Handcrafted made-to-order furniture from SinCa Design

Katrin

Interview with Maria, co-founder of Sinca Design. SinCa is a made-to-order furniture design studio founded by Maria Camarena and Dave Sinaguglia in 2016, the woodshop is located in Tolland CT. They design handcrafted furniture made to order. They plant 10 trees for every piece of furniture they make. For the last 3 years, they have planted 250 trees through a partnership with One Tree Planted. One Tree Planted is a non-profit organization that has planted over 40 million trees in more than 47 countries across the globe since 2014.

Hi Maria, thank you for taking part in our Being Designs interviews project. Can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Maria

My name is Maria Camarena, I’m co-founder of SinCa Design with my husband Dave Sinaguglia. I’m originally from Guadalajara, Mexico. I studied industrial design in the same city and in 2013 I moved to the US to go to grad school. In 2016 I got an MFA in furniture design from RISD. That same year we started the project of SinCa. 

Katrin

How did the idea of creating SinCa come to you? What was your inspiration?

Maria

When Dave and I met I was studying furniture design. And I had been working on architectural carpentry in Mexico and I had started my own furniture studio before coming to the US. I was passionate about furniture design and woodworking. Dave had just finished a boatbuilding program in Newport RI and was also starting to build handcrafted furniture in his own woodshop. So the idea of starting a business together came up organically. 

Katrin

Tell me a few interesting, curious facts about your brand.

Our vision at SinCa is to design a harmonious lifestyle where the centerpiece is the well-being of our people and the planet. 

Maria

The first piece of furniture in our collection was a desk. I was in grad school so I had a used Ikea desk. Dave told me that I should be writing a furniture thesis on a nicer desk. So I designed a desk that Dave built. This also brought up our first fight working together. I had designed a nook specifically for A4 size paper but Dave modified it to fit the size of wood he had, just ½ “ smaller than my design. Since then we’ve been trying to better communicate. For the sake of our business and our marriage. 

Another interesting factor I can think of is that most people don’t know or don’t imagine that there is only one person behind SinCa. That is me. At least at the moment. Even if the plan has always been to be a business to support both of our incomes, we are still in the growing phase and Dave helps me when I really need it, mostly on weekends, moving heavy things, or doing woodwork that needs his skills.

Katrin

What is your company’s vision? Which place does sustainability play in it? 

We plant ten trees for every piece of furniture we make.

Maria

Our vision at SinCa is to design a harmonious lifestyle where the centerpiece is the well-being of our people and the planet. 

Planet Earth came with a very clear set of instructions. Before talking about sustainability we try to understand the basic principles that guide life on Earth and incorporate our practice into the natural cycles of life.  

Currently, we do that by sourcing certified wood locally, restoring our forests by planting ten trees for every piece of made-to-order furniture we make, composting the sawdust we produce to use it as fertilizer, and utilizing every little scrap of wood to make one-of-a-kind products. 

Katrin

I read that all your made-to-order furniture pieces are handcrafted and made from high-end materials. And I am curious to know more about the manufacturing process too.    

Maria

Every piece of furniture is made to order, which helps us to put all of our attention on the piece we are making at the moment. We offer a growing collection of handcrafted furniture that we’ve carefully designed and prototyped. From this collection, our clients, most interior designers, can customize the piece by selecting from different wood species, stones, and finishes. They can also specify a custom size.

I start getting ready for production by creating shop drawings with the specifications provided. Then we create templates, and jigs, source our materials, and once everything is in the wood shop we start fabricating. I say we because this is the part where I involve Dave and other collaborators. I outsource the woodturning for the Mezcalitos for example. So I try to have the planks ready for the lathe first so I can focus on other things while they are being turned.

Once I have all the pieces back in the shop I finish them by hand with plant-based wax and oil finish. And then they are ready to go to their new home!

To offset the environmental impact of our shipping we plant 10 trees extra when we ship aboard. 

Katrin

A lot of people face the problem. What to do with the old furniture, what furniture recycling looks like, and who I can call to get help. Can you advise people who want to do it the right way?

Maria

Our furniture is designed and fabricated to last for generations. Hopefully, we don’t have to tell our clients how to recycle or discard their furniture very soon. However, lifestyles change, and sometimes the lifecycle of a piece of furniture takes a different direction. 

In a couple of years, I want to start a program where we can re-buy and repair SinCa pieces to then add them to our stock again. This will take a lot of planning and we are not ready for it yet but it will happen once our plan for a circular economy business starts to be in motion. 

I’m not very familiar with other furniture recycling programs, but I think in general, when we buy furniture we need to, first, stay away from trends and buy the best quality that we can afore and use our furniture for as long as possible. 

Before getting rid of your furniture, see the option of repairing or reupholstering. 

Donate it if you really don’t want it and can be used by someone else. And if the only option that you have is to throw it away. Then look in your town what is the best way of doing it. It can be very different from town to town. 

Katrin

I want to ask a personal question. Which profession did you dream about when you were a kid?

Maria

I went from wanting to be a painter who plays the piano in her lake house to wanting to be a private detective or an inventor (whatever that meant for a little girl). 

Katrin

Do you ship worldwide?

Maria

Yes, we work with the shipping company to arrange a customs agent, fees, and duties that are billed to the person that will receive it at its final destination. To offset the environmental impact of our shipping we plant 10 trees extra when we ship aboard. 

Katrin

Which products in your shop are the most popular?

Maria

Our Rattattan credenza has been very loved, we’ve made it on white oak and walnut, with all the stone top combinations. 

Our Mezcalitos side tables are also a favorite, as a set or as individual pieces, most of them have been made in white oak, and we would love to get more orders on different wood species. 

Katrin

What if someone wants more custom pieces for their home?

Maria

Email me! As I said before, making each piece to order gives us the flexibility to work with the client to meet their needs. In general, we’re able to customize materials, finishes, and sizing. Sometimes customization has a re-design fee depending on the specifications and adds 1–4 weeks to the listed lead time to give us time to do shop drawings and new templates.

We also take commissions if we feel it’s the right fit and have full design control. We do not replicate designs or fabricate designs that have not been created by us in our studio.

Katrin

I want to ask a personal question. Which profession did you dream about when you were a kid?

Maria

I went from wanting to be a painter who plays the piano in her lake house to wanting to be a private detective or an inventor (whatever that meant for a little girl). 

Katrin

I believe together we can change the world for the better. Do you?:) What is your personal view on the future of our planet?

Maria

I want to believe we can fix the world, instead of changing it. We have a beautiful world already, we don’t have to change it, but we have been polluting, deforestation, and destroying it. We need to stop what we are doing and fix the damage we already did. I believe in the science that says that it can be done, by reforesting, restoring our soils, etc, but only if we all act now.