Entrepreneur Michael Difazio

My name is Michael DiFazio, and my journey into the world of custom high-end furniture designer and maker has been a testament to my lifelong passion for crafting and creating. From as far back as I can remember, I've loved working with my hands, whether it was fixing up old bikes in my mother's garage or building tree forts in the backyard.

At just 16 years old, I began crafting reptile enclosures and selling them on Kijiji, discovering early on the satisfaction of transforming raw materials into something both functional and beautiful. Even as I pursued my musical aspirations, touring with a punk band called "The Rowley Estate," I found myself drawn back to the world of making things, creating furniture and art pieces from discarded materials found on the side of the road to support my band's tours.

But it wasn't until I was 22, returning from what would be our final tour, that I made the conscious decision to change my focus from music to designing and building high end custom furniture. Despite the financial challenges I needed to take on a full-time job at a metal stamping factory. I worked hard working double duty on projects after my factory work and saved up as much cash as I could and began the search to find the perfect place for my little custom furniture shop and I to move into .

At 24 I leased a rundown building in Ford City, Windsor, envisioning it as the perfect space to realize my furniture-making dream. Despite initial setbacks with the landlord and the dilapidated state of the property, my determination and vision motivated me to keep me moving forward. Nothing could stop me!

Through relentless effort and dedication, I transformed our 3000 sq/f shop into a thriving maker space focusing on custom furniture design and furniture making. My craftsmanship, and commitment to quality soon earned me recognition within the industry and among my clientele and many local interior designers.

Thousands of custom projects being built and leading a team of extremely skilled craftsmen has turned our little shop in Ford City Windsor Ontario into a hub and a one stop shop for the high end custom furniture we produce that focuses on our clients wants, needs and their experience working with us at the highest level. 

Since 2011 my expertise has continued to evolve, marked by my willingness to innovate and push the boundaries of traditional furniture design. The work leaving our shop has become well known, characterized by their meticulous craftsmanship and artistic “wow factor” many of our custom pieces have, many of them became the center pieces of many homes and commercial settings across the province.

2016 is when I fell in love with the business part of running my custom furniture shop. I fell in love with building up a team and building business systems that allowed us to move quicker and more efficiently. I started to care more about the growth of our team members and our culture than I did about the furniture we were building. My heart moved into a new direction. 

2024 is the year I am beginning to share my story, helping other makers and craftsmen/women build their companies up so that they can leave a legacy for their family and communities. Teaching the ways to still show up every day ready to serve their families and team members all while growing a profitable and successful wood business through team building, business systems and the resources I never had when my journey first started.

So here I am, a dude who completely dominated the custom furniture world in our part of the country selling thousands of custom built projects and building up a brand that became very known by high end designers and many business professionals ready to share everything I’ve learned over the years to help you build a legacy of your own. 

Lets get to work!