Press
Handmade Haute
Houston City Book, 2018
By Meredith Xaiver
Photography by Daniel Ortiz
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The Oak Forest shop boasts contemporary artwork by painter Stephanie Gonzalez and accessories from Houston-based Michelle Patrick Designs, and Jennifer regularly hosts trunk shows to promote local artisans.
Perfect Gifts for the Houston Lavacore in Your Life.
Edible Houston, 2018
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By Kim Korth and Christina Martinez
Photography by Jenn Duncan
An artisan workshop and store focused on sustainability, Recoop Designs creates a variety of pieces for the home, like reclaimed wood accents.
Modern Families
Houston City Book, 2018
By Victoria Smart
Photography by Julie Soefer
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With neutral palettes and sleek style, superstar designer Lucinda Loya customizes two family homes — both as warmly mod-minded as they are perfectly practical.
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Meet Jenny Gonzalez of Jenny G Designs in Oak Forest.
Voyage Houston, 2018
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We focus on restoring French and European antiques to a more modern but timeless appearance. I like to combine linen, rust, and painted aged patinas to create a soft room with strong architectural components.
Building a business on reclaimed materials
Edible Houston 2017
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By Layne Lynch
Photography by Max Burkhalter
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“I fell in love with the diversity of the job over time,” Meaders says. “One day we might be in a field bucking a tree, getting it down and milling it. The next day we might be doing sawmill work. Then we might be woodworking, steelworking, rolling zinc and doing copper lighting. Two days later, we might be at a show. It’s the diversity of the work that keeps it interesting.”
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Green Living by New Living
002 Houston, 2013
By Amanda DeMers
Photography by Mikiko Kikuyama
Cooper Meaders is not your typical environmentalist. This U.S. Marine, recent biology graduate, artisan furniture-maker and overall great guy has partnered with New Living to create a one-of-a-kind furniture line.
Look Inside Rice Village's New Custom Furniture Shop
Houston Chronicle, 2013
By Sarah Rufca
On nice days, Cooper Meaders opens the garage door to his sliver of a workshop, inspiring curious looks and questions from the idle Kirby traffic and passers-by outside. Amid a sea of restaurants and boutiques, Meaders is making furniture by hand in the heart of Rice Village at Made @ New Living, a still-new custom workshop inside environmentally conscious building and paint shop New Living.
"Finishing School" Workshop at New Living
Culture Map, 2014
By Barbara Kuntz
Photography by Molly Schriber
Leave the upturned pinkie behind for a different take on “finishing school” now being held at a local green institution. Gather that now-wobbly and scratched wooden rocker you’ve had since your childhood, the hiking stick you found years ago and meant to sand and stain or even an interesting piece of lumber you saved to do something with as a rainy-day project – even if you forgot what that something is.
Creative People
Drawing a Blank, 2014
By Debora Smail
Photography by Debora Smail
I love being around creative people. Photographed in house are furniture artisans Cooper and Daniel Meaders.
Green Living by New Living 2
002 Houston, 2014
By Amanda DeMers
Photography by Mikiko Kikuyama
New Living stocks a vast line of reclaimed lumber. Working with dumpster divers like Joseph Fowler from Forest Construction, The Woodshop of Texas and New Living’s own Cooper Meader’s – it is possible to salvage wood from old barns, warehouses, lakes and mills into beautiful hardwood floors and furniture. This spring Cooper pulled out a log from Lake Travis that had been petrified over the last hundred years. He turned this piece into a beautiful, one-of-a-kind coffee table.
Crafting Unique Furniture
Culture Map, 2014
By Barbara Kuntz
"Let's Build Together" is the motto, where local artisans work hand-in-hand with customers to create one-of-a-kind tables, chairs, planters, whatever the desire, using locally sourced materials — all with the goal of improving the quality of life at home with green products.
Transformation of Felled 106 Year Old Sycamore
Culture Map 2014
By Tyler Rudick
"It's amazing to think this wood came from a tree our grandparents' parents would have planted," explains Cooper Meaders, the designer leading an effort to transform the neighborhood tree into a small line of handcrafted furniture. "It's cool to have materials with that kind of local history."