John Wiggers is a studio furniture maker who specializes in the design and making of exquisitely crafted custom furniture. Great emphasis is placed on the use of environmentally responsible materials and practices, including FSC certified sustainably harvested woods, non-UF glues and low-VOC finishes. In addition t … Read more John Wiggers is a studio furniture maker who specializes in the design and making of exquisitely crafted custom furniture. Great emphasis is placed on the use of environmentally responsible materials and practices, including FSC certified sustainably harvested woods, non-UF glues and low-VOC finishes.

In addition to being FSC certified under Smartwoood certificate #SW-COC-000055, John's work is also LEED, NAUF and CARB compliant, in addition to being Greenspec listed at www.buildinggreen.com .

John is considered by many to be a pioneer in the movement towards sustainable forest management. In the early 1990s he was an active earlier supporter of grassroots initiatives such as W.A.R.P. (Woodworkers' Alliance for Rainforest Protection). Together with Greenpeace, The Sierra Club and World Wildlife Fund, W.A.R.P. later went on to play a key role in the formation of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 1993.

In 1998 John's business became one of the first custom furniture shops in the world to be certified to FSC chain-of-custody standards.

Between 2000 and 2004 he also served on the board of FSC Canada in a variety of roles, including Treasurer and Chair.

In 2005 John was commissioned by The Furniture Society to write a chapter on sustainability for their studio furniture journal: "Focus on Materials" (ISBN: 0967 100437). In this publication John's writings focus on the story of his own personal journey to sustainability.

Between 2004 and 2006 John was involved as Technical Advisor in the making of an environmental film "The Green Chain". According to film maker Mark Leiren-Young, John was also the inspiration for the role of John Clements in the film. "The Green Chain" premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival in August, 2007.

Over the years John's furniture making talents have been sought out by some of the world's most renouned furniture designers and collections including J. Wade Beam, Brueton, Dakota Jackson, Vladimir Kagan, Ron Seff, Rick Shaver, and Lee Weitzman. These have invariably been OEM (private label) collaborations.

Examples of John's work can be found in private residences, executive offices and luxury yachts located as far away as Kuwait, Russia and Japan. His work is also featured in the public areas of many 5-star hotels, including Four Seasons, Mandarin-Oriental, Ritz Carlton and Umstead.

It is John's belief that the most sustainable furniture available is quality work that is built to last.
In other words, creating heirloom quality work that can be passed down from generation to generation.

On this note great emphasis is placed on the use of high quality materials and practices. For example, all drawers are typically made of dovetailed solid maple, running on concealed linear ball bearing self-closing slides.

Before the first piece of wood is even cut there is extensive dialogue with the client to determine exactly the parameters required on each custom furniture commission. Once this has been established, each piece is individually crafted on a bench by hand to these exact specifications. In this way it is truly possible to custom tailor personalized furniture to meet the individual needs of each particular client.

John's shop is a small family run business that was established in 1967. Over the years a conscious effort has been made to keep this shop small, to maintain personal attention to detail with stringent control over quality.