Remember those fabulous shelves above my bar? Those were made by Katie and Shane of The Restored Board. (In addition, Katie designed my logo a couple years ago. These guys are awesome at everything they do!) The shelves are just a bonus product they make— their woodworking speciality is cheese boards!

You may not know this about me but I LOVE cheese and cheese plates. I’ve been known to order cheese and charcuterie as a meal. I also love entertaining. These boards are perfect for both. Katie and Shane gifted me this beautiful board for a styled shoot. Although I’m not a pro cheese plate designer, I assure you I am a pro cheese plate eater. :)

To put together the perfect cheese board, here are some resources: Martha Stewart has an article about how to assemble the cheese board of your dreams. The Feed Feed has a ton of cheese board inspiration photos here . . . aaaand now I’m hungry.

Katie and Shane hand-make a variety of boards in several shapes and sizes. They have recently added copper hardware to many of their boards which is such an elegant touch. The simpler versions can be used as cutting boards, too. Check their website for all the pretty options.

I recently did a Q&A with the couple to learn a little more about them, their product, and how this (growing rapidly) side gig all began. Plus, a few of their favorite Charleston spots, just for fun.

Who are you and what do you do? Katie and Shane Sick. Yes, Sick...ask me how long I will be dragging out the name change process now that we're married! :) We own The Restored Board Design Co. where Shane handles the heavy lifting (woodworking) and I, Katie do the business/marketing/design/social media side of things and help in the shop when Shane needs an extra set of hands.

Where are you from? Shane is a true Charleston native and I am originally from St.Louis.

What brought you to Charleston? About 22 years ago, my grandparents retired here on Seabrook Island and my mom and I tagged along. Best decision ever!

When and how did this business come about? Two years ago this month, we were starting to plan our wedding and realized just how expensive everything was. Shane has always tinkered in the shop with various projects and loved woodworking so we decided to make a go of it and save a little extra for the wedding fund. We started with a garage full of used, hand-me-down tools and a $60 wood haul (we found the guy off Craigslist and we still buy wood from him today - he's the best and no, we can't tell you who he is because then we'd have no wood. HA).

What is your favorite part about your business? Shane: My favorite part is the process. It's really cool to know that these really fun, finished pieces started with just a truck bed full of scraps and cut-offs. Katie: My favorite part is having a creative outlet that is all our own. We make the decisions, the products and meet our customers and being in the corporate marketing world, it's nice to have a fun project to work on with my husband.

How has it grown since you started? Oh boy. Our first market we attended, we had one 6ft. table, ten cutting boards for sale and no freaking clue if anyone would like what we made. We sold our first, second and third board that night and were beyond excited. Since then we've had two full years of successful events and custom orders where hundreds of boards have gone home with our awesome customers!

Where does the wood sourced for your boards come from? Or is this a secret? We buy most of our wood from local furniture builders and fellow woodworkers. It's mostly their scraps and cut-off pieces that are too small for the projects that they're working on. We try to save as much of these hard woods before they end up in a burn pile or at the dump. There's is a ton of wood out there for sale, you just have to look!

What is the process of making one of your boards? To break it down simply: 1. Source the wood. 2. Mill each board down to a workable size. 3. Lay out the pieces. 4. Glue & clamp all the pieces together. 5. Sanding, sanding, sanding and more sanding. 6. Brand with our logo. 7. Finish with oil and wax.

On average, how long does it take to make one board, start to finish? This is a tricky question because we batch the boards in sets of 10-15, and you have to let the glue dry, but all in all it's about 3 hours per board. It can also vary depending on the size, shape and wood type.

What different board styles do you offer right now? Our copper collection in mediums and rounds, larges, butcher blocks, minis, mediums with leather straps and more!

What can we look for from The Restored board next? We have a few new collections on the way for 2020. Be on the lookout for some pops of color, new materials and maybe even some furniture pieces. It's going to be a fun year!

Because everyone always loves to hear locals' favorites:

Favorite season in Charleston? The two weeks of Spring and Fall that we get here every year!
Favorite Charleston brunch restaurant? Pages Okra Grill
Favorite festival/event in Charleston? Charleston Wine + Food Festival
Favorite place to watch the sunset in Charleston? Shane: Anywhere on the water, Katie: Shem Creek
Favorite date night idea in Charleston? If we're being honest, we usually pick one of our favorite restaurants and end the night roaming around Target. Target has something for everyone! We also love to pick a local market (if we're not vendors) and see what all the other local makers are creating!

Support your local businesses, y’all. Support Katie and Shane!

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway with these guys! You can enter by visiting either one of our Instagram pages: The Charleston Home or The Restored Board.

For an extra 3 entries, comment on this blog post with your Instagram handle!