When Justin Nelson, founder of Fernweh Woodworking, first stopped into our new Bend shop, there was an immediate connection. His furniture shares a lot of what we value at Bridge & Burn: thoughtful design, premium materials, and a willingness to build something distinct rather than follow a prescribed path.
Justin came to woodworking without formal training, building Fernweh through curiosity, persistence, and a lot of trial and error. Today, his Central Oregon workshop produces sculptural furniture that is sold across the country, while still holding onto the hands-on approach that got him started.
Ahead of First Friday, when Fernweh will be exhibiting work at our Bend shop, we talked with Justin about learning the craft, starting a business from scratch, designing chairs, the sacrifices that come with building something of your own, and why Central Oregon remains home.
1. You studied business, served in the Marines, and worked on a Hotshot crew. You didn’t come to woodworking through art school or a traditional furniture program. How did you go from “I like making things” to believing you could actually build a life and a business around it?
After working in the government for about 5 years, I just loved the idea of having a little independence. I was probably overly-optimistic about how possible it was to succeed in a business like this, but I don’t know a small-business owner who isn’t! I had a really stubborn belief that if I worked hard enough it would all work out.
After working in the government for about 5 years, I just loved the idea of having a little independence. I was probably overly-optimistic about how possible it was to succeed in a business like this, but I don’t know a small-business owner who isn’t! I had a really stubborn belief that if I worked hard enough it would all work out.
2. There’s something freeing about learning a craft without knowing all the rules. What did being self-taught allow you to do differently, and what did you have to learn the hard way?
I feel like I’ve had the best of both worlds. In some ways I would have been better off with a classic woodworking education, but in many ways I believe I think outside the box in ways that I wouldn’t necessarily do if I had learned the “right and proper” way to do things. However, I’ve hired really incredible folks who DO have those classic skills from both years of practice as well as formal education. Bouncing ideas off of each other from both perspectives is really where the sweet spot is.
I feel like I’ve had the best of both worlds. In some ways I would have been better off with a classic woodworking education, but in many ways I believe I think outside the box in ways that I wouldn’t necessarily do if I had learned the “right and proper” way to do things. However, I’ve hired really incredible folks who DO have those classic skills from both years of practice as well as formal education. Bouncing ideas off of each other from both perspectives is really where the sweet spot is.
3. At what point did Fernweh stop feeling like an experiment and start feeling like, “This is what I’m going to do”? Was there a moment when you had to close the door on a safer path?
It took me about 2-3 years of just pushing as hard as I could before I started to have the “This is what I’m going to do” feeling. It was in 2017, and I had designed my first chair: The Sling Chair. I certainly didn’t expect that I could ever sell a chair for the amount of money I would have to ask for this chair design, but I was determined to try.
It took me about 2-3 years of just pushing as hard as I could before I started to have the “This is what I’m going to do” feeling. It was in 2017, and I had designed my first chair: The Sling Chair. I certainly didn’t expect that I could ever sell a chair for the amount of money I would have to ask for this chair design, but I was determined to try.
4. What did you have to give up to make Fernweh work in those early years? Looking back, was there anything you sacrificed that you wouldn’t sacrifice again?
This is such a great question, and one that doesn’t get asked enough by people who are just starting out in a passion business. The timing of my move into woodworking was really ideal; my wife had a stable job, we didn’t have kids, we had just moved into a house with a shop. I gave up a lot of sleep; in those early years I was very unhealthily working from 7am to dinner, then back out to the shop often until the wee hours of the morning. Once we had our first daughter, for those first few years I absolutely gave up a lot of family time. My wife was also in grad-school, so it was a really insane period of life. I wouldn’t give up as much family time as I did back then again. You can’t get that back.
