Charles Mathewson – Bio

Mathewson Standard is built around the idea that the quality of custom made furniture should not be confined to driving distance to a showroom. Six years ago this was the problem I faced when my brother asked me to make a spectacular custom walnut dining table for him. The only probably was that I lived in Chicago and he lived in South Carolina. In order to get the table to South Carolina I developed what was the first iteration of the Mathewson mortise and tenon. After nine iterations, and half a decade of experimenting, I arrived at what is the best way to preserve all of the quality attributes of custom furniture; and, the ability to ship anywhere and have any customer be able to assemble a true custom quality piece.

This new flat-pack system is based on the Mathewson Mortise and Tenon, preserving the strength of custom made furniture with its solid hardwood construction and large mortise and tenon joints. In conjunction with premium stainless steel screws and custom brass inserts the flat-pack furniture is easily assembled by anyone in just a few minutes. This is because unlike big box store furniture that is made out of low quality particle board, Mathewson Standard's flat-pack system does not require small pieces of hardware that will eventually loosen and fail over time. There is a simple bolt that slides through the joint to keep it in place. Due to the precision machined fitment of the components the joint is inherently strong and does not require the bolt to provide strength, rather, just to hold it together.

At Mathewson Standard delivering the highest strength and durability when it comes to flat-pack furniture also puts us in a situation of great responsibility; we believe we need to not only continue to deliver extremely high quality but also be tasteful and masterful in our design. At the end of the day what is the point of a beautifully crafted piece of furniture if it is so poorly designed that nobody would want to use it. That is why Mathewson Standard has called on nearly a decade of furniture design to arrive at the products we deem great enough for your home, design that not only is effortless to use but has you taking a refreshing step back when you look at it.

Fulfilling these duties of quality and design have brought Mathewson Standard from a small basement run company to a large industrial shop that utilizes state of the art tools and cutting edge designing and engineering software that allows us to continually perfect our strength and durability. Of course having all of this based right here in Charleston, South Carolina gives us the distinct advantage of having a close look at each and every piece that goes out the door. This ensures that it will be strong for generations, that it will be tasteful no matter the fashion, that it will be dependable no matter the situation, that it will be the Mathewson Standard.