Page 6 - Classically Carolina 2019

DOWNTOWN

Joe Mazurek’s
handcrafted

furniture
glows with
beauty,
precision

B

Boykin Furniture Company is different
than most furniture stores because of Joe
Mazurek, who hand makes 18th-century
style furniture for clients across South
Carolina and the eastern United States.

Mazurek’s workshop is located at Boykin Furniture “I think furniture making was in my blood … on
Company, which is owned by his wife, Lucy. my mama’s side of the family,” Mazurek says. “Half
The business, located at 924 Broad Street, was of her kinfolk were cabinet makers and furniture
established in 1939 by Lucy’s parents, Floyd H. and makers. When I was 10, I had a little satchel of
Nell Boykin. hand tools. I had my first table saw at age 14.”

“I’ve always wanted to do this, and I get pure joy While Mazurek does use some power tools, he
from it,” Joe Mazurek says, smiling ear to ear. “If focuses on mainly using hand tools the majority
you do what you want to do, you will never work a of the time. He points out that he never uses belt
day in your life.” sanders or spray finishes on the furniture he makes.

Mazurek’s family immigrated from East Germany “Up to the 1840s a great predominance of furniture
to the United States in 1957. They settled in Great was handmade before the Industrial Revolution,”
Falls, S.C., and eventually moved to the Rembert says Mazurek. “The final product is hand planed,
area in 1965. hand scraped and has hand-applied finishes.”

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