Photo by Ross Gordon
Birdsquare Carpentry is a family-owned and operated Haiku-based woodworking business that creates custom furniture, cabinetry and such for residential and commercial customers. It was started in 2003 in a garage in Louisville, Kentucky. Since its inception Birdsquare has strived to have a large creative footprint but a small environmental one.
The creativity comes from the experience of its founder, Peyton Hoge. Peyton is an artist living and working full time on Maui. He graduated with a BFA in photography from the University of Louisville in 2000 and has since appeared in various group and solo art exhibitions in such gallery spaces as Swanson Reed Contemporary, Actor’s Theatre’s Humana Festival, 953 Clay Street, the City Café, and others. He later turned his talents towards creating functional art, which led to the formation of Birdsquare.
Birdsquare is known for hands-on custom design and for working directly with clients, designers and architects to create one-of-a-kind woodwork pieces that will last a lifetime. Birdsquare gets a lot of inspiration from modern, mid- to late-20th century design, Asian and European furniture, yet also pulls from such American traditions as the Arts and Crafts movement, among others. Peyton takes this inspiration, and, using 3D design software and the client’s inputs, completely builds the pieces digitally before any cuts are made in any materials. This allows the customer to see what the finished piece will look like and permits changes to be made to the design, which makes for a much more satisfying and functional end product.
Birdsquare is also known for being eco-conscious. It has always put forth the extra effort to be an environmentally responsible company. As a small local business that primarily only takes jobs within a limited radius of its home base, fossil fuel use is greatly reduced. Having a small wood shop located at home helps with this as well. Recycling has always been an important endeavor, as has reuse of materials. Birdsquare uses repurposed and discarded wood, glass and metal whenever possible. Reclaimed and green-sourced wood is used frequently, as are non-toxic and low-VOC (volatile organic compound) finishes, as Birdsquare is also dedicated to clean air inside the customer’s home.
Work by Birdsquare Carpentry has been featured in many publications, including Louisville Magazine, Sophisticated Living, Her Scene, and Pure Uncut Candy. Besides this website, Birdsquare is on the web with its own Facebook page. Any of the local projects shown can be seen by appointment by contacting Peyton, and references are available to the curious.
