Page 10 - made-in-portland

10 MADE IN PORTLAND July 25, 2013
WALNUT STUDIOLO
By KYLIE WRAY
The Tribune
How to carry my U-lock?
An essential question to a bike
commuter, and one that started a
business.
Walnut Studiolo, a small company that
makes handmade leather bike accessories,
began in 2009 after Geoffrey Franklin made
a leather U-lock holder for himself. Frank-
lin’s wife, Valerie, encouraged him to make
more to sell on Etsy.com. And thus, Walnut
Studiolo began.
“Walnut combines
thoughtful modern design
with old-world craft, unique
for bicycles beer and more,”
Franklin said.
In December 2009, the
Franklins hosted a table at
Bike Portland’s Bike Craft
Fair. After receiving great
responses from Bike Port-
land and it’s customers,
they decided to make a go at
a business.
“My goal is to make high-
quality, beautiful, durable
and most of all functional
solutions to everyday prob-
lems,” said Franklin.
Franklin graduated from
the University of Oregon’s
School of Architecture.
When the architecture mar-
ket took a downturn, Frank-
lin began putting himself in-
to Walnut Studiolo.
All of Walnut Studiolo’s
accessories are made from
high quality leather. In addi-
tion to U-lock holsters, Wal-
nut also sells many prod-
ucts in a range from bicycle
frame handles to six-pack
bicycle frame cinches to car-
ry your beverages to seat
bags.
Franklin’s favorite prod-
uct is the seat barrel bag, a
Saint Bernard inspired
seat bag made from
high quality leather
and cedar.
Walnut Studiolo got
its name partly from
Franklin’s small archi-
tecture business, which
is also called Walnut.
To Franklin, walnut
was decided because it
came from a strong and
mighty tree, but also because it is a seed, it
is edible but has the potential to grow. And
studiolo is an architecture term for a small
cabinet or study room meaning little studio.
Franklin’s architecture touch is apparent
throughout the business. One such touch is
the Leather Blueprint Tube, a hand made
gift worthy of any architect.
Franklin’s studiolo is in his garage, where
he works to hand make all of the products
sold by Walnut.
Since all of the products are hand stitched
and crafted to order by Walnut Studiolo,
they encourage patience in their customers.
For example, the Blueprint Tube takes four
to six weeks to make, and adding a mono-
gram adds to that time.
Not only can customers purchase Walnut
Studiolo handmade accessories on their
website (walnutstudiolo.com) and on their
Etsy page (etsy.com/shop/WalnutStudiolo)
Portland customers can check out their col-
lection at Joe Bike, 2039 S.E. Cesar E. Chavez
Blvd.
On June 13, a customer from New Or-
leans, who bought a seat barrel bag, left a
comment on the Franklin’s Etsy page read-
ing: “All I can saw is: wow. The craftsman-
ship of this bag is exceptional. This bag is
like functional artwork and I cannot wait to
ride my bike around town with this on the
seat. I really appreciated the cute walnut
that was included in it too. Nice touch!”
However, Portland bikers are not the only
ones to enjoy Walnut Studiolo’s products,
their bike accessories are also sold around
the country and the world, in countries in-
cluding Austrailia, Singapore and the United
Kingdom.
Architecture, old-world craft inspire a passel of high-quality leather goods
Walnut
Studiolo
walnut
studiolo.com
walnutstudiolo
@gmail.com
PHONE:
503-447-6889
“My goal is
to make
high-
quality,
beautiful,
durable and
most of all
functional
solutions to
everyday
problems.”
— Geoffrey
Franklin
A leather seat
barrel ($126),
above, and a
U-lock holster
($87) are two of
the many
bicycle-related
products created
by Portland’s
Walnut Studiolo.
The company
also makes
products for the
home and office.
COURTESY OF WALNUT
STUDIOLO