Today we’re having a chat with Darin Montgomery of urbancase, to find out how his company came to be and to take a look at some of their work, from the design of a shelf to the interior design of an entire restaurant. Without further ado…

Sidebar in Walnut

How did your company get its start? What led you here?
I had a sculpture studio in South Seattle and was building custom furniture on a limited basis when I met a couple of cool guys who had a design/build firm across the alley. We immediately hit it off and started collaborating. It was a particularly interesting time in Seattle because quite a few restaurants and coffee shops were opening and we were able to work on a number of cool projects. The experience pushed me further towards designing functional objects and the idea of a furniture studio grew from there.

Subway Cushion

I’m inspired by thoughtful design (of any type) and a simple life.

1.2 Chair

What’s your favorite material to work with at the moment? We’ve been experimenting with Corian recently and have been having great success. But…walnut usually makes its way into the mix.

How does your team work together? What does each one of you bring to the table? One of us will generally come up with an idea or concept and throw it out for consideration. We’re comfortable sharing ideas without fear of sounding ridiculous even if something doesn’t come directly from it. And we’re honest and direct in our opinions. We each have different skills and backgrounds that seem to complement each other, but I believe it’s what we don’t bring to the table that is most important…ego.

Tell me a story about one of these pieces of yours that we sell. We were setting up at ICFF and I received a phone call from a gentlemen who, after he identified himself, I recognized because we shipped a Ledge to him the week before we left.

The conversation went like this:

Customer: I have a crate from urbancase sitting in my office and I have no idea what it is.
Me: It’s the walnut Ledge you ordered. We shipped it last week and sent the                           tracking number to your office.
Customer: What the @#%+ is a Ledge!?
Me: It’s our wall mounted desk.
Customer: I own a textile company, what do I want with a wall mounted desk.
Me: You’re asking the wrong guy…I didn’t order it.
Customer: (Laughter)…I guess you’re right.

We spoke later and had another good laugh. Someone in his office ordered the Ledge for display and a photo shoot and he wasn’t aware of it.

urbancase Ledge – Walnut

You’re also a design firm; please share a few portfolio shots from your projects with us! 1) Tilikum Place Cafe in Seattle. This used to be a print shop. Worked with the chef/owner on a full interior design:

2) All City Coffee – Seattle. A collaboration with Steve Withycombe on interior fixtures:

3) Residential railing – Seattle. Collaboration with NY based architect Mallory Shure:

Thanks so much to Darin for taking the time to share a little of his history and his work with us today! Personally, I would love to see a new, ridiculously sleek wine rack named Frankenrack that would redeem him from his early failure with glue.

See all urbancase products

Santa brought me a creature from the deep blue sea this year, and yesterday I gave my bathroom a great makeover in about 20 minutes (hanging a shower curtain is a real pain; I highly recommend dragging out the stepladder for this task or your arms will feel like they are going to fall off by the time you are done!).

Whoopsie, looks like I need to paint the side of the door black (see right side of photo above). Isn’t it funny how you don’t notice these things in person but they show up in a photo? Looks like I could have moved the toilet brush and the bathroom scale to style this a little better. Oh well, at least I remembered to put the toilet seat down!

Santa also brought me some tea towels, which I’ve decided to use as bathroom hand towels. My bathroom doesn’t have a towel bar, and I’m not crazy about them, so I used over-the-door hooks instead.

I’m not too big on too much matchy-matchy, so I’ll probably move the lacquer box to another room, but I thought I’d try out being matchy-matchy for a few weeks and see if it sticks! This box is great for stashing all of my everyday makeup in one place.

Today Show aired a segment on furniture and other items that can grow with your child. Two DwellStudio products were featured in that segment: Baby Storage Bins and Baby Soft Blocks. They’re not just for kids anymore!

Erin Rooney Doland is Editor-in-Chief of the home and office organizing blog Unclutterer.com.

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