We were lucky to catch up with Michelle And Marcelles Murdock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michelle and Marcelles, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

The start of Terraforma Designs is an unconventional tale involving a few meandering threads that eventually come together to land us where we stand today. Thinking back, our individual interests in design and creation traces to our childhoods, long before we ever met. Our parents were perpetually working on house update projects and we both took a natural interest in helping out and witnessing spaces transform. As I got older, I fell in love with refinishing furniture finds from thrift stores and habitually redecorating my room, while Marcelles gained experiences with laying tile, plastering, refurbishing furniture, and gardening.

In 2012, we met, fell in love, and connected deeply over design, architecture, furniture, and nature. Around this time, Marcelles became intrigued with alternative building methods and dove head first into learning all about adobe and rammed earth structures. He realized if he wanted to grow in that realm, he would first need to learn basic woodworking skills in order to produce the formwork necessary for earthen construction. This is when the seed of our fine furniture fate was planted–as it initiated Marcelles on a journey of learning the fundamentals of woodworking by way of books, internet artisans, and experimentation.

We always knew that we wanted our lives to center around building and creation of some sort, but did not have the tools, space, or resources to do so back then. Yet, we continued to dream about what the future could look like and kept busy chipping away at our goals. During this era, I worked in the grocery industry and finished college with the intention to teach middle school while Marcelles worked as a professional photographer.

We were renting an adorable studio apartment, but it became very clear that we would need to acquire our own space to support our creative ambitions. That sent us down the rabbit hole and prompted us to research places all over the country to put down roots–but we quickly realized that we couldn’t part with the California sunshine. We felt deeply connected to the desert landscape of our youth and thus decided to start the process of saving and searching for our first home locally.

In 2016, we were blessed to find the perfect place for us–equipped with some land and a lovely 1950s house with incredible bones–in need of some updates and our personal touch. The decision to commit to the house was such a great move for us as budding artisans because it gave us countless opportunities to work together to solve problems and learn the many layers of building and fabrication.

We remained in this phase for about five years and it included many moments of renovation, gradual investment in shop tools, projects with fellow desert artists, and small woodworking commissions–while remaining rooted in our careers to support it all. By mid 2021, the pandemic was still unfolding, I was finishing my second year of teaching, and everything around us felt unstable. This backdrop of reality filled us with a now or never type of energy and prompted deep discussions about venturing out on our own to start a sustainable furniture company. These conversations became more frequent and as we looked around and took stock of our tools, abilities, and passion within, we felt it was high time to pull the trigger on Terraforma Designs, and then got to work formulating how to make our dream a reality.

We anticipated needing a year to lay the foundation for the business in tandem with completing a very necessary exterior renovation on our home and studio. At that time, we noticed the local real estate market was on the rise and that the improvements we made had added value to our home. We then strategized to pull out some equity, melded it with personal savings, and sanctioned those funds to support us for a year while we established the business.

We both resigned from our careers in the summer of 2021 and hit the ground running. Our days were filled with work on our renovation project while evenings were dedicated to research, establishing the administrative aspects of the business, formulating our ideals, sketching, and discussing designs. By mid 2022, we had enough furniture prototypes to start a collection and joyfully put our work out into the world by officially launching our business website.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We are Marcelles and Michelle Murdock, the husband and wife artisanal duo behind Terraforma Designs–a sustainable home & commercial furnishings company based in the Mojave Desert, CA.

Our separate worlds intertwined back in 2012, when we were introduced by mutual friends at our beloved hometown café after spending much of our lives as passing ships in the night. Soon into this connection, we realized we had very similar creative dreams for the future and this initiated a journey that encouraged us to grow together in love, rich experiences, and the development of a multitude of artisanal abilities.

In 2021, we collected up all of our passion and artisanal skills and set out to shift our lives to honor our core values—to make beautiful heirloom furniture, engage deeply with the artistic community, and answer the call of our adventure seeking hearts. Terraforma Designs was then brought to life—a company dedicated to creating unique and sustainable furnishings that are meant to honor the elements and last lifetimes.

Our specialties at the Terraforma studio include fine woodworking, milling, metal fabrication, patina, stone, masonry, and everything in between to bring our designs to life. We draw our inspiration from nature, architecture, rituals, art, and cultures from all over the world. We approach the creation process with great intention and take the time to inquire about each client’s needs, inspirations, and how they wish to feel in their space. We then bridge these details together and channel them through our creative lens to craft a one of a kind piece of furniture for them.

