So why buy custom furniture? Everything is available on line, so why bother tracking down some grizzled and dusty woodworker to make that new dining table for you? Well, because it’s better; it's better for you and certainly better for me but, most of all, because the piece you want is the piece that you'll get. You don’t have to spend all that money to get something built by the hundreds in some remote foreign factory by a group of anonymous factory workers with whose lives your own will never intersect. Instead, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of knowing the true source of that table, the name of the person who built it (with your name in mind), the shop in which it was made and the reasons behind the design. 

If you're an interior designer or an architect, you'll be able to end the search through the many manufacturers' catalogs and websites and instead pull out pencil and paper, draw just what it is you imagine and know that you won't have to compromise your vision for that new room or building, that the quality of that new table won't have to be inferred from the photos on those websites. 

You’ll have a chance to participate in your own local or regional economy in a way that is hard to do outside of the local farmers’ market and to know that your money is going to support craft in an age of  mass production. It’s a good feeling, as you probably already know.

But, all good feelings aside, you can know that the table will be of exceptional quality. I have high standards, and I invest myself in every piece I make. My eyesight is excellent: I scrutinize every board for figure and grain, every joint for fit and soundness and every surface for smoothness and shape. While building, I constantly review the original design and consider revisions for reasons of aesthetics or function and will involve you whenever significant changes seem appropriate. This furthers your involvement and strengthens your connection to me and to the work. 

When delivery day arrives you’ll be able to see the work of the past weeks realized. When you sit down at that new table and run your hands over it, under it, feel the solidity and strength and follow the patterns of the wood with your eye, you can know that you’ve gotten your money’s worth, that you’ve helped bring something of quality into the world and that you’ve materially participated in American craft. 

"Our experience in working with Mr. Cooper on several demading projects over the course of two years has left us throughly impressed with his capabilities, professionalism and business acumen.

"We asked Matt to custom make our dining room table made of a rare wood as well as help us solve some challenges by creating a built-in wooden headboard and shelf unit that hid various electrical and phone wires. We were so happy with the results that we took extensive photographs so we could re-reate it in a future home.

"We then asked Matt to design a writing desk for a specific spot in our apartment. It was so perfect in the space that it was the only piece of furniture the people who purchased our apartment wanted to buy. We declined and instead decided to ship the piece to Italy where we are designing a window to fit the desk!"

JR and DM; Nieve, Italy