This Woodworker Uses His Background In Shipbuilding To Create Stunning Wooden Bathtubs
The NK Woodworking & Design studio, created by craftsperson Nathie Katzoff, is known for its intricate and award-winning staircases—however, other items it creates are gaining popularity among home design enthusiasts. The studio is making headlines with its one-of-a-kind bathtubs. The most unique thing about them is the medium they are made from. Apparently, Katzoff has perfected a technique that allows him to make stunning bathtubs out of wood. The methods developed by the studio allow these bathtubs to keep water warmer for much longer than regular porcelain or metal tubs.
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Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
The tubs are made out of sustainable domestic and exotic hardwood and built in Seattle, Washington. “My favorite to use, visually, as a composition, is walnut and a mahogany called sapele,” Katzoff told Bored Panda. The process of making them is quite lengthy.
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
“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 said. The tubs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with some of them looking like giant bowls and others resembling little vessels.
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
If you’re interested in having one of these in your home, be prepared for a hefty price tag. While the studio didn’t reveal the exact price range, it is known that the price starts at $30,000. As Katzoff described it: “These are art-level pieces priced similarly to nice cars and handmade high-end art furniture.”
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
When asked how he became interested in woodworking, Katzoff said that it all began when he was 5 years old and started playing with Lego and painting artistic landscapes.
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
“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.
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
The artist says that inspiration for his creations comes from nature. “The unique geometry and forms that are created are present everywhere if we only pay attention. As a designer and artist who works with wood and glass, my goal in my work is to emulate or celebrate the natural materials and natural forms found in the world and bring them to the built environments.”
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
Nathie Katzoff revealed that he has plenty of exciting plans for the future. “Although wood is my favorite medium, I have started doing some very exciting projects with bronze and glass and look forward to sharing more of these with the world in the coming years.”
Image credits: NK Woodworking & Design studio
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Share on FacebookI never realized until now that the thing missing in my life is a beautiful wooden bathtub.
beautiful work! wish they hadn't enclosed the 6th in tiles-seems like a waste.
I know right. The tile/slab didn't seem flattering to the wood work. I understand needing to hide the jacuzzi equipment, but it could look better.
Load More Replies...Would love to be able to create something like that. Makes me smile just looking at it.
i first came across this person work a number of years ago, lovely stuff, lovely price to go along with it too, you are talking 8k a pop and upwards
if i assume correctly and they are finished with a clear resin - like boat grade epoxy (west system brand iirc) - you can treat it as any plastic material.
Load More Replies...I wondered about that too. Then I realized that if I could afford one of these I'd just let someone on the staff handle it.
Load More Replies...I would love to have just a 1/4 of this mans wood working talents! My word he's amazing!
You should watch the video on his website!!! Amazing complicated structural staircases and other things too! WOW!!! What an artist!
I'm six foot seven so I haven't really been able to enjoy a bath since I was very small. I would really like to have a great big bathtub that I could actually soak in.
They are so beautiful. Made by an absolute craftsman who pours heart and soul into these lovely objects. I would love to be the custodian of such an amazing item.
To buy one of those I would have to sell my house, so... yeah
Load More Replies...My love of nature, is appreciating these tremendously, the only thing I am not fond of, is the oblong with sharp corners, I dislike corners and always have, otherwise the artist styles are beautiful, the fact that they keep the water hot longer is a huge bonus !!!
It's beautiful, but there's a reason bathtubs are not normally made of wood. All wood shrinks over time, so eventually water is going to get into the joints and rot it out.
You should research wood handling before making comments like that. This isn't made of fresh spruce 2x4s that were left out in the rain. He charges $30k+ for a reason. Is there possibility of something happening down the road? Of course, but to think it's an automatic fail is just incorrect.
Load More Replies...I never realized until now that the thing missing in my life is a beautiful wooden bathtub.
beautiful work! wish they hadn't enclosed the 6th in tiles-seems like a waste.
I know right. The tile/slab didn't seem flattering to the wood work. I understand needing to hide the jacuzzi equipment, but it could look better.
Load More Replies...Would love to be able to create something like that. Makes me smile just looking at it.
i first came across this person work a number of years ago, lovely stuff, lovely price to go along with it too, you are talking 8k a pop and upwards
if i assume correctly and they are finished with a clear resin - like boat grade epoxy (west system brand iirc) - you can treat it as any plastic material.
Load More Replies...I wondered about that too. Then I realized that if I could afford one of these I'd just let someone on the staff handle it.
Load More Replies...I would love to have just a 1/4 of this mans wood working talents! My word he's amazing!
You should watch the video on his website!!! Amazing complicated structural staircases and other things too! WOW!!! What an artist!
I'm six foot seven so I haven't really been able to enjoy a bath since I was very small. I would really like to have a great big bathtub that I could actually soak in.
They are so beautiful. Made by an absolute craftsman who pours heart and soul into these lovely objects. I would love to be the custodian of such an amazing item.
To buy one of those I would have to sell my house, so... yeah
Load More Replies...My love of nature, is appreciating these tremendously, the only thing I am not fond of, is the oblong with sharp corners, I dislike corners and always have, otherwise the artist styles are beautiful, the fact that they keep the water hot longer is a huge bonus !!!
It's beautiful, but there's a reason bathtubs are not normally made of wood. All wood shrinks over time, so eventually water is going to get into the joints and rot it out.
You should research wood handling before making comments like that. This isn't made of fresh spruce 2x4s that were left out in the rain. He charges $30k+ for a reason. Is there possibility of something happening down the road? Of course, but to think it's an automatic fail is just incorrect.
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