The Scoop: Matt Scanlan, Furniture Designer

Meet Matt, he’s a furniture designer crafting more than your standard table. He’s got a thing for cats and is on a mission, along with business partner Micheal Wiggins, to give furry friends the homes of their dreams.

Matt is also a childhood friend, whose had an interesting journey from working in politics to designing and building furniture. I sat down with Matt to learn what goes into turning a piece of wood into a functional, beautiful piece of furniture for your home (or cat). And he also shares some helpful tid bits for people looking to add custom furniture to their own spaces.

Let’s dive in…

Q: How did you get into furniture design? What was your career journey that led you here?
A: It has been a trip. My grandfather, a general contractor, introduced me to woodworking in his basement shop and I loved it, but I didn’t really get into making things until after college and after working in politics in New York. About ten years ago I moved back to the Bay Area for a job at Google and started making wood and metal pieces at night for fun. Eventually I started selling some work (mostly tables) and about five years ago took the plunge and left my desk to start building full-time. My friend and I started a Garden business, yardandtablesf.com, and got to make a ton of cool projects that incorporated construction and living breathing plants. In the background I continued to build custom furniture pieces for the indoors, and about a year ago fully launched Mjau Home to design and build beautiful (we hope) cat furniture.

Q: Describe your design style. What influences your Aesthetic?
A: Talking about style always feels like telling someone about a really good pun I made last week, but I can tell you my goals when I make something. I aspire for a playful and clean design with simple-seeming construction, sculpted details, and most importantly space to let the wood sing. I want clients to have an immediate and strong reaction to the tone and feel of the wood and to have the urge to run their hands over the surface and edges. For me a piece hits the mark when you notice small new things about it the longer you sit with it.

There’s beautiful woodwork all over, but Danish chairs and Japanese casework always blow me away.

Q: Beyond clearly being a cat fan, why cat homes? No love for the doggos out there?
A: We had the idea a few years ago when my (now) business partner Michael was a founding partner at KitTea, the cat cafe in San Francisco. They were furnishing the new space and had to have everything custom made because they couldn’t find cat furniture that was practical, good looking, and fit the modern cafe vibe. We started playing with designs in our free time and about a year ago took the plunge to go all in after exploring the feasibility of the idea.

Ooohh we have a lot of love for pups (and had actually planned to start as Mjau & Bjark) but decided to focus on cats and cat owners for our initial dive. All the dog pawrents out there should keep an eye out for a dog line in the future.

Q: What makes a good cat home? Why buy Mjau?
A: For us a good design incorporates cat psychology, is made well with good durable materials, is multi-purpose, and looks good for the cat’s human who is ultimately shelling out for the piece.

Cats are great critics and they’ll let you know exactly what they think based on whether they use something or not. Most cats fall into two categories – den/bush cats or tree cats (e.g. cats who try to sit in an empty pringles tin vs cats who somehow end up on the ceiling fan) – so we incorporated modular cubes and beds to accommodate both. We tested a lot of different prototypes with a lot of cats and the positive reviews and pictures of the cats we’ve received have been really encouraging. It’s also designed so that unused cat space can be made into human space. If they choose the top bunk, the lower bunk is great shelving or storage. If they choose the bottom bunk, the top is a good sidetable surface.

We set up production to make sure it’s durable and that all of the parts that are supposed to be clawed or abused like our cushions or scratch pads can easily be washed or replaced. It’s pretty common to see ugly carpet cat towers torn to bits and left for curbside pick up, so we wanted to make something more permanent.

Finally we just wanted something that’s easier on the eyes than normal cat beds. Leopard print is great and all but can get intense on a 6’ tall cat cactus. It’s always funny to walk into a beautiful home and then see this cat tower thing that looks like a life-size Chewbacca holding furry serving trays positioned prominently by the window.

Q: Tell us about KiTea in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. How did you get involved with them?
A: KitTea is an amazing place and an awesome experience. They’ve been kind enough to test all of our different prototypes along the way. I encourage everyone to visit when shelter-in-place eases up. The cats have a lot of personality and the human crew is kind and funny.

Right now they can’t have visitors but they still have all the costs of upkeep for the rescue cats, so please consider donating to their gofundme.

Q: What constitutes a solid piece of well made furniture?
A: I think the baseline is something that is constructed to accommodate the movement (or will) of the materials. Wood and cut lumber continue to ‘breath’ and move as their moisture content changes, so anything that is constructed to anticipate that movement prevents warping and cracking down the line. That usually means something built with wooden joinery and without metal fasteners like screws, but there are ways to incorporate metal that last too.

It’s always worth looking at the hidden parts of a piece to get an idea of what kind of work went into it. If you look under a table or the inside of a credenza or pop out the cushion of a seat and it’s unfinished, or there are strange attachments or tchotchkes slapped on, then it was probably made in a rush and won’t last all that long.

