Our Showroom is Finally Open
It’s taken a few years, a move back to Japan, a lot of plywood, and more shuffling of machines than I’d like to admit, but the showroom is now open and the workshop is more or less where I want it.
It’s not a glossy furniture store with a warehouse out the back. The showroom is in the same building as the workshop. If you visit, you’ll see finished pieces at the front and the place they were actually made just behind, usually with something half-built on the benches.
A Small Showroom That Has to Work Hard
The showroom isn’t huge, so it has to do a few jobs at once.
I’ve set it up to:
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Show real furniture – tables, benches, coffee tables and smaller bits that are the same spec as the pieces I install in homes and chalets around Niseko.
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Let people actually touch things – different timbers, edge profiles, finishes, thicknesses. It’s easier to decide when you can run your hand over it rather than zooming in on a photo.
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Work as a meeting space – somewhere calm to sit down with drawings, samples and coffee and figure out a project, without standing in the dust with ear defenders on.
Most of what’s in the room earns its keep. The counter, shelving and sample boards are all built the same way I build customer work. It’s not a stage set.
A Workshop Set Up to Be Efficient (Enough)
Behind the showroom is the workshop, which is still a working mess, just a more organised one than before.
The aim has been to make it as efficient as is realistic for a small shop:
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A sensible flow of work – timber comes in, gets broken down, machined, assembled, sanded and finished in a logical order. Less walking in circles carrying boards.
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Dedicated areas – CNC, hand tools, sanding, finishing and packing each have their space so jobs don’t fight each other for room.
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Simple storage – sheet goods, solid timber, hardware and finishes have labelled places. It’s not perfect, but it’s no longer a daily treasure hunt.
The idea is pretty simple: spend more time actually making things, and less time moving stuff out of the way or looking for a pencil.
Why It’s Set Up Like This
Most of the work that comes through the door falls into two categories:
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One-off pieces for private homes, or
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Small runs for local businesses, hotels and cafés.
That means I need:
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Consistency – every table needs to be flat, solid and properly finished, whether it’s going to a family in town or a chalet up the mountain.
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Flexibility – one week might be a chalet full of mizunara, the next could be a single coffee table or a run of smaller items for the showroom.
Designing the showroom and workshop around efficiency isn’t about pretending to be a factory. It’s mainly so this can keep going long term without everything grinding to a halt every time there are three jobs on at once.
Visiting the Showroom
If you’re in Niseko and want to see things in person, you’re welcome to drop by the showroom.
You can:
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Look at finished pieces and sample boards
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Talk through a custom project
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Get a rough idea of lead times, materials and pricing
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See (or at least glimpse) where everything is actually made
It’s a working workshop, so I’m not always stood by the door waiting, but if you’re coming from a bit further away it’s worth emailing first so I can make sure someone is around and the planer isn’t mid-job.
If you’ve read this far and you’re curious, come and have a look. There should be some furniture to see, a project or two on the go, and the coffee ought to be decent.
