Hand-crafted furniture shop spurs imaginatio

Make no mistake, Interior Woodworking is no Pottery Barn.

Yes, both offer high-end furniture and home accessories, but when Jeff Chopp opens his high-end, custom furniture showroom and workshop to the public for the first time Saturday, customers will have a chance to see one-of-a-kind furniture handcrafted by artisans throughout Wisconsin.

“I searched the state to find people who do the quality work we want to showcase,” Chopp said. “And, ironically, they all seem to know each other somehow.”

The craftsmen’s work — everything from a cherry wood Mission-style bed to colonial cabinets to modern tables and sconces – provides a great variety of styles and feels to choose from in the showroom, which occupies the former Rogge’s building at 3978 State Highway 21.

Chopp said the furniture all shares one common thread.

“We want the best of what’s out there,” he said. “We want to make it so people can come here and get everything they need from architectural fixtures to doors to anything else someone could want.”

Peggy Coniff, owner of Lakeview Interiors in Oshkosh, helped Chopp arrange the furniture and prepare for the grand opening. She said the pieces are better than most items she finds in furniture stores.

“They really show the creativity of people beyond what you see in furniture stores,” Coniff said. “These can become someone’s heirlooms. There’s very few companies that handcraft furniture any more. The quality is attractive not only to the high-end consumer, but to anyone who wants to spend a little more to have something that can last for the rest of their lives.”

Chopp scoured the state and found custom furniture producers Bob Kloes, of Seymour; Kyle Dallman, of Oshkosh; Tom Gallenberg, of White Lake; Dean Graber, of Madison; and Randy Rhoden, of Hortonville, to complement handmade pieces by Interior Woodworking’s own Charles Cain.

“This work is something you can invest your time and talents in so you’ve got something to show for it,” Cain said.

Some examples will be on display in Interior’s showroom at all times, but Chopp said they’re there to help spur the imaginations of the custom designers.

“Building a custom piece is not that hard,” he said. “You draw it out, bring it in and we’ll sketch it out so it fits your needs. … We want to get people to think outside the box, to realize there are alternatives.”

Chopp said interior designers like Coniff will play a key role in making a lot of the company’s sales, while Coniff said the shop offers as big a chance for her to flex her creative muscles as it does for the craftsmen themselves.

“I get excited because you can design something and then see it made,” she said. “I think it’s easy from my perspective because you can just make a drawing, pick your woods and order it while remaining competitive on price with the rest of the market.”

Source; www.thenorthwestern.com