The idea for Barrel-Art was originally born out of necessity. Years ago when the Prietos lost everything in a fire during their move to Europe they needed furniture immediately so they took up woodworking to build the critical pieces.
Mike Prieto found he really enjoyed the art of woodworking and started to design pieces of his own. The bar he made from French Oak barrels from Bordeaux generated a great deal of interest, and gave rise to other furnishing and barware. The Prietos brought their ideas back to the United States and opened Barrel-Art.
Barrel-Art has since grown significantly through online purchases and wholesale orders. Barrel-Art has supplied many restaurants with furniture and flights such as Froggies (Virginia Beach), Commonwealth Brewery (Virginia Beach), Marriott’s (Worldwide), Kona Grill (Worldwide) and Outback Steakhouses (Nationally) just to name a few.
Barrel-Art has now opened a retail showroom located at 332 Rip Rap Rd., Hampton, VA. Now customers can see some of Barrel-Art’s merchandise in person. In the showroom, customers can also order custom designs and pick the barrel they want to be used in their order. Barrel-Art also gives tours of their modest workshop and if the weather permits, you can catch a glimpse of the Barrel-Kart. The Barrel-Kart is a golf kart outfitted to look like a barrel on wheels and gets lots of attention from people passing by.
Barrel-Art takes pride in using all parts of the barrels in their work which helps minimize their carbon footprints and encourages other artisans to do the same.
