram: @whiskeywineanddesign
• Facebook: @whiskeywineanddesign
• Youtube: /whiskeywineanddesign