THE TRADES
Keefrider: A functional art
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urniture making is an art, and nowhere is this demonstrated more beautifully than at Keefrider Custom Furniture in Santa Barbara. At their buzzing collaborative workshop, owners/operators and husband-wife team Jay and Sirie Keefrider meticulously handcraft innovatively designed furniture, custom cabinetry, and specialty projects that are tailor-made to be loved and used for generations to come. The long-lasting nature of the work is part of what drew Jay Keefrider to it. “Most important is the quality and long-term enjoyment of the piece and the people they leave it to,” he says. “My least favorite words are ‘planned obsolescence,’ ” he adds with a smile. Jay came to woodcraft early, developing a passion for it as a teenager and studying furniture design at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. After receiving his BFA, he headed to California and founded his own workshop, Cotterpin Design in Los Angeles. Jay and Sirie married in 2014 and moved to Santa Barbara for Sirie to pursue a post-doctoral research position at UCSB. Meanwhile, the couple founded Keefrider Custom Furniture as a partnership. Always an active artist, Sirie began to work in the shop with Jay during her off 40
FOOD + HOME
hours, learning design and technique. She was soon hooked and decided to switch gears from her career as a research scientist. “There are, surprisingly, a lot of parallels to research,” says Sirie of custom furniture making. “It’s very intellectually challenging, with a lot of creative problem solving.” The Keefriders enjoy the process of meeting with clients, getting to know them and their lifestyles, and homing in on their exact furniture desires. Each piece is uniquely crafted, and the couple takes pride in not having a particular design style. “We’re open to building anything our client wants,” says Sirie. “The
unifying thread is the way we make things.” Traditional handcraft methods such as mortise and tenon joinery are a hallmark of their work, along with the use of sustainably forested hardwoods and non-toxic finishes. They also savor the collaborative relationships they’ve developed over the years with other local artists, such as metal and glass artisans, whose work they incorporate into some of their pieces. The duo is in the process of moving their shop from Haley Street, where they were active participants in the Second Saturdays in the Haley Corridor (Sirie was a founding board member) events and First Thursday Art Walk open houses, to a larger space at 725 Reddick Street. The additional space will allow them to hire shop assistants, host open houses, and possibly teach classes and sell milled and unmilled hardwood. Mostly, they will continue to create beautiful, well-made furniture that stands the test of time. Says Jay, “Our greatest desire is to, at the end of the project, have the client say, ‘That is exactly what I had pictured!’ ” keefridersb.com W W W. F O O D – H O M E . C O M
Photo by Sirie Keefrider
By Nancy Ransohoff
