Ryan Sutphin, creator and owner of Sutphin Hardwood Design, has created custom furniture for Texas residents since 2017. His custom, modern, and minimalistic styles have caught local interest, and the secret behind his growing business is staying small.
Sutphin’s father sparked his interests in wood creations, but it wasn’t until joining a framing crew for his dad and experiencing this niche trade in the Army that he found a slab of wood in Hawaii, where he made his first dining room table.
From there, Sutphin knew it was what he wanted to do, so after serving in the Army for eight years, Sutphin moved to College Station where he established Sutphin Hardwood Design and started ramping up his trade out of his own garage.
“My goal is to make furniture that will last generations,” says Sutphin. “Furniture that grandkids will fight over.”
With a “you don’t change the piece, you change around the piece” mentality, Sutphin describes his work as heirloom furniture.
Most of Sutphin’s clients reach out through social media with an idea of what they are looking for and from there Sutphin is with them all the way, until their desired product is complete.
From putting together sample boards, to narrowing down designs, this back-and-forth contact keeps him and his client on the same page throughout the building process. Once the piece is done, Sutphin is more than happy to deliver and set it up, eager to keep this customer relationship an important element to his business.
“My business is for people that like really nice furniture and who are willing to put time into something instead of going to the store to buy it,” says Sutphin.
Sutphin is willing to do any design desired by his clients, but his favorite sort of work is custom builds. He can build dining room tables and chair sets to everything in between.
One of Sutphin’s current projects is in collaboration with Texas A&M University, constructing The Grove Wall at the 21st Century Classroom Building. This project is one of the biggest Sutphin has ever had, taking down wood from trees that were around The Grove, what used to be a concert venue, and building them up and turning them into a wood-panel wall.
While big projects are coming his way, in 10 years, Sutphin sees his business staying small. This is because he wants to stay close to his clients, where his hands are always in the process.
“I see other people want to grow, grow, and grow, and get the big tools and the big facilities, but I have all the tools I need,” says Sutphin. “I just want to keep it where I am the one talking to the client, delivering, and making it. I don’t want to get away from that, because I feel like it takes away the quality.”
Sutphin would just like to keep his business going, getting nice projects, and getting awesome clients, he says.
“I used to be ashamed of the shop because it is my garage at my house but now, I really embrace it,” says Sutphin. “It works out for me and I get a lot of good products out of it. You can go to hundreds of stores to get a dining room table but when you walk in and see something like this, that is the biggest award.”
For business inquiries follow @sutphinhardwooddesign on Instagram, visit www.sutphinfurniture.com, or call (979) 219-3403.
