The NK Woodworking & Design Studio in Seattle Washington is famously known for their unique wooden stairs. These stairs have won design awards around the world but recently they have been making waves in the design community with something incredibly unique and beautiful. The studio has started to create one-of-a-kind wooden bathtubs. Most people are familiar with steel or porcelain bathtubs which can be cold and harsh. These wooden tubs offer a unique natural element to the design process as well as added insulate properties that actually make for a longer lasting bath.
The tubs are hand-made out of almost any wood that the customer can dream of.
Nathie Katzoff is the talented woodworker behind these tubs and said he prefers to use walnut and a type of mahogany called sapele.
The creation process is very lengthy but the result is incredible.
“With every bath being different, it varies on complexity. However, it often takes us three or four months to make a bath. The most extreme custom bath (no public photos available) we made took almost a year to create”
The creator says the tubs can be made in nearly any shape the customer sees fit for their space. From a bowl to a vessel they can manipulate the shape of the tub any way they want using wood.
These tubs are one-of-a kind and because no two pieces of wood are the same you will never have the same tub as anyone else.
This custom touch means that they come with quite a large price tag. A custom wood bathtub from the NK Design Studio starts at $30,000.
When he was 5 years old, Katzoff was intrigued with Legos and painting. This furthered his interest in working with his hands and at 16 years old he entered into a carpentry career.
“At sixteen, I got my first carpentry job building a composite timber frame home in New England, and at eighteen, went to a boat building school in Maine to continue my path in expertise of craft. After working as a wooden boat builder for many years, in 2011, I decided to start my own business based around my love of fine wood furniture and fine woodwork. My goal was to merge my interests of art and nature along with my honed appreciation for the fine craft of woodworking. Over the last nine years, we ended up winning many awards and getting recognized worldwide for our sculptural curved stairways along with our sculptural baths,” he said.
The NK Design Studio has inspired other woodworkers to create incredible all wood, one-of-a-kind pieces of functional furniture.
Investing that amount of money and time into a tub is absolutely worth it to some people. It is one of the world’s places to relax. You might as well make it special.
The curve compliment the natural feel that wood offers. Each piece has to be manipulated for hours to match each other piece.
NK Woodworking is a small artisan woodworking & design company focusing in unique & complex woodwork, from custom stairways to wooden boats.
Woodworking is an art and it takes a creative mind, a steady hand and a lot of patience.
Using the right materials a good piece of custom woodwork can last many lifetimes.
The design options are limitless because a skilled woodworker can create just about anything to compliment any room.
More info: NK Woodworking & Design Studio
The amount of time involved is something that comes with creating a perfect piece of furniture. These bathtubs are built to last a lifetime and the NK Woodworking & Design Studio out of Seattle, Washington has perfected the process of creating one of the world’s most beautiful bathtubs. If they didn’t have a $30,000 starting price tag, is a wood bathtub something you would want in your home? For me, I would love one!