This is such a great question, and one that doesn’t get asked enough by people who are just starting out in a passion business. The timing of my move into woodworking was really ideal; my wife had a stable job, we didn’t have kids, we had just moved into a house with a shop. I gave up a lot of sleep; in those early years I was very unhealthily working from 7am to dinner, then back out to the shop often until the wee hours of the morning. Once we had our first daughter, for those first few years I absolutely gave up a lot of family time. My wife was also in grad-school, so it was a really insane period of life. I wouldn’t give up as much family time as I did back then again. You can’t get that back.
5. You started by making smaller objects and eventually moved toward furniture. What changed your idea of what woodworking could be? Was there a particular designer, piece, or moment that pushed you in that direction?
I remember this very clearly: my friend Dane said “Hey, I found this furniture maker named Sam Maloof” - and showed me his rocking chairs. For me, it was immediate fascination. I did not know you could do that with wood, but I wanted to figure it out! That was the turning point into furniture.
I remember this very clearly: my friend Dane said “Hey, I found this furniture maker named Sam Maloof” - and showed me his rocking chairs. For me, it was immediate fascination. I did not know you could do that with wood, but I wanted to figure it out! That was the turning point into furniture.
6. Fernweh has grown into a real production shop, but the furniture still feels very human and sculptural. How do you decide what should be made more efficient with machines, jigs, or CNC and what absolutely needs to remain in someone’s hands?
A lot of those decisions happen during the design process, as we’re developing jigs, fixtures, and templates. Really the ultimate decision is based on the answer to the question “which method will yield the best result?” - the answer to that factors in both quality and our ability to produce more than one at a time in an effort to keep costs down.
A lot of those decisions happen during the design process, as we’re developing jigs, fixtures, and templates. Really the ultimate decision is based on the answer to the question “which method will yield the best result?” - the answer to that factors in both quality and our ability to produce more than one at a time in an effort to keep costs down.
7. Why chairs? Of all the things you could design, what keeps pulling you back to them?
Chairs are really hard to design. There are just so many factors: seat height, back height, seat angle, leg angle, leg location etc… you really have to nail all of those dimensions, and then you need to make it pleasing and beautiful on top of all that. I’ve always been attracted to things that are difficult to do, and I think that’s why I fell into a chair niche.
Chairs are really hard to design. There are just so many factors: seat height, back height, seat angle, leg angle, leg location etc… you really have to nail all of those dimensions, and then you need to make it pleasing and beautiful on top of all that. I’ve always been attracted to things that are difficult to do, and I think that’s why I fell into a chair niche.
8. When you start designing a new piece, how much of it can you already see in your head? How much gets discovered through making and prototyping?
The word Fernweh is a German word for “to be homesick for somewhere you’ve never been.” I chose it as our business name because it describes the design process quite well: I typically have a fuzzy idea of how a new chair will look. I usually can really clearly picture one aspect - say, the seat - and the rest is fuzzy. I feel that homesick feeling knowing that the particular chair design I can barely imagine is out there and I just have to find it.
The word Fernweh is a German word for “to be homesick for somewhere you’ve never been.” I chose it as our business name because it describes the design process quite well: I typically have a fuzzy idea of how a new chair will look. I usually can really clearly picture one aspect - say, the seat - and the rest is fuzzy. I feel that homesick feeling knowing that the particular chair design I can barely imagine is out there and I just have to find it.
9. You’ve built Fernweh in Central Oregon while increasingly showing and selling the work nationally. What has staying here given you creatively or personally that you don’t think you’d have somewhere else?
There would be a lot of professional reasons to build a chair company in either a larger city, or particularly in New England, which is where the majority of our sales are. But I like being a little bit of an outsider to the people we sell to. And I don’t know what I would do mentally without the mountain-view runs that I go on to clear my head. We’ve mostly stayed put for personal reasons rather than business; we just love it here and are invested here too much to leave.
There would be a lot of professional reasons to build a chair company in either a larger city, or particularly in New England, which is where the majority of our sales are. But I like being a little bit of an outsider to the people we sell to. And I don’t know what I would do mentally without the mountain-view runs that I go on to clear my head. We’ve mostly stayed put for personal reasons rather than business; we just love it here and are invested here too much to leave.
