Against the Grain Wood Co. began in the spring of 2025, born out of a simple love for working with my hands and a growing fascination with what wood could become when pushed past its traditional forms. What started as a hobby quickly turned into something more—a genuine creative practice, and a meditative one. There’s a rhythm to woodworking that I’ve come to rely on: the focus required at the table saw, the patience of glue-ups and clamping, the quiet, repetitive motion of sanding a surface smooth. It’s a process that demands presence, and in return, it gives it back.

That balance, of discipline and imagination, precision and freedom, is at the heart of everything I build. Each piece starts with the wood itself: its grain, its color, its quirks and imperfections. From there, the design takes shape through a mix of planning and improvisation, whether that means piecing together a flowing checkerboard river, weaving contrasting stripes into a woven pattern, laying up an end-grain mosaic, or letting a single live-edge slab dictate the whole design of a table or mirror.

The wood always has a say in the outcome. My job is to listen to it, then find the pattern, shape, or composition that lets its character come through.

Against the Grain is both literal and philosophical. It nods to the technical reality of woodworking. Cutting, planing, and shaping wood often means working against its natural grain direction, but it’s also how I approach the craft itself, building patterns and forms that aren’t traditional, and that take the classic cutting board or tabletop and push it somewhere unexpected. Every piece is meant to feel a little different from what came before it, because no two pieces of wood or ideas are ever quite the same.

From checkerboard and striped river boards to end-grain mosaics, live-edge mirrors, hand-shaped wooden surfboards, and sculptural live-edge tables, every piece that leaves the shop is designed and built by hand, one board and one idea at a time. My work is functional art for the kitchen, entryway, or living room, made slowly, made intentionally, and made to last.

Contact me at: brettmferguson[at]gmail[dot com]