About
The world doesn’t need more furniture.
So you may as well make art.
Matt McDermott builds custom furniture one piece at a time — casework, chairs, tables and the small things that end up mattering most. Cabinets, stools, side tables and seating are the bread and butter.
Nothing is built from a catalogue. A commission starts with a conversation about the room, the species and the way you actually live with the thing, and ends with a piece made for that and nothing else. Joinery is cut to last generations, because a piece that has to be replaced was never worth making.
He trained at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship under Aled Lewis, and builds in the Pacific Northwest.
How he got here
2019 — today
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2019
A friend’s garage
Matt started woodworking out of a friend’s garage, teaching himself the beginning skills from online content, print media, and figuring things out through trial and error.
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2020
Experiment
The early days were all experimentation with form, function and execution. A desire to create more complex forms and learn more challenging processes drove him to keep improving.
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2021
West side of Washington
After moving to the west side of Washington, Matt continued refining the skills he had been learning, making bolder design choices and pushing himself to create original pieces rather than replicate other people’s designs.
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2023
Setting up shop again
At the end of a year spent setting up shop again in a different city, Matt realised that to keep going he would have to pursue a real education in woodworking.
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2024
Center for Furniture Craftsmanship
Matt trained at CFC under Aled Lewis — education at the highest level. Learning not only the technical nature of woodworking but the importance of good design has been fundamental to his work as both a craftsman and a designer.
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2025
Fernweh Woodworking
Matt joined the team at Fernweh Woodworking, further refining his skills and learning directly in a manufacturing and production environment.
Start a conversation
If you have a piece in mind — or only a rough idea of one — get in touch and Matt will tell you what it would take.