Now here is an interesting concept: Start a blog about your DIY projects. You attract loads of fans but they simply want to buy the DIY project you already made. So you start your own business and sell said project and land collabs with the likes of Club Monaco and Pendleton. That’s either serious ingenuity or damn lazy readers. Regardless, this is how Matt Pierce started his crafty company Wood and Faulk.
Pierce has always been building, and we mean always. He was working at a salvage yard back in Kansas at 13 and his uncle taught him how to build engines. He then forayed into the furniture and metal worlds when he bought his first house.
More recently Matt was a web and graphic designer out in Portland, Oregon. He got tired of being in the digital world and wanted to work with something more tangible. He began a blog to show his friends some of his home improvement projects and many of his design friends took notice. He soon landed a guest writing gig at Design Sponge and this is when he got the idea to start actually making the product he was posting about. “So many of my projects are fan driven. It’s amazing to put something out there and gage reaction,” Pierce told us. His camp stool was one of his first big sellers and he now has a great selection of items including belts, wallets, totes, trivets and covetable leather jar sleeves (perfect for hot toddy’s served in a Mason jar).
Matt also collaborates with Polar and his neighbors in Portland, Beam & Anchor (one of our favorite stores in the US). They are located south of Mississippi Street near the Union Pacific Rail Yard. As Pierce told us, “The area is so new it doesn’t have a cute name yet!” We are thankful for that.
Below Matt speaks to us about his personal style:
Shoes: Typically I wear Red Wing boots. I also wear Danner, I love them and they are locally made. I have a lot of boots but the underlying importance is that I am on my feet all day long so the big white Vibram sole is good for that. I am also always stepping on nails and tacks so thick soles are purposeful!
Jeans: I have been breaking in a pair of 3Sixteen‘s. Those are my primary pants.
Shirts: I really love Gitman Vintage and if I am not getting messy I’ll wear one of those. But since usually have leather dye and grease on me, I get loads from J.Crew Factory store. I can wash the hell out of them and they last. I always have a collared shirt with a pocket so a note pad and pencil are ever at the ready.
Outerwear: I usually wear a vintage Barbour long coat or a Filson tin cloth jacket.
I have a real nice Scottish wool scarf I like to wear with my Barbour coat. Usually under my Filson is a quilted vest or my wool Filson vest. Hat wise I usually need to keep the rain off my glasses. I have been wearing my Stetson Open Road a lot lately.
Glasses: Steven Alan
Watches: I wear a lot of watches since we make watch straps! One I wear a lot is a Seiko SKX013. It is a nice, inexpensive watch with automatic movement and looks good to me and doesn’t get banged up in the shop!
Favorite App: Instagram and VSCO. I take pictures with VSCO and then put them on Instagram.
Favorite piece of technology: I am always buying new tools and my favorite sewing machine is an Adler stitching machine.
Next tech buy: I actually just bought a Mac 27 inch monitor to hook up to my MacBook Air. Haven’t unpacked it yet since I won’t open it until we move to our new shop. We have run out of space! We will be out of our current location in two months sadly but we are fortunate for the business!
