Erin: What are you curious about?
Christopher & Molly: People’s relationship to objects, how things are made, textures and patterns in nature, things that spin
Erin: Describe your work and describe your process.
Christopher & Molly: Noble Goods makes tabletop goods and furniture from solid American hardwoods and epoxy resin. We’ve spent years developing the process that allows us to combine the two materials in a way that’s durable, original and - we think - really beautiful. Our patterns and grooves are carved into solid wood using a custom-built pantographic router. Food-safe liquid resin is poured into the voids, melding seamlessly with the wood as it cures, then sanded smooth. When people see our work, the first thing they usually do is reach out to touch it. We love to watch the surprise on their faces as they realize the wood and resin create one surface, with almost no perceptible difference. We’re always looking for new ways to adapt traditional inlay and joinery techniques to the dynamic qualities of the wood-resin relationship. Our design process is guided by three basic principles: innovative use of materials, superior craftsmanship and great style.
Erin: Your background is in sculpture and Molly’s is in styling. Working as a team, how do you feed off of eachother?
Christopher & Molly: Our inspiration to start Noble Goods was essentially to create the perfect jobs for ourselves. After renovating our home together, designing products came naturally. Christopher has a masters degree in sculpture from Rhode Island School of Design and is happiest when he’s making things with his hands. Molly is a tabletop and interiors stylist with an eye for the little details that bring inspiration to everyday life. Our designs sometimes start with a new experiment with materials, sometimes with an inspiring image, sometimes with a household need. We love the journey of taking a new design from late-night idea to an object with presence and beauty. We hope that our company reflects our lifestyle - our love of home and entertaining, our respect for creativity and craftsmanship, our dedication to giving back.
Erin: How did you start working with wood and resin?
Christopher & Molly: For years, Christopher worked at a custom resin manufacturer in Manhattan. A woodworker since childhood, he started experimenting with different ways of combining the resin with wood. He started bringing home these beautiful little objects, the results of these experiments, and we both fell in love with the process.
Erin: We have surfboard shapers on our site. So, we’re very excited to hear about the resin that you use. We did some work for Habitat for Humanity. Tell us about how you work with this charity and why chose them.
Christopher & Molly: We were getting ready to book a home-building trip with Habitat for Humanity when Molly found out she was pregnant. We didn’t go. Soon after, we decided to start Noble Goods, and from the beginning we knew that giving back would be a part of our business plan. We chose Habitat because of the importance of home in our lives. We give a percentage of our profits each year, and we still plan to do that home-building trip someday.
Erin: You work with locally salvaged wood and Forest Stewardship Council certified woods that have been grown and harvested in a sustainable way. Where do you source from and how does this challenge your day to day production and design?
Christopher & Molly: Our Monster Island tables were designed using wood salvaged from a demolition site a half block from our wood shop. Using salvaged wood takes a lot more effort than using wood from a traditional lumber yard, but we love the stories that salvaged wood tells in its grain and its construction scars. FSC certified wood is more expensive, but it’s important to us to operate our company in a sustainable way.
Erin: We found this fantastic quote about you, Christopher: “He started Noble Goods because he believes that the best you can do is to do what you love.” When did you come this realization and how have you applied this most recently?
Christopher & Molly: It applies probably every day. Last week I was having a hard time with a new design. I spent hours fussing with drawings and image searches on the web. Then I just picked up a carving tool and started cutting up scraps, and found what I was looking for. There’s a freedom in doing what you love that shows up in the work.
Erin: We toured your wood shop. Besides having an amazingly sun lit kitchen, it houses beautifully maintained vintage equipment. What’s the one machine that you want to experiment with next?
Christopher & Molly: We’ve thought about building a much more advanced version of our custom-built pantographic duplicator… And we’d love to have an automated wide-belt sander.
Erin: If you had one superpower, what would it be?
Molly: flight. If it feels as good in real life as it does in my dreams, I’ll take it.
Christopher: flight. I am embarrassed to admit how many times, as a kid, I climbed up onto the garage and thought, what if...
Erin: What is your dream project?
Christopher & Molly: We’d love to work on a large-scale project like a hotel or restaurant, whether in custom furniture or surfaces, or tabletop pieces designed for a particular location or use.
