You’ll find Rustbelt’s artistry in the concession stands at Cleveland sports venues. You’ll find it in gondola cabs at Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana. You’ll find it in Marble Room, and you’ll find it in Valle, a Michelin-starred California restaurant.
The brand’s furniture design skills are evident in a simple hexagonal bench and in an intricate reception table engraved with the signatures of 250 notable world leaders.
Rustbelt is rightfully everywhere, and at its heart is a group of talented Clevelanders who keep their efforts close to home.
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Nestled in the Goodrich-Kirtland Park and Asiatown neighborhoods, it began as the Interior Products Co. in 1970 before rebranding as Rustbelt Reclamation in 2013.
President Megan Barker oversees the staff of nine woodworkers who construct custom, handmade furniture for the missing piece in a client’s space. It often starts about 12-14 weeks before the final product is presented. The staff works closely with clients to understand the environment they are working with.
“It’s something we focus on at the start of every project: material matters,” says Barker. “From the wood species to the graining and finish selection, we have a deep respect for the one-of-a-kind composition of every slab of wood.”
While Rustbelt’s expertise has most commonly meshed with the hospitality industry, it’s tested limits more times than not.
“As a woman-owned business in the manufacturing world, we are already a bit of an outlier,” Barker says. “We push ourselves to provide solutions that other manufacturers would turn away. We love a challenge, and it encourages innovative thinking and gives everyone on our team a voice.”
As a result, the team completes an average of 100 custom projects every year, all of which are devoted to sustainability and viability.
Rustbelt’s “Tree to Table” initiative ensures that primarily fallen timber enters its wooden furniture. Instead of being shredded or disposed of, the tree wood is carefully salvaged, dried, milled and refurbished to peak quality to protect from years of wear and tear from temperature, age and other factors. And it’s all sourced within only 200 miles of the company’s workshop on East 36th Street.
“You could be the best craftsman in the world, but if you’re not using the best material in the world, you’re not going to make the best product in the world,” Barker says.
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That local craftsmanship travels across the country — among celebrity homes and partnerships with designers on Architectural Digest’s list of the top 100 creatives — but the best of what Barker and her team do often resides in Cleveland homes.
“These are clients that can actually come in and see the shop and look at materials with us,” Barker says, noting a poker table with a home’s name stitched in the felt.
With the design world forecasting “wood-infused spaces” and “artisanal details,” Rustbelt feels right at home. This has motivated the brand to make the beauty of custom woodwork accessible, rather than just a fancy trend.
After formally dropping “Reclamation” from its name in 2024, embracing the region in which it’s inspired, a new Rustbelt website welcomed The Grove — a blog overseen by project manager Kim Mager and marketing coordinator Eli Edwards that provides an insider scoop on custom-furniture-making.
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Barker and Mager describe Rustbelt’s furniture as “quiet luxury,” but it’s not reserved only for the luxurious. They have a desire to reach clients of all backgrounds.
“Working in the world of design is not just about talent and hard work,” Barker says, “but the ability to listen and adapt.”
Adapting to anything from a river-inspired epoxy table, tiles engraved with Wyoming’s native plants or a bar cart with compartments for multiple glass shapes — it will always be timeless, because it will always be exactly what the client wants. And no matter where it lands, it will always have a piece of Rustbelt’s 55-year history in Cleveland.
“Modern heirlooms,” Mager says. “Those two things coming together are just a beautiful part of our story.”
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