Where the Trail Meets the Workshop
Over the past decade, Kim McIntyre has become one of Seattle’s most respected furnituremakers and woodworking educators, known as much for helping others learn the craft as for the furniture she builds.
When I spoke with her, she was taking a break from preparing for a nine-day kayaking adventure with longtime friends. The annual trip is one of many ways she stays connected to the outdoors, an influence as important as participating in her woodworking community.
McIntyre is a familiar face at woodworking schools and community events throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. She teaches a woodworking class at the Pratt Fine Arts Center, shares her knowledge at festivals and Maker Camp, and helps countless beginners gain confidence to make their own DIY woodworking furniture. McIntyre is just as active on Instagram, where she posts photos and videos of her projects and moments from the classes she teaches.
Before establishing herself in Seattle’s woodworking scene, McIntyre spent years leading wilderness expeditions with Outward Bound, helping folks navigate unfamiliar terrain and changing conditions. “You’re just kind of at peace with whatever the weather brings,” she said. “Take it as interesting and exciting rather than begrudging.” She brings that same mindset to the bench, where each project presents a new set of problems to solve, and adapting to the unexpected is part of the process.
From Wilderness to Woodworking
McIntyre’s introduction to the craft came long before she ever led an Outward Bound expedition. Growing up, she spent time in her father’s hobby shop. One of her earliest memories is playing in the shavings left by her dad’s table saw. As she got older, making woodworking furniture ideas and gifts for family members by hand became part of everyday life. Later, while attending Sterling College in Vermont, she rediscovered the craft through a woodworking class called Reverence for Wood. The course rekindled an appreciation for working with wood, but it would be years before woodworking took center stage.
“I thought it would be a nice restorative way to kind of be in a shop solo.”
— Kim McIntyre
As fulfilling as the Outward Bound work was, McIntyre began looking for a different pace. “I started having this small daydream,” she said. The solitude of the shop appealed to her after years spent leading groups outdoors. “[In the wilderness] you’re always taking in information and pivoting...those skills are well suited for woodworking,” she said of pursuing the craft. “I thought it would be a nice restorative way to kind of be in a shop solo.”
That led McIntyre to the Vermont Woodworking School, where she studied fine woodworking furniture and began laying the foundation for the career she enjoys today. While the setting had changed from rivers and forests to benches and hand tools, the mindset remained familiar. Both environments rewarded patience, preparation, and the confidence to adjust course when circumstances demanded it.
Learning Through Every Project
Like many woodworkers, McIntyre speaks fondly of her earliest DIY woodworking furniture. “I still have pieces from early on,” she said. “They’re reminders of where I started.” They served their purpose, but they also revealed just how much there was to learn. One such piece is a sideboard that developed cracks in its top after a few years. “It’s attached with dowels, [and] obviously not dealing with expansion and contraction.”
Another lesson that stands out in her mind involves sharpening. It was one of the most frustrating parts of woodworking. But after seeking advice from instructors at the Vermont Woodworking School, she succeeded. “I [went from feeling bad] about myself...to the opposite end.” Having capable mentors at hand made a significant difference. “It’s really nice to be handheld through that stuff...” She carries that philosophy into how she instructs a woodworking class.
Helping Folks Find Their Path
McIntyre’s experiences as a student shaped the way she teaches. She remembers how valuable it was to have instructors who offered encouragement alongside technical guidance, and she works to create that same experience for every student who walks into one of her classes. “I’m spending a lot of time giving people that level of respect,” she said. “Helping people feel seen and valued.”
She also believes relationships are among the most valuable things to offer. When someone reaches out looking for advice, she makes a point of connecting them with the right people, even if she doesn’t have the answers herself. “I’ve put a lot of energy into making sure people feel networked,” she said. “Like they have an open door to the person who would have the information if I don’t.”
“A huge thing for woodworkers to learn is that you might not be good at this right away.”
— Kim McIntyre
Crafting Kinship
Creating that belonging has become just as important as skills or woodworking furniture ideas. Drawing on years of experience helping people learn in unfamiliar environments, McIntyre understands that confidence often comes before competence. “I don’t just want them to physically learn the skills,” she said. “I want them to enjoy being [there].”
For beginners, that approach can make all the difference. “A huge thing for woodworkers to learn,” she said, “is that you might not be good at this right away.” By meeting students where they are and prioritizing progress over perfection, McIntyre helps them discover that woodworking is about learning with every project.
Building a Woodworking Community
McIntyre’s built tea boxes through several iterations while working in a community woodshop. Today, that design remains part of her work, and versions are still available through her Etsy shop. The project reminds her of something else she discovered during that time: the value of being part of a community.
“My first exposure was being in an artist community,” she said of the time. “That just kind of pivoted my life in a lot of ways.” She began to recognize the artists behind Seattle’s public artwork, signs, and landmarks. Curious to learn more, she reached out to furnituremakers throughout the region, asking to visit their shops. “I got to see communal maker spaces,” she said, “and just build a ton of relationships.”
Relationships as Currency
McIntyre immersed herself in Seattle’s creative community. Before she and her wife purchased a home, she spent a year working out of a community maker space. She was soon offered a part-time job checking members in and helping them use the equipment. What began as a few hours each week grew into a wood studio manager at Pratt, where she helped oversee the long-running nonprofit community art center. “That’s where I feel the most grounded,” she said. “With my woodworking community, getting to be connected to that public space and that nonprofit.”
For McIntyre, community is about sharing with people who enjoy making things as much as she does. “I kind of straddle that line of loving all the connection and enthusiasm that comes from being in community,” she said, “and that energy that comes from sharing knowledge or receiving knowledge from others.”
More Than the Furniture She Builds
McIntyre was recently featured in Behind the Edge, an exhibit from Tormek highlighting craftspeople whose work demonstrates skill, creativity, and lifelong learning. In The Seven Spoons Collection, presented by Woodcraft, McIntyre explores forms carved from green wood. Rather than sanding away the tool marks, she leaves them visible to show the craft behind each piece.
Asked what’s next, McIntyre says she hopes to continue doing the work she finds most meaningful: building woodworking furniture, teaching, and investing in the people around her. “I kind of feel like I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s a bit of rinse and repeat.”
She plans to continue her work at the Pratt Fine Arts Center while returning to woodworking events. At Maker Camp, she teaches her hard-earned sharpening skills. “It’s nice to give that gift back.” At the Texas Woodworking Festival, she helps beginners hand-carve spoons.
Life Between Commissions
McIntyre also makes custom furniture for clients, although she’s become more intentional about protecting time. She prefers leaving room to explore new woodworking furniture ideas, complete pieces started for demonstrations and enjoy the outdoor adventures that have always been part of her life. “[I enjoy] vegetable gardening and paddle boarding and kayaking,” she said. “I want to enjoy the quality of life as well.”
I want to enjoy the quality of life as well.”
— Kim McIntyre
For McIntyre, that’s more than enough. She’ll continue solving problems one project at a time, strengthening the woodworking community through teaching and mentorship, and creating furniture that reflects the same curiosity that first drew her out of the wilderness into the workshop.
CHAD McCLUNG
Chad is a woodworker with nearly 20 years of experience in woodworking and home improvement, covering these topics as a how-to writer, editor, and photographer. He is the former editor-in-chief of Woodcraft Magazine. When not in the shop, Chad is probably adding to a Blu-ray collection that rivals his tool collection.