We take great pride in our work and build our furniture from sustainably sourced hardwoods that we hand finish in no VOC oils, pigments, and waxes. Prioritizing these fundamentals in our process is what we believe sets us apart from mass produced modern furniture–which is often made from engineered wood and finished in polyurethanes that can have a negative effect on health and air quality.

Each day, our Terraforma dream continues to expand, as does our desire to contribute beautiful, functional, and thought provoking designs to residential and commercial spaces all over Southern California and beyond. We have learned greatly from artisans who have freely taught their processes with the world and such has inspired us to do the same as our creative path continues to unfold.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Since beginning our entrepreneurial journey in 2021, we’ve encountered quite a few unexpected twists and turns–but our second year in business brought on a series of chaotic events that tested us greatly.

Back then, we had just completed a major exterior renovation project on our house and studio and officially launched our business website. We were basking in feelings of accomplishment and excited to focus our energy fully on custom commissions and adding more original designs to our furniture collection.

However, things would take a sudden turn one morning while recovering from colds. We were peacefully catching up on rest and then jolted awake by the sound of our work truck engine starting. We ran to the window only to realize it had indeed been stolen and was racing away down the street. The police were able to track it quickly, but the assailant was unwilling to be stopped and sent them on a high speed chase–which was promptly called off due to its intensity. Thankfully, a short while later we got the call that the truck was found 20 miles away, crashed and abandoned.

This unforeseeable incident left us a bit shaken up and thwarted our business plans because our truck is such an essential aspect to our work. It would take months to sort out between police reports, insurance claims, and eventual repairs. To keep the Terraforma dream alive, we had to return to the drawing board and reevaluate our financial situation. With a teaching credential in my back pocket, I jumped on the substitute teachers list at my local school district while Marcelles took on local commission work and finished furniture prototypes to fill the gaps.

Returning to teaching was not an expected move, but I dove back in with an open heart and had such an incredible time connecting with students on my travels from school to school. I met so many souls beaming with passion and creativity and it truly motivated me through the demands of that era.

Shortly after the truck theft incident, I was heading to a teaching gig one morning and was rear ended by an unlicensed driver. Thankfully, my injuries weren’t severe, but I did encounter a case of whiplash that required rest and healing. This was yet another unsettling encounter that would take a profound toll on our business vision because I had to take a break from the physical aspects of my furniture responsibilities and role in our ongoing landscaping project.

This was a difficult and discouraging moment in our journey–especially in our infancy when such moments can often feel like life or death. However, we kept believing in our dreams and abilities and chose to lean into our strengths to navigate through the storm. I continued to substitute teach and focus on the back end of the business as my body healed–while Marcelles finished our landscaping project solo and held everything down in the workshop.

We stayed in this rhythm for quite a few months until our raincloud dissipated and we were able to return to a normal flow at the studio. Although we did not expect the trials of that era, they actually encouraged us to call upon our inner resourcefulness, strength, and resilience to sustain our dream through uncertain times.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

At the Terraforma studio, we proudly manufacture our sustainably sourced solid wood furniture from start to finish. The process of creating custom furniture is quite involved–but having our hands in every single phase of production has proven to be extremely fulfilling.

Upon starting a new furniture project, we think deeply about its functionality, style, and who it might spend its life with. We then use that information to decide on the dimensions, materials involved, costs, and construction of the design. After these details are solidified, we pay a visit to our various suppliers to hand pick materials such as lumber, metal, glass, and stone–depending on what the design will require.

Once we have transported all raw materials back to the studio, we begin the first step of fine furniture production–dimensionalizing the raw lumber boards. This means processing the lumber through a series of heavy duty machines that cut and mill the wood to specific sizes–making it uniform for construction. Once this step is complete, we then spend time creating a custom jig or form for the specific design that helps us achieve consistency and repeatability when the wood is processed through the next series of machines. Once the lumber has reached this final phase, the design will be glued together, go through several sanding stages, and then be prepared for finishing.

As the lumber preparation is underway, we focus on the fabrication of the metals, glass, and stone needed for the furniture design. After all elements are fully fabricated, we assemble the pieces of the puzzle and hand finish the design using no VOC oils, pigments, and waxes. Lastly, we allow the finish to cure to perfection, brand it with the Terraforma Designs seal, and then send it off into the world to live a long and productive life.

We have been honing this manufacturing process for about 10 years and learned everything we know through books, internet artisans, and trial and error. We’ve come to really value the act of reflection after each project–as it advances our craft, deepens our understanding of natural materials, and improves our workshop procedures and production times.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://terraformadesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terraforma_designs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Terraforma-Designs/61569640130757/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/terraforma-designs/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@terraformadesigns
• Other: https://g.co/kgs/cfBD5Bg