The Woodworker Who Found His Way

Miles Curran custom builds affordable furniture with locally sourced wood, much of it salvaged. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

Carved Coast Offers Hand-Built Furniture
at Regular-People Prices

By Tyler Hayden
Photos by Ingrid Bostrom
April 10, 2025

Read more of the Home & Garden 2025 cover story here.

For a while there, Miles Curran couldn’t figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He’d graduated UCSB with a degree in political science and moved back to the East Coast, where he held various jobs as a writer, fisherman, and distribution manager.

It was when Curran was working for a contractor in D.C. that he was gripped by a true and abiding passion for woodwork. Salvaging choice pieces of lumber that had been discarded during home renovations, Curran cobbled together a coffee table for his first apartment with his new wife. The piece was rough, but he was proud. He kept at it.

Curran soon set out on his own. He rented a storage unit in an alleyway and powered his tools with a generator. His drill spun in only one direction. But he had clients and was making a living. More importantly, he was happy.

Fast-forward 13 years and Curran is now the one-man band behind Carved Coast, building tables, consoles, and other furniture for people across Santa Barbara, the United States, and even overseas, where he has a small following in Ireland.

Curran uses reclaimed wood whenever possible, whether it’s redwood fencing or oak staves from wine barrels that still smell like chardonnay. He has connections with local salvagers, keeps an eye on Craigslist, and does a bit of dumpster diving himself. His bright and airy workshop is located off-grid up the coast, which he shares with a cabinetmaker named Nick and a dog called Arlo.

If you had to put a name to Curran’s aesthetic, you might call it mid-century modern meets southwestern design. The chevrons and patterns of his Mosaic Redwood series show off the wood’s natural color and weathering, while walnut benches he recently built for a couple on the Westside feature easy, elegant lines and small but eye-catching inlays.

Curran’s pieces come in all shapes and sizes, and he’s happy to work with clients to find the right fit. His stuff is also refreshingly affordable — a few hundred dollars for a handmade coffee table as opposed to a few thousand — and shipped straight to your door. Table tops are finished with a house blend of mineral spirits and low-sheen polyurethane that gives them a protective coating so smooth you can slide a wine glass across.

Curran, who recently became a father, is the first to acknowledge he’s still mastering his craft. He’s getting better on the lathe and wants to try his hand at large credenzas. “There’s always something new to learn,” he said. “One of the most enjoyable parts is getting a little over your head…. When you’re solving problems, that’s when the job is fun.”

See carvedcoast.com.