Our Custom Furniture Process

Send us a message through our quote form with what you’re looking for: the piece, where it will go, the size and number of seats, wood and finish ideas, and when you need it. Photos of your space or of furniture you like are a big help.

We talk through how you’ll use the piece, the space it’s going into, size, wood, base and finish, and your budget. We don’t keep set hours; visits to the studio are by appointment only. Local clients are welcome to visit the studio by appointment.

Send us photos of a table or project close to what you want and we will work from those, or describe what you have in mind and we will create a design from your description.

Our design fee is $200, and it is credited toward your final price if you move forward with the build. It covers the initial design and two follow-up revisions.

We can match a style closely, but not exactly, and we can color match, but we can’t guarantee an exact match.

We take credit cards only. Once we agree on the details, we both sign a contract — before any work starts and before the down payment. Then it’s 70% down, and the remaining 30% when your piece is finished.

If you want to change something after the contract is signed, we write it up as a change order. Once the change order is signed and the additional fee is paid, we start on the change.

We buy from suppliers in Southern Wisconsin, Washington State and Pennsylvania, and from our local supplier, who sources a lot of material from Missouri.

We usually don’t keep much material on hand for clients to pick from, unless we have large, unique pieces in the shop.

Our lumber is typically dried to 6–8% moisture. It acclimates in our shop before we start milling, and we build with your home in mind — accounting for the difference between our shop and where the piece will live — to minimize issues as it settles into its new home.

Wood is natural and keeps moving with humidity, temperature and the seasons. We walk every client through what to expect. Expect small seasonal changes — a top can move slightly across its width between a humid summer and a dry North Dakota winter, and that is normal for solid wood.

We mill each board flat and square, then cut the joinery and build the piece. Along the way we deal with the wood’s natural character.

Cracks, voids and soft spots are part of what makes live edge and figured wood beautiful. We stabilize them with inlays such as bowties, black-dyed epoxy, black CA glue for small cracks and pinholes, and thin CA glue to stiffen punky (soft) wood before we continue stabilizing it.

Most of our pieces are finished with Rubio Monocoat or Osmo hard-wax oils. We also offer a ceramic top coat, sprayed 2K polyurethane, and conversion varnish / lacquer.

We prefer Rubio Monocoat and Osmo because they are easy to apply and easy to touch up, they are durable for daily use (not as tough as a lacquer or 2K poly, but they hold up), and they are much easier to refinish down the road.

Not sure which to choose? See our care guide for how each finish is looked after.

After finishing, a piece typically rests for 1–2 weeks before delivery so the finish can off-gas and cure.

Delivery is free within 30 miles of Fargo. We usually deliver ourselves, so we may ask for a hand carrying the top or parts inside — at most 3–4 people, and not always needed.

Beyond 30 miles we quote a delivery fee. We deliver across the US and prefer to deliver ourselves. Shipping is available too, but white-glove shipping usually costs about the same as — or more than — having us deliver.

More on delivery and our service area.

We warranty our workmanship and the finish. Wood is natural and moves, so cracks or checks that develop on their own are not a defect. If we determine a finish wasn’t applied to spec, we treat it as defective and cover the refinishing, including pickup or repair in place.

Later on, we can refinish or re-oil your piece for a fee — or walk you through doing it yourself. Our care guide covers everyday cleaning and when to call us.

Made-to-order pieces take 6–12 weeks from order; some projects take a little longer.

We take the time needed to build your piece safely and correctly the first time, rather than rushing to an arbitrary deadline and risking skipped steps. Everything we make is built to last for generations.

You get updates from us throughout the build and can ask questions at any time. Local clients are welcome to stop in and see their piece in progress — by appointment.

If you have a firm deadline, we can often commit to it for a rush fee. The fee depends on how quickly you need the piece.