TK Smith Design

I officially started T.K. Smith Design and Fabrication in Oct. 2008, but I have always been fortunate in being able to make a living through various creative endeavors. Growing up in Los Angeles, I had all of the quintessential Southern CA. hobbies, and I was able to turn many of my hobbies into a business (or at least a job).

Through my love of surfing, in the mid 1990’s, I created a small company, Smitty’s Custom Surfboards, where I focused on shaping and glassing 60’s style long boards. I used heavy 10oz. volan boat cloth, and pigment in the resin for color of each glass job to get an authentic 60’s style board, and I always used Clark foam.

I have been a musician since I was in seventh grade. I played professionally for years and still play in various bands; The Smith’s Ranch Boys, Golden Hill Ramblers and a few small combos’. When I played full time, I would practice eight hours a day, take my amps apart, put them back together, build my own guitars and spend days looking for vintage equipment to get the sound that I wanted. I guess you can say I was obsessed, and I still am. Once this bug bites, you’re infected for life!

While growing up in suburban L.A., my dad was always tinkering with various cars in the garage, and I would hang out and watch until I could figure out how everything worked. My grandfather had a business called “Summertime’s Carburetor and Electric”. I loved the smell of his shop, and he had the coolest equipment leftover from opening his garage right after WW ll. Years after he died, my wife and I found the “53” Buick that was made expressly for him, for sale at a swap meet. This was over 20 years after my grandmother had sold it; his mail still under his seat, her cigarette butts in the ashtray, original bill of sale with the car. Of course we had to buy the car, but that’s a story we’ll share on our blog later!  I am also just finishing up building a roadster pickup project that has taken more than ten years. I have never profited from my car habit, but it has given me the opportunity to become a better welder, fabricator, and in addition, much personal satisfaction. Did I say, once this bug bites, you’re infected for life?

Among various other jobs, I worked as a Disney “Imagineer” for a number of years. All of these experiences have made me a better woodworker, carpenter, welder, fabricator, craftsman, and I love what I do!  I don’t call myself a “designer”, even though the word is in the title of my business. I guess I’m more of a craftsman and a collaborator. I love creating, one-off objects for the home, office and outdoor spaces that are both functional and beautiful. I collaborate with all of my clients so that together, we design and build spaces that are useful and feel good to live in. To me, it’s important that whether we’re creating a kitchen, bath, office or custom storage, that it make your life work better and that the end product looks great doing it!