aftcra Artist Meet and Greet: Sean Murray of Wine Barrel Products

I’m Sean Murray with Wine Barrel Products. I make things from recycled wine barrels, but I mostly specialize in Adirondack chairs. I have a shop in Pacheco, CA, and I work out of my garage in Lafayette, CA. I have been working with wine barrel chairs for the past three years.

By trade I’m a Mechanical Engineer, a General Contractor, and now I’m a maker of wine barrel furniture.  I graduated from college as a Mechanical Engineer and worked in that field for 7 years until I realized that I needed to be outside.  I had been buying and fixing houses while working as an Engineer, so I thought the logical next step was to start building them. 20+ years later I still enjoy building houses, which is my day-to-day job.

Wine Barrel Products was created because of an encounter I had with a wine barrel chair. When I sat in the chair, I found that it was very uncomfortable and I knew that I could do better. So, I bought some barrels and started experimenting.  After several tries, I came up with an extremely comfortable design.  Friends experienced them and wanted them, and then more people started sending me requests for them. Finally, a store owner approached me to see if I would make them for his store. I call it a ” hobbie gone wild”. I always say to do what you love and keep doing it. Don’t let the business side of things take over your business. Your passion shows in your work.

Check out Sean’s work at Wine Barrel Products.