How would you describe your style? Craft contemporary; material centered; elemental; slow furniture.

Do you remember the first thing you made? I still have some simple shelves, one a corner shelf, I made for my mom in grade school. I was really into carving at that time, so both pieces (stained pine) have these floral carvings in them.

Before I started making I… I worked in historic preservation, dismantling and repairing timber framed buildings, mostly barns and vernacular agrarian buildings from the 19th and 18th centuries.

If I weren’t a maker I’d be... A writer? A lawyer? I've considered a run for local politics.

Favorite quote or words to live by: My Mom, one of my favorite people in the world, always told me, "Just do your best." I think those are good words to live by. I also like the quote, I've heard attributed to Leonard Bernstein: "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music." I think you could say the same of craft and making.

If I could run away I’d go… I'd like to see Argentina and Chile. I'd like to be able to go from the beach to the mountains in a flash.

If you could collaborate with one person dead or alive who would it be? Wharton Esherick

What would be on your maker’s soundtrack? There's an album of six Bach cello suites, performed by Maurice Gendron. It breaks my heart every time I hear it, and I'm always glad when it comes on. Glad in the way you can be glad to have your heart broken. Also just the other day I revisited Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, and it's going to be on my soundtrack too. That baritone sax is really something. Although it's a hell of shift from Bach to Bruce. There's a few songs by Frazey Ford that put me in the right headspace for making, too.

Last book you read? I am currently reading These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore. I can't put it down. Before that, Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson. Reading is one my favorite things.

Favorite scent? Wow. Coffee, just after its ground, would have to be up there. Also honeysuckle on a summer night.

Favorite flower or tree? I love lilacs and chestnut trees, locust trees, and hyacinths.

What is the most challenging project you have worked on? Why? I've had a handful of really difficult projects that were that way because of schedules and budgets and egos and personalities. Those are always hard because I want to keep everyone happy and sometimes that's just impossible. It's a hard lesson to know how to take care of your work and take care of yourself, not let the stress of the work invade your life. But I don't know many people who've got that figured out, no matter what your job. I once built a custom shuffleboard table with a veg tan leather gutter and custom numbers over reclaimed wood. It had copper nails, and brass screws, dyed ash and epoxy, not to mention a custom metal base that had to go together in sections because it was being built in place in a basement. It's 16 feet long, and had to be perfectly level. That was hard. It came out really nicely though.

What do you see outside your bedroom window? Our bedroom looks out on a little bit of lawn just in front of a nice medium thick woods of Elm, Walnut, Red Oak and White Pines. The hill the forest grows on slopes down rather sharply to a sweet little stream, which, when the leaves aren't on the trees, is almost visible from the bedroom. There's a small hawthorn I planted in the lawn, near the stump of a white pine, and a broken old patio outside one of the downstairs doors. There's a swingset a little ways off across the yard.

What do you hear right now? Peepers are spring frogs that sing at night. That's what I'm hearing. And a purring cat.

Favorite podcast? I love podcasts, and listen to them more than I listen to music in the shop, Fresh Air, The Lawfare Podcast, Talking Feds, often The Daily and The Ezra Klein Show.

Where did you grow up? Doylestown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. We had kind of an ordinary semi suburban house, but we had a sweet orchard and a big vegetable garden, I remember liking that. Also, I grew up quite close to my maternal grandparents. My grandfather owned a junkyard so I grew up towing cars with him. It was kind of an unusual way to grow up, I’ve come to find out.

Favorite time of day? I love morning. I've always been a morning person, and I often get my best work done then. When I'm in my groove, I'm getting up around 5 and drinking coffee and starting when things are quiet and calm. It's nice to see the day getting started.

Most interesting thing in your liquor cabinet? Mezcal (also one of the most delicious).

What are you currently watching? Ozark, on Netflix. Highly recommend!

What are you most thankful for? My family. Then after that, fresh air, the turn of the seasons, the smell of the sea, the open road, and ice cream.

To see more of Sam’s work visit, www.samuelmoyerfurniture.com or his Instagram @samuelmoyerfurniture