We recently connected with Gabriel Abrego and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Gabriel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Abrego began as a side project back in 2010 that I did when I had free time before or after work. I would build pieces of furniture out of scrap wood for small areas in my apartment like a coffee table, side table, console – very basic stuff. After working for other companies for years, I really started to see the ins and outs of how to run a business, what I did and didn’t like from each one and really honed in on my skills. In 2017, my partner Bergen Wood and I had an opportunity to design and build a bunch of furniture pieces for a local business. After feeling like we weren’t going anywhere in our day- to-day jobs, we decided to go all in, buy some more equipment and take on one of our biggest projects to date. We started out of a 2 car garage until we were so full with table tops in our living room that we made the jump to our current warehouse. Now our business is focused on making fine furniture to fulfill an interior design need. With a big demand for furniture during Covid because shipping was basically shut down, it really allowed us to focus on creating a sustainable line of products that could be manufactured quicker and locally, a positive over shipments coming in overseas. We mostly work with interior designers across California creating custom pieces as well as manufacturing product from our line, all locally in San Juan Capistrano.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Abrego grew from a passion of building custom designs to fulfill an interior design need. Since 2010, owners Gabriel Abrego and Bergen Wood envisioned creating a furniture business that combined their carpentry and interior design skills. Our vision comes from vintage pieces, Spanish, Early American and Scandinavian designs, modified for a new age environment that works in traditional, transitional and modern spaces.

Our furniture shop focuses on designing made-to-order pieces that are built to last. All our finishes are VOC free and any fabrics we keep in house are natural fibers or recycled poly or wool. All our pieces are completely customizable from finish to sizing to type of wood.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Our number one goal is to have really high quality product. The way we make our pieces is focused on structure and traditional joinery using modern methods. Most of our clients are looking for product that is unique in character but also durable, something different than what they can buy from wholesale and big box brands.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

At first, we took on any and all projects. Everything was custom and everything was complicated… and people had no budget. We worked with a lot of homeowners just to get work. It included gate build outs, jockey boxes, built-in cabinets, wine storage, slab tables, metal legs and more. We eventually realized after pulling our hair out, that we were taking on too many non-profitable projects and were never progressing because of it. We learned the valuable lesson of saying ‘no’ to any project that wasn’t worth the budget or time. It allowed us to take a step back, look at where we wanted to be at as a brand, and really hone in on our specialty and reaching our target market.

Contact Info:

• Website: Abregofurniture.com
• Instagram: Abregofurniture

Image Credits
Personal photo in front of camper shell, photographer-Nick Radford