.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} New furniture is easy to find. Antiques aren’t exactly scarce. But some people want a chair or a sideboard to perfectly match a roomful of antiques, or a chest of drawers that exists only vaguely in their imaginations, and those are the customers Kyle Smith is looking for.

Smith started his woodworking career as an Iowa farm boy near Audubon. At 28, he operates a start-up business, Smith Co. Artisans, out of his home in Windsor Heights. In between, he studied the craft of furniture making at the University of Rio Grande – it’s not where you think; it’s in Ohio – and worked with period furniture makers in Philadelphia.

Walk into his house and you’re surrounded by wonderful examples of Smith’s talent. Many pieces feature hand-carved details defining them as the work of a man who has thoroughly developed his skills. He’s in the midst of making and installing a fireplace surround, complete with carved flowers, as part of transforming the main part of the first floor of his home into a showroom.

When it’s time to iron out details, sometimes customers come to his house, and sometimes he goes to theirs. Wherever they get together, they look at photographs of classic furniture, work on sketches and talk about how to arrive at the perfect result.

“Some people know exactly what they want, and others don’t,” Smith said. “Some bring a photo and dimensions, and some aren’t even sure what style or what kind of wood they want.”

So he guides them through the choices. “That’s part of buying a luxury piece,” he said. “You can buy a piece of furniture that will perform the same function for a fraction of the cost, but these pieces are designed and built exactly how the customers want them.”

Anyone trying to get a specialized business off the ground is fortunate to have a full-time paycheck in the family, and Smith qualifies. His wife, Ann, works at the Iowa Credit Union League.

It also helps to be flexible, and Smith has spent some time installing trimwork in high-end houses being constructed in the western suburbs. “You need cash flow to get a business going, and I’m getting my name out there to do more of my specialty,” he said, “but trimwork isn’t really where I want to focus.

“The trimwork has been sporadic, which is a blessing in disguise, because I’m getting a chance to do the quality work and put new construction aside.”

In 2006, Smith sold pieces ranging in price from $2,000 to more than $20,000, he said. He completes one large piece or a couple of smaller pieces per month, all in a basement workshop that’s fairly underwhelming.

Smith plans to expand the shop and upgrade the tools, and he wouldn’t mind adding a helper within the next two years. But, “we’re still going through the growing pains,” he said. “I’m trying to get my name out to my target audience.”

He figures he’s at the 50/50 stage right now – half of his time is spent in the shop, the other half “out there selling myself and my work.”

When he first came to Des Moines, Smith went to work for Nesbit Distributing Co. That job has already paid off, because it’s how he met Ann – she was working at People’s Bar and Grill in Ames when he made sales calls there. Now he’s hoping the sales experience will transfer to the world of custom furniture.

How about this for a sales pitch: “It’s like cars,” he said. “A Ford Escort will get you wherever you want to go, but some people will go ahead and buy a BMW or a Porsche for the extra quality.”