Finding a way out of a really tough spot — 2022 was a terrible, terrible year. Certainly, other years in the past had their ups and downs. Big ones. But when gauged according to metrics like the presence or absence of joy, frustration, motivation, or hopelessness, 2022 ranked quite competitively. But my purpose in sharing my experience is not to…

I, like many of you dear readers, am a parent. My wife and I named our son Tommy. He has orbited the sun three and a half times. I can’t claim to have spent a significant amount of time with children before he came along. However, so far it seems…

I’ll admit, we did something kind of weird. On the heels of our design research on various kinds of furniture, we did an email invitation blast to all of our friends, asking them to weigh in on various design alternatives to the frustrations we identified through the many conversations we…

Why a group furniture show? Spofford had a vision for a future in which these people thrived in ways that are at present unlikely or even unimaginable. Since our formal incorporation over a year ago, we’ve explored and discovered a world of ideas and talented individuals who are creating a…

Cooperatives: A Nice Idea or an Essential Economic Alternative? Carl Woodruff arrived in Central Massachusetts about three years ago in order to join two colleagues to work on a new design and construction project for what is now the Mill 180 Park space in Easthampton. …

Arts and Crafts, Makers and Hackers, and the Search for Something “Choosing to make something is political.” -Virginia Johnson, Gather Here When I set out to write this article, I had intended it as a followup to a previous article about the Arts and Crafts movement and its foundational philosophy…

In the age of “peak plastic”, how do we change the system behind the stuff? About ten years ago, Caleb Dawson and a colleague struggled to find the right materials for the construction of a unique, asterisk-shaped, upholstered ottoman they had designed. It occurred to them to try plastic. Unlike…

Our troubled history with financing, for furniture or anything else In another recent article, I discussed the peculiar relationship between disposability and affordability. A pillar of that relationship is that higher quality things are simply out of reach for most people. …

The biggest IKEA fight is one the global retailer is having with itself. IKEA furniture is…everywhere. And as with anything that’s so seemingly omnipresent, for every voice bemoaning its drawbacks there are 100 twenty- and thirty-somethings jumping into the car to spend a Saturday afternoon touring the labyrinthine depths of…