Putting quality on the table 

Are you looking for the perfect chair to rest on for when the time comes to tell your grandchildren about the good ol’ days? A dining table where multiple generations of family will eat over and over again? Or is it time to remodel your kitchen? A stroll through the C W Quinn Home showroom might be just the place to bring a dream home or ambitions for a high-class kitchen a bit more down to the ground.

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• PHOTO BY STEVE E. MILLER
• SPECIAL WARES : Recently transplanted from Boston, Chuck Quinn has opened a new home decoration store, C W Quinn Home, in what’s soon to be dubbed the “Design District” off of Tank Farm Road.

Owner and furniture maker Chuck Quinn’s recently opened showroom boasts his custom furniture and cabinet designs, as well examples of what he has to offer for kitchen and bathroom designs. The room’s walls and countertops are dotted with items you’d find at any home, like clocks, dishes and silverware, coffee table books, organic bedding and mattresses, and lighting accessories.

Quinn opened the business in September after relocating here from Boston just more than a year ago. While his custom furniture has been on display for sale at showrooms in Boston and Dallas, this store is both a rooting in and an expansion of his business. Quinn’s craft is the culmination of a career that started with handmade pewter, then expanded to ceramics and bath products. At 40, he went to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design to study 18th century furniture making.

“I’m a midlife crisis furniture maker,” he said.

While his creations are fashionable, it’s also apparent that an eye for detail is matched with an eye for quality; all his furniture is made in this country by well-regarded craftsmen. The Knowlton Brothers in Grover Beach make many of his orders, with some contracts going to Michigan, which was a large hub for furniture production in the country before sourcing went overseas. Materials used for his furniture are also environmentally sustainable.

“We need to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.,” said Quinn, who describes his designs as “modern with an 18th century twist.”

Quinn’s philosophy is emphasized by the hardware he uses to accent the doors and cabinets displayed around the room. For instance, a wandering eye might stop to check out all the knobs, levers, hinges, and handles made by Idaho-based Sun Valley Bronze, which he describes as the highest quality bronze ware to be found in the nation. These solid bronze pieces are indeed serious, and heavy, offering a touch of timelessness and function to a contemporary design, a balance that brings weight to the Quinn’s business tagline: “heirlooms for the 21st century.”

And as consumers in the U.S. return in some ways to the age-old idea of getting something meant to last, the pieces stand a good chance of becoming cherished heirlooms. What you might find here is definitely not cheap or generic, but you’ll get what you pay for.

“I always tell my customers that when you buy my furniture, your grandchildren will be fighting over it,” Quinn said. “It’s so well made, you’ll never see it on the side of the road, not for hundreds of years.”

CW Quinn Home is at 187 Tank Farm Road in SLO. To contact Quinn, call 544-2554 or visit cwquinnhome.com.

Fast fact

In honor of National Library Week, SLO County Libraries will hold the Fines for Food Donations. For each non-perishable food item brought in, the library will forgive any late or hold fees up to one dollar. The one-for-one exchange will run April 16 to 20, with all items donated going to the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County.

Intern Jono Kinkade compiled this week’s Strokes & Plugs. Send your nonprofit and business news to [email protected].

-- Melody DeMeritt - former city council member, Morro Bay