The "Accidental" Stove Cover Cutting Board

It may be hard to believe, but Stonewon didn't start out as a woodworking company. In fact, we didn't start out as a business at all!

Our origin actually began with our now-famous stove cover cutting board – not as a product, but as a solution. Here's the story.

Like many people, we had an old oven and stovetop that wasn't doing its job. It was time to order a new one.

In the meantime, what to do? How to create a more functional space where there had been a largely non-functional stove?

Our Accidental Stove Top Cutting Board

That's where our stove top cover came in!

Joshua had been doing woodworking his whole life, framing houses and working in carpentry even in high school. While he worked other jobs most of his career, he continued to develop and refine his skill. He made things all over the house and could fix anything.

This problem however necessitated a new solution. "Necessity is the mother of invention," after all.

So this concept came into being. Joshua built the stove cover and it worked great. Life was good and peaceful. Until, that is...

The Internet Loved It

We had some nice neighbors who one day saw Joshua's invention and said hey! That needs to be on Pinterest. We didn't know a lot about Pinterest, but said sure, go ahead.

When it was posted, it went viral and received a million views. A million!

Imagine our surprise when people suddenly started contacting us from out of the blue, and our neighbor, and asking to get their own. Soon, our homemade solution for ourselves became something we could share with the world, and we garnered a huge number of positive reviews on Etsy.

We were surprised with the growth of the business!

Before long, we found ourselves contacted by West Elm to list our products there... but that's a story for another day. 

The design was also widely copied by imitators. That's just life. Folks who want the original and highest quality item will usually find us and order from us, and we're grateful for that. 

Philosophy at the Heart, From the Start

From the very beginning of that first cutting board, our company's philosophy took shape.

The Stonewon philosophy is very simple: we create things that we love, hoping others will too. This is how it's always been for us, as it's the only thing we know how to do.

Woodworking is, first and foremost, our passion. That's why we do things few other home decor businesses do, like using wood products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council that help stop deforestation of our precious natural resources.

Using better materials does cost more – but our customers notice the difference in quality over highly commercialized alternatives.

Thanks to our small start, we have also always focused on customer feedback. This can be improved? Let's try to do it. That can be a little different? Let's see if it works.

At this point in our journey, our core product lineup doesn't change too much, but we're always listening and always looking for the next thing to build, invent, or make better.

Finally, we continue to be an all-American company making things here in McKinney, Texas. Our craftsmen are hard-working and great at what they do, always looking for ways to build things better. We believe in the value of honest American-made craftsmanship.

All of these values that we now hold dear as a business were present from the very beginning. We've just extended them to cover our growing business!

Noodle Board? Stove Cover? What to Call It?

As you may know, many call these stove top covers "noodle boards." It's the same thing, of course.

The important idea being that you have a functional space most of the time over another space that's only functional some of the time. That's why it works so well in most homes.

If you're the person who uses the stove 4 or 5 times per day, a stove cover/noodle board may not be for you, and that's okay!

We have also had customers who choose to put them somewhere other than their stove – these are versatile and strong surfaces that will do well with anything you throw at them.

Maybe now, the next time you see this, even if it's a copy or imitation somewhere else, you'll remember where the original idea came from! Always feel free to reach out and ask us if you have any questions.

Joshua and Christine