About Imaginary Furniture

Imaginary Furniture is a North Carolina–based design studio creating one-of-one furniture, sculptural objects, and architectural pieces for meaningful spaces.

Founded by Maddox Humphries in 2018, the studio grew from a simple belief: the objects we live with should matter. Furniture should be useful, but it should also have presence. It should carry the weight of material, intention, and time.

Our work exists somewhere between furniture, sculpture, and architecture. We create tables, shelving, seating, objects, and site-specific commissions for private homes, offices, hospitality spaces, and design-led projects — pieces designed to be used, noticed, and kept.

A Studio Rooted in Material

Much of our work begins with the material itself.

The shop sits on the site of the historic Howie Gold Mine in Waxhaw, North Carolina, just south of Charlotte. It is a place with history, texture, and a direct connection to the natural world around it. When a tree falls on the farm, we have the ability to mill it, dry it, and eventually shape it into a finished piece.

That relationship with material is central to the studio. We are interested in wood that carries evidence of where it came from — grain, movement, figure, age, imperfection, and character. Rather than hiding those qualities, we design around them.

Designed and Built by Hand

Every piece is designed and built with a hands-on understanding of material, structure, and process.

Maddox brings more than a decade of experience in custom furniture, fabrication, and design-build work, including freelance work in museum design and construction. That background shapes the way each project is approached: the piece has to function beautifully, but it also has to hold the room visually.

We use sketches, material studies, 3D modeling, and careful fabrication to move from idea to finished object. The process is both practical and intuitive — guided by proportion, construction, surface, and the feeling the piece needs to create.

Built for Presence and Permanence

We are not interested in disposable design.

A well-made piece should not feel temporary, trendy, or anonymous. It should feel specific to the place it belongs. It should age with dignity. It should be able to hold memory, use, and attention over time.

That is the goal of Imaginary Furniture: to create work with material history, sculptural presence, and heirloom permanence.