Meet Peter Deeble | Furniture Designer/Craftsman & Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter Deeble and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I had very little thought going into it to tell you the truth! I was a high school math teacher at the time, and I built a couple pieces of furniture for me and my wife and was realizing how much I loved to build. I was teaching summer school (this was the summer of 2008) and one of my classes got cancelled due to low enrollment. So I was trying to figure out how I could earn an extra $1000 to get us through the summer.

I suggested to my wife that maybe I should build another bed like the one I had built for us, and I could list it on Craigslist. She agreed that it was worth a shot, and I ended up building and selling that bed for $600 (my materials cost about $300) and I was so stoked. That was the best $300 I ever earned haha. After that I knew that I could earn money building furniture, I just had to get better at it. It was a slow, organic process, and I never really knew exactly where it was pointing. It was like starting out on a journey without a map or a destination in mind, just knowing that you want to keep moving and get somewhere.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I mentioned this already, but I got to where I am very slowly, one step at a time. My first few pieces were copies of designs I saw at Room and Board (I’m sorry to admit this, but it’s part of my story so I’ll be transparent about it). I thought I needed to do this, because who would buy furniture that some random guy designed? But I quickly realized that people were less interested in the “just like Room and Board” tag line and more interested in the fact that the pieces were hand crafted by an independent craftsman. I quickly started making small modifications to the designs I was mimicking, and soon started dreaming up entirely original ideas. The more I stepped into my own design concepts, the more I started to build an audience.

One of the things I’ve learned is to pay attention to opportunities. So many of my design ideas from the last 15 years have been the result of listening to my customers. My flagship piece (the vinyl storage bench) came about because of a customer who purchased a bed, and while I was delivering asked if I’d consider building a bench that could store vinyl. I worked with them on the design, and went with the leg concept that they asked for over my initial idea. The result has became the backbone of my business. This reminds me of another thing I’ve learned, which is that the word “design” is overused. So much of so-called design is actually just problem-solving. As in, ‘I like the way that looks, but I also need to store records or shoes’ or ‘I’m disorganized so I’d like to hide everything’ or ‘I need a bunny cage that looks nice’ or whatever. These practical concerns often end up looking a lot like “design.” I’ve learned over time that if a customer is asking for a piece that solves a problem, they’re probably not the only one with this problem, and these are clues worth attending to.

As my business has grown I’ve become increasingly aware of the temptation to simply fill orders, and cease to push forward with new ideas. I’m pretty sure this is how a lot of brands die. In 2023 I pushed myself to move forward with a design concept that had been rolling over in my head for at least a decade. It was a credenza that eventually came to be known as the Victoria credenza- and I auctioned off the prototype, figuring it may likely be a one off. The result of the auction was incredible, and I’ve built 5 or 6 more already this year, with more orders on the way.

With all of this said, I’m the first to remind myself that all art is imitation, and all of my ideas are standing on the shoulders of giants as they say. I’m in love with Mid Century Design and will always come back to the same well for inspiration. My designs are not ground breaking, but there is something about my interpretation of this motif that has stirred a strong response, and I’ll keep tapping into whatever that is for as long as I can.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m probably the wrong person to ask these days, I have four kids so I don’t get out all that often anymore. traditionally, my favorite restaurant in Long Beach has been Taqueria La Mexicana #2, which has the best Carne Asade in Long Beach, maybe in the country for all I know. I used to live across the street from it, and I ate it all the time. I rarely get over there now, but any time a friend tells me they’ve never been there I insist that we head over there.

My new spot is called La Revancha, which is an incredible hole in the wall Mexican restaurant on Anaheim (there’s lots of cool stuff happening on and around Anaheim these days). The chef there is bridging the gap between high brow and traditional Mexican at a very affordable price. I’ve been trying to get the word out about this spot because it’s always kind of empty, I think it’s still kind of off the radar.

I’m also a huge record collector, so I love to cruise 4th street for records, we have so many great record shops. I love a good cup of coffee, record shopping, vintage clothing stores, and looking at Mid Century Modern Furniture. My wife and I also love a restaurant in Culver City called Hatchet Hall, we head out there when we really want to go to town. But more and more these days my wife and I find ourselves hunting for good hikes more than restaurants or stores. I also love to surf, so any chance to head to Bolsa Chica Beach is welcomed.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yeah there are so many people who have been incredibly supportive along the way. First and foremost, my wife has always supported my decision to pursue furniture. She fully endorsed my decision to give up my stable, predictable job as a teacher, to venture into the wild west of self-employment. I’m also so thankful for my Dad, who first exposed me to woodworking as a kid. I used to come up with these wild ideas for things to build, and my dad would roll out his shopsmith (multipurpose woodworking tool) and we’d figure out how to build it together. He first gave me the notion that I could figure out a way to bring any idea to life. Nothing was too difficult, we just had to figure it out together. Also, I’ll always be thankful for skateboarding- me and my friends used to build skate ramps all the time. I remember building ramps when we were really young, like 10 years old (if memory serves). Then in middle school we got better at it and actually built some great ramps. That really instilled the can-do attitude that made me think I could start a furniture business. There are many other friends who have helped…John Douglas, Ryan Bryant, Nate Jones, etc. Friends who believed in me and gave me their ear when I was feeling discouraged. And Scot Naraki has been a really great mentor along the way, he’s helped me put out so many fires along the way haha. I’ve learned a ton from Scot.

Oh yeah and I almost forgot the two patron saints of Pete Deeble Furniture, Matt Wignall and Stacy Lowery.  These guys are incredible photographers and artists, and they are both incredibly generous.  They have given up so much of their time to drop what they’re doing to shoot photos for me, help me build my website, advise me, etc.  I can’t say enough kind things about those guys, I don’t know how much of a business I would have if it weren’t for them.

Website: www.petedeeblefurniture.com

Instagram: @petedeeble

Linkedin: Peter Deeble

Twitter: @DeeblePeter

Yelp: I forget, search Pete Deeble Furniture I’m on there

Youtube: I don’t ever post here, but I do have a video on there somewhere

Image Credits
All images are by Matt Wignall & Stacy Lowery @mattwignall mattwignall.com