Meet Loriann
From a Desk in IT to a Loft in the Barn
Meet Loriann, the Saskatchewan maker behind Grey Barn Handwerk. Since 2018, every piece has been designed, made and packed by hand, 27 steps from the farmhouse.
Woman-owned · Prairie Crafted since 2018 · Pickup or shipping across Canada
Why She Traded a Desk for a Barn Loft
Loriann spent 25 years in IT before deciding something simple was worth building a business on: things worth keeping should be made by a real person who cares how they turn out.
In 2018, she traded the desk for a barn loft on the family farm, just off the highway north of St. Gregor, Saskatchewan. She hasn’t looked back, even in January, when those 27 steps to the Barn feel a lot longer.
Prairie winters, wide-open highways and small-town life aren’t a design theme she looked up online. It’s just home.
These days, the Barn loft is where it all comes together: the laser humming, the heat press warming up and a coffee slowly going cold on the workbench. Every order still gets the same care as the very first one, because somewhere out there is someone waiting to open it.
How Your Piece Gets Made
Design
Every custom piece starts as a sketch or a digital proof. You approve it before anything is cut or printed, so there are no surprises.
Quality Check
Every piece gets a careful once-over before it leaves, checking placement, colour and finish against what you approved.
Materials
Canadian suppliers come first whenever possible, and part of the craft is knowing which wood or blank suits each piece.
Packing
Every order is wrapped like it’s headed to family, because more often than not, it is.
Making
Laser engraving, heat pressing and printing all happen up in the loft, by hand, one piece at a time.
Pickup or Shipping
Free pickup at the Barn (a good chance to meet Loriann in person), or Canada Post anywhere in Canada. You’ll get an e-mail as soon as it’s ready or on its way.
One Woman, One Workshop
There’s no design team, no production line and no call centre. When an order comes in, it lands with the same person who designs the proof, runs the laser, presses the transfer and packs the box.
That’s why you get a real answer when you ask a question, why mistakes get caught before they ship, and why every piece is a little bit one of a kind.
It also means your piece gets one person’s full attention from start to finish. Whether it’s a single ornament or an order for the whole team, it gets the same careful proof, the same eye for detail and the same pride when it heads off to its new home.
More From the Barn Journal
Want to meet Loriann properly? These three short reads tell the rest of the story.
The 100-Year-Old Grey Barn Behind the Name
Every name has a story. Ours is a 100-year-old grey barn on our farm and a German word for craft.
From 25 Years in IT to the Loft
After 25 years in IT, Loriann traded the desk for the Loft and started Grey Barn Handwerk in 2018.
27 Steps in January
It is 27 steps from the house to the Loft. In January on a Saskatchewan farm, that is an expedition.
Ready to Get Something Made?
Most of what’s in the shop started as somebody’s custom request. Yours could be next.