Exploring Life & Business with Daniel Chase of Re.dwell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Chase. 

Hi Daniel, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
I attended Ball State University’s graduate school for architecture with a focus on sustainable design. While in school, I connected with a local craftsman who shared my interest in repurposing materials. He asked me to help tear down an old carriage house a local resident needed taken down. The two of us spent much of a summer deconstructing it by hand, saving everything we could. It was during this project I discovered the hidden value and potential in materials that were otherwise being destroyed and set to landfills through demolition. Capturing and repurposing these materials quickly became the focus of my studies in architecture, a concept I called re.dwell (short for reclaimed dwelling). I was specifically focusing in on how to construct new housing from the materials salvaged from these deconstructed homes. The city of Muncie caught wind of our project and asked if we would be interested in doing other similar projects. My friend started a deconstruction/architectural salvage business, which I helped him run while attending graduate school. We took down many houses in Muncie deconstructing them by hand with the help of a crew we trained in deconstruction. The materials we saved were resold to locals restoring their historic homes as well as across the country to everyone including flooring manufacturers and other architectural salvage businesses. What we didn’t resell we started turning into furniture. This is where I really learned my craftsman skills. 

After graduating from Ball State, I worked for a local architecture firm in Muncie while also continuing to help run the deconstruction operation and explore furniture making. 

We moved back to my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2012. It was the tail end of the recession and I did not have full-time employment in architecture. I was generously allowed to use the basement of the small firm where I worked as a woodshop. It was there that re.dwell was really born into a furniture business. I began making coffee tables and other small pieces from reclaimed materials. After attending a few local craft shows, a few local businesses began asking me to make pieces for their stores and offices. I quickly outgrew the basement workshop and ended up purchasing an old tool and die shop in the Boston Square neighborhood of Grand Rapids to house the budding woodshop. 

I was still working part-time in architecture while trying to grow re.dwell. I began recruiting the help of friends and family to help in the woodshop and with deliveries. Some of them became employees we still have. Eight years later we have three employees plus myself, and we have shipped or delivered pieces to huge corporations, small retail businesses, and homes in over 40 states. Locally in West Michigan, you can find our work in Woosah, Byrne Electrical, Elevation and Mint at the Intersection, Lee & Birch, Family Capital Management along with many other offices, and soon the North Country Trail Association. 

We love creating pieces that will become the next generation’s heirlooms for our residential clients, and pieces that are both functional and beautiful for our commercial clients. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It certainly hasn’t always been a smooth ride. There is always trying to find the right balance in having enough people and work to keep us all busy and of course, paid or taking on more so we can bring on help and not worry about running out of work. There are have certainly been some ups and downs in striking that balance. I think we have finally found that with the work we have, our team, and the space we have to work in. Staying small, under five of us has also allowed us to remain flexible on the amount and types of work we take on. 

Our next challenge would certainly be if we tried to grow much more. I think we would need a new space more conducive to our workflow. We love our location but it could certainly be more functional now that we have our processes established. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Re.dwell was founded in 2013 as more of a paying hobby than a business or career. It served as an outlet for my creativity, passion for repurposing materials, and desire to work with my hands. It grew faster than I ever expected to the point I had to choose between a career architecture or trying to get a budding furniture business off the ground. I chose the latter. 

The combination of backgrounds in architectural design, deconstruction, and having always been building and tinkering from a young age is what helped set us apart early on. I saw the potential in reclaimed wood not for its rustic or rugged industrial charm as a style choice but as a wasted resource that needed to be saved. We always tried to approach our designs to be more timeless while still showing off the history of the materials than trying to keep up with trends, because those can change quickly. Our approach to design, rooted in the architectural design process makes a difference as well. Instead of just building a table or desk I try to find out how the office or homeowner plans to use it, how they operate and need to get out of it, so it can be designed specifically to their space and needs instead of trying to make something work you pick out on a website. 

But what really sets us apart though is our willingness to take these reclaimed materials and turn them into beautiful pieces. There is certainly extra care and steps involved to get a gnarly or board taken out of barn and getting it to point you can use it in a piece of furniture. Many of my fellow woodworks have told me how they don’t want to touch it because of the extra work and wear on equipment. Reclaimed wood pieces have been our signature, what we are known for, and what people come to us for. 

While larger commercial pieces are what we do most often, we have popular signature pieces for the home as well, and there is really no project that is too big or small. We have tackled everything from a tiny house to a teeter-totter. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.redwelldesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/re.dwell/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redwelldesign
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/re_dwell
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/re-dwell-grand-rapids-4
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/redwelldesign

Image Credits
Daniel Chase
Elizabeth West
Chantal Pasag