How can a small design/build firm survive in the age of Ikea and Crate & Barrel? Industrial designer Nathan Hartman has figured it out: "Make something specific for somebody." 

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His firm, Kerf Design, thus focuses on custom furniture, kitchens, living rooms, offices, bathrooms and more. 

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Ikea might be able to produce flatpack bookshelves by the millions, but they're not going to come to your house to measure that dead space beneath your staircase or the precise height of your ceilings.

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But that's not the only thing Hartman's figured out. He's structured Kerf Design to only produce the kinds of work he likes to do, as well as be a fun place to work in itself. 

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Take a look inside the Seattle-based firm, and ask yourself if you wouldn't dig working at a place like this:

Kerf Design's material of choice is plywood, but not the crappy stuff; their material of choice is Europly, which we'll have more on later. In the meantime, take a closer look at the firm's projects and capabilities here.