Handmade Furniture
For extraordinary homes
Allow us to inspire you.
ABOUT OUR COMPANY
WE BUILD WORLD-CLASS HANDMADE FURNITURE THAT INSPIRES OUR CRAFTSMEN, CLIENTS AND THE INDUSTRY TO LIVE INTENTIONALLY.
Brian Boggs’ core philosophy connects you to the trees. Through a combination of artistry and engineering, this furniture designer and craftsman creates the most luxurious wooden furniture available. Honest inspiration led him to find the authentic beauty and sophisticated comfort contained in each of this master’s pieces of furniture.
Constructing the business around the handmade furniture meant incorporating the philosophy of Melanie Boggs, a former organizational learning and development consultant. Through her training and leadership, this values-driven company finds alignment across shared goals and values. Her management style inspires and drives those who work with her to constantly improve and grow, as associates and as humans.
That’s been my goal from the start: to take a tree apart by hand and put it back together into a form that…beckons them to sit down.
THE CRAFTSMANSHIP
Brian Boggs’ craftsmanship advances with each piece of furniture he builds. Constantly learning, he experiments with ways to make his joinery stronger while allowing for more fluid forms.
With the human body always in his mind, he tweaks each design to improve ergonomics. Innovation solves the engineering challenges created as his design aesthetic evolves.
His dedication to the business of his art also means that he spends time developing techniques to make the building process simpler and more easily communicated with his bevy of skilled craftsmen. In our 10,000 square foot workshop in Asheville, North Carolina, these craftsmen build each piece of furniture ordered. Their deft hands perfect their craft more fully with each completed piece.
Brian Boggs’ designs and techniques create true works of functional art. These pieces have been tested by time as well as structurally tested in our shop. This furniture is an heirloom, beautiful yet built to be used and still last through the lives of your descendants.
DESIGN
Brian Boggs wants to connect you to the trees. Walking around his workshop, you feel the inspiration surrounding him: full logs broken into thick slabs, long blocks of mahogany stacked on sturdy shelves, your own body with its specific quirks.
His unique perspective evolved through reading James Krenov’s “The Fine Art of Cabinet Making” and progressed within “Make a Chair from a Tree” by John Alexander. Combining Alexander’s sensitivity to his materials with the mastery of the tools of Krenov, Brian communes with the wood while adding an organic understanding of his clients’ needs.
Brian wants you to sit on his chairs, lean on his tables, work at his desks. For him, your use is intrinsic to the design. Long evenings around a dining room table end with a sigh of laughter – not because of a final shift in your chair which doesn’t bring relief. I easily stand at the end of my workday after sitting in one of the Sonus chairs for several hours at a time.
While Brian’s designs expanded through the years to include tables and other custom furniture, chairs remain his primary canvas. During his career, he designed and built chairs for highly regarded furniture experts such as Sam Maloof, winner of the MacArthur Genius Grant for his furniture design and woodworking, and Frank Pollaro, CEO of Pollaro Fine Furniture.
I'm making a chair. I don't make them fast. I spend a lot of time on them, and I make them as well as I can.
SUSTAINABILITY
THROUGH EDUCATION
As his mastery of the craft progressed, so did Brian’s intent to teach the next generation of craftsmen. By writing tutorial articles for magazines such as Fine Woodworking and Popular Woodworking, he inspired thousands of woodworkers to explore and expand their skills.
His passion for spreading the word of woodworking also led this quiet fellow to expand his reach through speaking at conferences and even appearing on the screen in shows like “The Woodwright’s Shop” and the Disney documentary, “America’s Heart & Soul.”
Currently, Brian also hosts a podcast, “The Ask Brian Boggs Show,” where he answers the questions of woodworkers from around the country. Through that forum and his continuing outreach on Chairmakers.com, he supports fine woodworkers all over the world.
Continuing in his mission, Brian became a founding member of Greenwood, a nonprofit organization which works alongside residents of remote forest communities to help them economically by managing their forests and creating valuable wood products. Through his work with this organization, Brian trained artisans in Honduras and Peru.
These days, Brian Boggs Chairmakers is housed in a 10,000 square foot facility on the edge of the River Arts District in Asheville, North Carolina where we employ local craftsmen dedicated to keeping the craft alive. Brian uses this opportunity to train these skilled workers in his techniques while maintaining a transparency which allows them to learn the business as well.
THROUGH SUSTAINABLY HARVESTED MATERIALS
Brian Boggs Chairmakers uses premium domestic hardwoods sustainably harvested in Western North Carolina and surrounding areas, choosing each specimen by the slab rather than ordering commercial lumber. We work with local businesses which provide this quality hardwood, as well as reclaiming urban debris.
For projects and applications outside of the scope of domestic hardwoods, we import exotic species under exacting standards, most notably our Honduran mahogany supplied through a partnership with Greenwood.
THROUGH TIMELESS DESIGN
Brian Boggs Chairmakers creates handmade furniture which transcends mere functionality to become treasured heirlooms. Built in days rather than hours, these meticulously constructed custom works are produced to last lifetimes.
These pieces of furniture become celebrated members of your family, works of art passed along to your descendants and theirs.
Discover the romance and inspiration.
Immerse yourself in the design, the craftsmanship and the people.
Manifest your dream.