Paradise Hill Designs was created by Rick and Heidi Burtenshaw in 2002. They had moved to a rustic log home in the wilderness of Northern British Columbia, Canada where the post office is eight miles away and the nearest city, Prince George, B.C., is about a 90 minute drive away. Rick started to build furniture for their house, using simple tools and barnwood they had found on the property. A passion for designing and creating took over: Rick handcrafting a beautiful woodworking shop, and Heidi sketching original designs of functional home décor and trying her hand at woodburning and painting.

As they streamlined their production, the process took shape. The first step was the reclaiming of aged wood in the surrounding area, which most often required dismantling dilapidated fences. The wood was then brought into the shop where Rick removed any nails and left the boards to dry. They made all their own designs; sometimes it was just a pencil sketch of an idea, most times it was hands on the wood right away. The designing and production involved a lot of quiet listening and being ‘in the flow’.

Initially, Rick and Heidi sold their products at local markets and craft shows in Northern and Central British Columbia. As they settled on their most popular items and designs, they started their Etsy store in 2006. In 2009, Rick's oldest son Shawn and his wife Trish retired and moved to property adjacent to Paradise Hill. Shortly thereafter, Shawn started working with Rick, helping to build products as Rick wasn't able to keep up with the popularity of their work. By 2011, Rick's health began to deteriorate, and Shawn took over building all the products so Heidi could continue with woodburning and painting. Trish was also involved in the business throughout this time, helping with wood harvesting, administration, as well as packaging and mailing. Unfortunately, we lost Rick the summer of 2012. In 2015, Heidi retired from Paradise Hill Designs to concentrate on her musical interests; Shawn and Trish took over the business. Since that time, Trish has been doing all of the artwork.

Over the past several years, the wood sources have expanded to include animal shelters, outbuildings and the occasional cedar roof. The process of harvesting wood includes removing the weathered wood from the structure, extracting nails, staples and screws, carefully dismantling the rest of the structure and completing the required site cleanup. The weathered wood is then transported back to Paradise Hill where it dries sufficiently before being used in product construction. We are always on the lookout for harvesting opportunities, be it old fences needing to be replaced or outbuildings that are falling down. If you have these in the local area or know someone who does, please contact us at paradisehilldesigns [!at] gmail.com.

Reclaimed barnwood comes in a wide variety of colour, grain, age, and condition. The colour of the wood we have in stock depends on where it was harvested, how long and what environmental conditions it was exposed to, and the wood species. We do not have all colours in stock at all times, and each piece we produce has its own character, colour and feel. While the dimensions of the items remain consistent, each item is unique because of the nature of reclaimed wood. As the artwork on the boxes is inspired by the characteristics of the wood, the pictures on our site depict available patterns and designs, but are not necessarily the specific item you will receive. We pride ourselves on the quality and workmanship of each of our pieces.