Q: For those looking to invest in a hand crafted piece what should they look for?
A: For me the three big ingredients for a handcrafted piece are a need, a rough idea, and a furniture maker you would enjoy working with. The beauty of a custom piece is that it can fulfill whatever need you can’t already fulfill from a manufactured piece. Have a funky corner, a random spoon collection, a room that is oddly dimensioned? Those are all fun problems to solve with a handmade piece from a builder.

A rough idea of the design or style that would fit in your room is a great way to find the right maker with a similar aesthetic for your project, but I think it’s important to keep the idea ‘rough’. If you have an exact room & board table in mind already it will be more cost effective to go with room & board.

And lastly find someone whose work you appreciate and who will return your email (or at least your calls) because it’s a bit more of a process having something made from scratch.

Q: Let’s demystify custom furniture. This isn’t just for the wealthy right?
A: Custom pieces are more of an investment than many people are used to but definitely doable on a budget with the right expectations. If you find a maker you like, and you want something that matches what they make, you can usually figure out something beautiful for your home.

I think there are two common pitfalls when people contact a furniture builder for a custom piece and both are totally understandable. The first pitfall is that someone has made the decision for a custom piece so they know they want it to be a show stopper. I get a lot of requests from people for 8’ live edge walnut tables that are 40” wide. That’s a very expensive piece and one that isn’t really suited to my one person operation. If you’re making a film on an indie budget don’t cast Leo!

The second pitfall is taking an existing manufactured piece and seeing if it can be made for cheaper by a custom builder. “I like this, can you make it for cheaper?” Unfortunately the truth is that the manufacturer of that piece has all sorts of efficiencies built in that custom builders can’t compete with.

So, I’d say if you’re on a budget the supporting cast of furniture pieces (coffee tables, end tables, side tables, sideboards, credenzas, lounge chairs, bar stools) are all within reach.

Q: What’s your favorite piece and why?
A: I have a love-hate-love arc with each bigger piece I build. At some point, late in the process I look at what I’m making and can’t believe I ever liked it in the first place, or even thought it was a good idea, and I question every decision I’ve ever made. It’s not until it’s fully assembled and finished that I come back around.

So with that long intro I’d say my favorite piece is usually the last one I finished, which at the moment is a spec chair from maple. My friend and client was looking for some raised Hans Wegner style wishbone backed stools. I referred her to a manufacturer who already makes a very good version of those stools, but then decided to try to make my own design that incorporated some of the wishbone angles/curves. I constructed it like a windsor chair to make it light but with almost indestructible joinery. There’s a lot I’d tweak in version 2 but it was so fun to make.

Q: What’s next for you? What are your furniture design aspirations?
A: There are so many fun places to take Mjau. The dream is to turn it into a one stop resource for well-designed cat furniture and accessories that will fit with almost any design sensibility, but for now we are going to stick with one contemporary product line and make sure we can produce it well.

As for custom furniture my dream has always been chairs. I think I love everything about making chairs. They’re kind of the extreme test of technique and design, geometry and sculpture, and I think I could spend the rest of my life building and tweaking them. Once you make a chair you never look at anything we sit on the same.

Q: Why should people go custom vs retail like West Elm or crate and barrel?
A: If you have a specific need or functionality or weird dimensions, those are always good reasons to go custom. Also if you’d like to have something made that you can pass on to your kids (assuming the maker will live long enough to do occasional fixes/repairs – e.g. look for healthy builders). The custom route is great if you’d like to be able to talk to your furniture maker through the process, kind of like going to a bookstore for recommendations instead of amazon.

The other big intangible is having a piece with a soul. I’ve seen manufactured pieces that sing and are really impressive, and I think that’s because there are skilled people building those as well, but every hand-made or custom piece I’ve come across has a soul. It has some part of the maker, the process, and the client. Almost everyone enjoys having daily coffee with their custom furniture, but for whatever reason it’s very rare to have that same affinity with something you pick up from the store.

Q: Do you work directly with customers or prefer to go through designers? Do you do work outside the Bay Area?
A: There are a couple of great designers I work with more regularly but I also enjoy getting word of mouth referrals directly from customers. As for work outside of the Bay Area I can crate/ship or deliver if it makes sense for the particular project.

Q: Explain a bit about the process – what goes into building a piece?
A: From start to finish the process usually takes 4-8 weeks depending on my current project list. If it’s a new or custom design I usually ask the clients to put together a pinterest board or photo collection of things they appreciate so I have an idea of their style. When possible I come check out the space where the piece will go. It’s also really helpful to understand the target budget before the design begins so I know which materials and processes to incorporate.

After letting the ideas stew for a bit I’ll start sketching. If it’s a technical design I may mock it up in a computer program but usually the sketch is enough to get the green light to start. At that point I’ll make different size models to get an idea of the proportions, usually ending with a full size version made out of honeycomb cardboard or scrap plywood to make sure the size feels right in the space before I cut into any of the precious wood.

From there the building actually begins. I pick out rough lumber that catches my eye, mill it to approximate dimensions, cut the joinery and details hoping it all fits together, curse at it and make adjustments where needed, glue together various parts, and then spend a few days sanding and finishing. It’s a very fun, and sometimes agonizing, process.