Jordan Goetz may not have dreamed of a future in furniture, but making things always came naturally to him. “I loved building things even as a kid, with erector sets, cardboard boxes, anything I could get my hands on,” he says. Somewhere along the way, though, he felt he’d lost his innovative spark. And then, 18 years ago, he moved to Texas. “As soon as I got to Austin, I felt creative again,” he recalls. “There is something very special about the city and its creative frequencies.” Once he acquired some hand tools, he was back to building.
Goetz also loves design. “I don’t think I realized what design was when I was young,” he reminisces, but as he grew as an artist and furniture maker, he did a deep dive, finding inspiration in the work of Donald Judd, Charlotte Perriand and Frank Lloyd Wright. “I think there’s so much beauty in simplicity,” he explains.
But simplicity can be deceptively hard to create. “When I first started, I was limited with my skill set, but now that I’ve been doing it for years, I feel like I can make anything,” Goetz shares. That sense of possibility is likely what interior designers love about working with Growler Domestics, Goetz’s three-person shop. For example, when interior designer Samantha Voges brought him a rendering of a curved cantilevered table, Goetz agreed to create it even though, he admits, “It was terrifying. There was zero room for error.” Every angle was hand-carved, and if he made any mistake shaping the curves with the hand plane, he’d need to start over.
While most of Growler Domestics’ work is commissioned, Goetz occasionally makes something for his own edification. Once, when a conversation with a designer about organically shaped side tables didn’t lead anywhere, Goetz went ahead and made two sets, dubbed the Pebble Collection. Like many Growler creations, the Pebble tables feature rounded edges. “I love curves,” Goetz observes. “They’re challenging and push us to get creative.”
Over the years, Goetz’s business has grown in lockstep with his skills. Today, he has a team of craftspeople working with him in a 2,000-square-foot studio. “This is my happy place,” he says. “From watching the forklift bring a massive stack of wood, to putting the boards through the joiner, to when you start to see the grain underneath, it’s all exciting. I love everything about designing furniture.”
Jordan Goetz.
As Growler Domestics’ business expanded, founder Jordan Goetz taught himself welding and metalworking.
Goetz’s handmade furniture starts with designs sketched on paper.
The Pebble Collection tables show off his talent for creating curves with wood.
The Seaholm Cocktail Bar.
Jordan Goetz.