10. You first connected with us after coming into the new Bridge & Burn store in Bend. What caught your attention about the space or the clothes?
The design of both the store and the clothes drew me in immediately. I love that the design of the space is beautiful, but acts to appropriately draw your attention to the clothing immediately. It was late summer when we stopped by for the first time, and I was also drawn to the simple but lovely patterns on so many of the collared summer shirts.
The design of both the store and the clothes drew me in immediately. I love that the design of the space is beautiful, but acts to appropriately draw your attention to the clothing immediately. It was late summer when we stopped by for the first time, and I was also drawn to the simple but lovely patterns on so many of the collared summer shirts.
11. Where do you see similarities between what Fernweh and Bridge & Burn are trying to make?
It’s really apparent that Bridge & Burn designs aren’t trying to be anything that they’re not; you’re not pursuing a trend, you’re designing what you want to see and what you want to wear. Genuine creativity and design that arises out of passion are just very apparent in final products.
It’s really apparent that Bridge & Burn designs aren’t trying to be anything that they’re not; you’re not pursuing a trend, you’re designing what you want to see and what you want to wear. Genuine creativity and design that arises out of passion are just very apparent in final products.
12. I started Bridge & Burn without any formal training in apparel design and learned largely by diving in and figuring things out as I went. It sounds like your path into furniture had some similarities. Do you think not having a conventional background gave you an advantage, or did it mostly make the road harder?
I’ve always sort of wondered this myself… I think it’s hard to know the road not taken. I’ve always had a little bit more of an outside-the-box approach since I’m self taught, and there’s a lot of value in that. At the same time, those first few years especially, I was just missing a lot of important basic skills I would have learned from getting formal woodworking education. I’ve found a sweet spot over the last 5 years by hiring a lot of excellent woodworkers, particularly from the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine.
13. How has your definition of success changed since you started Fernweh?
It has broadened significantly; this is just such a difficult way to make a living, making chairs in America. Success looks like staying in business. Of course I have significant professional goals beyond that, but at the end of the day, it feels like quite a feat of endurance just to stay afloat manufacturing high end wood products in America.
I’ve always sort of wondered this myself… I think it’s hard to know the road not taken. I’ve always had a little bit more of an outside-the-box approach since I’m self taught, and there’s a lot of value in that. At the same time, those first few years especially, I was just missing a lot of important basic skills I would have learned from getting formal woodworking education. I’ve found a sweet spot over the last 5 years by hiring a lot of excellent woodworkers, particularly from the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine.
13. How has your definition of success changed since you started Fernweh?
It has broadened significantly; this is just such a difficult way to make a living, making chairs in America. Success looks like staying in business. Of course I have significant professional goals beyond that, but at the end of the day, it feels like quite a feat of endurance just to stay afloat manufacturing high end wood products in America.
14. Now that the business has grown, what part of the work do you still protect for yourself?
I think I protect our design language. Not because I’m the best designer or anything like that, but there are tons of folks out there who want to design, but can’t manufacture. I think the best results come when the manufacturer has a deep understanding of design, and the designer a deep understanding of the material and the manufacturing processes that work best. Most of our designs are a team effort, and I feel strongly that employees who contribute significantly to new designs should also be listed as designers on any given line of furniture.
15. You’ve had a chance to look through our fall collection. What pieces are you most drawn to, and what is it about them that works for you?
The Mateo Cardigan really stood out to me; I’ve always wanted to like cardigans, but some styles can feel pretentious or professorial. Between the cut and the material, the Mateo Cardigan just feels cozy and casual, while being a significant step up in dressiness from a more casual sweatshirt or hoodie. The Pointer Overshirt also stood out to me - the material is so thick and substantial, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out it’s 100% recycled material!
We will be hosting Fernweh Woodworking for First Friday at our downtown Bend location on October 2nd from 5pm - 7pm.