Biography

---

My approach to furniture making is shaped by many events in my life. Foremost among these is my upbringing in Germany in which I was surrounded by an ethic of striving for quality, beauty and perfection.

My mother tells me that as a child I loved playing and creating with wood and that at the age of four I announced that I was going to become a furniture maker. This desire became a reality when, at the age of fifteen, I entered into a rigorous three-year furniture making apprenticeship in Germany.

Furniture makers in Germany are challenged at every turn of their apprenticeship, and my experience was not an exception. During the first year I spent forty hours per week in the classroom learning the basics of wood and the many skills needed to work it into a useful and beautiful piece. In the remaining years of my training I worked four days per week in a furniture shop for every one day of class work. Being trained to work with wood using only hand tools was a challenge that prepared me beyond my expectations. I graduated from trade school in the spring of 1986 at the age of 18 with both the experience and qualifications to apply my craft.

In the fall of 1986 I moved to El Paso, Texas. In 1990 I opened Klaus’ Custom Furniture, providing high quality custom furniture for customers in West Texas and Southern New Mexico. In April of 2002 I relocated my shop to the Santa Fe, New Mexico area to be closer to a growing client base in the region and to join the thriving craftsman community found there.

I am married to my wonderful wife, Leigh and we have a son, Peter born in 2001 and a daughter, Lucie born in 2005.