William Stranger

Stranger Furni­ture is a design-build studio produc­ing modern, organic furni­ture and cabi­netry from sustainable materials.

William Stranger has been build­ing fine furni­ture with a mini­mal­ist sensi­bil­ity since 1987. Cele­brat­ing the marriage of simple forms and natural mate­ri­als, his work blurs the bound­aries between art, design and craft. Each piece of stranger furni­ture is a unique object. The wood is care­fully chosen and worked with the indi­vid­ual nature of the mate­r­ial in mind. Influ­enced by the basic struc­ture of trees, Stranger strives to have as little impact on the envi­ron­ment as possi­ble. His designs contrast organic forms with linear struc­tures to reflect the inter­sec­tion of nature and culture.

Stranger’s primary source of mate­r­ial is local urban salvage. Trees that are blown over or cut down due to disease or construc­tion are milled on site or at the arborist’s yard. This process allows the use of unique wood that would other­wise be wasted and keeps trees out of the land­fill. Other mate­ri­als include F.S.C. certi­fied lumber, scrap wood and steel left over from the fabri­ca­tion process, reclaimed wood from demol­ished build­ings and construc­tion sites and alter­na­tive panel prod­ucts with no added formalde­hyde. Finishes include plant derived oils and zero V.O.C. top coats. 

In 2005, Stranger’s Mono­lith Bench won best design in the Good Wood show at the Pasadena Museum of Cali­for­nia Art (PMCA). He received an honor­able mention for his Tava Lanes Coffee Table at the M+D+F show at Design Within Reach. His furni­ture has been exhib­ited in New York and Los Angeles and in 2008 his solo show, Second Growth, opened at the PMCA. Stranger’s work has been published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Dwell, Inte­rior Design, Flaunt and Luxe.