

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcelles and Michelle Murdock (terraforma Designs)
Marcelles and Michelle, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
We are Marcelles and Michelle Murdock, the husband and wife artisanal duo behind Terraforma Designs–a unique and sustainable home furnishings company based in the Mojave Desert, CA.
Our story traces all the way back to the mid 90’s, when our Los Angeles raised parents both had the notion to transition their young families toward the northern reaches of LA county–known as the Antelope Valley. From that moment forward, we unknowingly spent a majority of our childhoods within miles of each other as passing ships in the night–sharing many of the same desert kid experiences and corners of the community, but never actually meeting.
Upon finishing high school, Marcelles ventured out to Santa Barbara to attend photography school, while I stayed local and spent my early adulthood working in coffee houses and traveling to and fro any chance I got.
By 2012, Marcelles would find his way back to the Antelope Valley after spending some time establishing his photography career and living in LA. His return was very purposeful at this point–for he longed for the open desert skies of his youth and had a newfound desire to carve out a path that would allow him to build and create. He would begin to frequent Sagebrush Café as he moved back into town–a local coffee and art house where I was slinging cappuccinos for a living and in the throes of envisioning what I wanted for my future.
Soon enough, mutual café friends bridged our worlds together and within a few months our romantic stars would align. In those beginning moments, we spoke endlessly of our love for nature, adventures, architecture, furniture & design projects, and desires to contribute positively to our world. We realized quickly that we wanted to build a life involving all of those things together. After dating for two years, we got married and spent that era navigating the ebb and flow of existence while working diligently on projects in our studio apartment.
In early 2016, we focused our energies and saved up enough to buy our own little patch of the Mojave–a decision that provided us many opportunities to continue to develop our artisanal skills. Over the next few years we stayed busy renovating our 1950s home, working on projects with fellow desert artists, and learning the fundamentals of building while slowly investing in all the necessary shop tools.
By mid 2021, Marcelles stood deep in his photography career while I was finishing my 2nd year of teaching middle school. The pandemic raged on and we handled the uproar in our fields as best we could, but began to feel a giant pull to finally center our lives around building and creation.
Leaving behind our careers and sense of stability was a daunting concept to me, but the unraveling of the world around us proved that stability is fickle and even the most practically chosen life route can falter from outside influences. Marcelles has always seen the potential within us very clearly and in those moments expressed that we were indeed ready–with enough passion, skills, tools, and grit to accomplish what we saw in our minds’ eye.
From that conversation onward, we quickly got to work chipping away at this new direction by strategizing our ideas and making all the necessary moves to bring Terraforma Designs to life. From the very start, we wanted our work to honor nature by being built with integrity from sustainably sourced materials and thoughtfully finished in order to be passed down to future generations.
These ideals have shaped our entire direction and for the past three years we’ve worked side by side to establish every single aspect of our company and furniture collection–while also working on renovation projects and commissions of all sorts. Over the course of our journey together, we’ve grown to gain knowledge in the fundamentals of fine woodworking, metal fabrication, patina, stone, and masonry. This has been the most enlightening epoch of our lives thus far, and today we stand with such gratitude for all the lessons and strengths collected since taking the big leap into the entrepreneurial unknown.
We have learned immensely from artisans that have taken the time to document their work and this has prompted us to share our artisanal path through many mediums with the hope to be a resource to anyone seeking. At this point in time, our Terraforma dream continues to expand, as does our desire to contribute beautiful, functional, and inspiring designs to residential and commercial spaces all over Southern California and beyond.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Now that we stand on the other side of our first few chapters, we like to refer to our business beginnings as the magical mystery tour–full of many unforeseen challenges but also some epic breakthroughs that appeared out of thin air.
During year one, we knew our workspaces would be on camera as we documented our artisanal processes–so we allocated the necessary time and resources to pull off a multifaceted exterior renovation in tandem with laying the foundation for the business. This was a massive undertaking that we would accomplish with only our hands–but we felt confident from past projects and the amount of research and preparation we brought to the table. However, we were still smack dab in the middle of the pandemic and tracking down construction supplies and certain specialized tools was problematic. We had to adjust our design plan and anticipated completion date quite a few times, but in the end gained many new skills and learned about the realities of big projects involving multiple layers.
Once the renovation neared completion, we actively worked on furniture commissions and made plans to officially launch our website. Branding was the single aspect of our business we sanctioned out–only for the agreed upon work to fall through on two separate occasions. It was such a tedious moment because we were at the point of needing to promote our work to start churning a profit, only to feel like we hit an unexpected wall.
However, we leaned into each other and the skills in our repertoire to move forward. We quickly got to work and merged our drawings to birth our logo, Marcelles engaged his vast photoshop skills to digitalize it, and then I summoned the YouTube gods on how to build a website. Although we were pushed down this path due to some let downs, it actually encouraged us to ride the entrepreneurial wave rather than trying to control it. The launch of the website felt especially liberating to us because it was a tangible representation of all of our creative efforts thus far.
Soon after the launch, chaos would want to dance again when our work truck was stolen and go on to take months to repair from the damage it encountered during the incident. This experience left us evermore frustrated, but we quickly regrouped and I hopped on the substitute teaching list at my local school district to fill the gaps until our situation resolved. Quickly after, I was rear ended while heading to a teaching gig–thankfully not suffering any major physical damage, but left with a case of whiplash that would require time and space to heal. At that point, we felt like we were stuck in a cycle of one step forward, two steps backward–with all obstacles stemming from outside of us.
Yet, we kept believing in our vision and channeled our strengths to figure out a way to survive the challenges. I took a short hiatus from the physical aspects of my furniture creation responsibilities as my body healed and continued to substitute teach while Marcelles worked tirelessly on prototypes and finishing our ongoing exterior & landscaping project. Although I didn’t anticipate returning to the classroom, it actually proved to be such a gift to reconnect with students during this era. I spoke of the Terraforma dream often, and in return so many students shared their amazing passions and creative endeavors with me. Those golden connections will never be forgotten, for they filled my cup immensely when the future seemed uncertain.
After so many setbacks during our first couple of years, we finally had a major breakthrough that we never saw coming. Marcelles noticed his favorite shoe company was holding a contest for entrepreneurs that would award a business grant if selected. We impulsively applied one day before the deadline and within a few weeks got the news that they had chosen us as the winner. Our heads spun with excitement and we felt like we were dreaming.
That amazing opportunity injected so much life back into us after all the battles and allowed us to dedicate ourselves fully back to the Terraforma agenda. At times, the many obstacles we encountered in the beginning left us feeling baffled, but in reflection prompted us to realize the power of self reliance–along with calling upon a little magic from the universe to help us continue to push our dream forward.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are multifaceted artisans that spend our days handcrafting sustainable and unique furnishings for residential and commercial spaces. Our specialties include fine woodworking, milling, metal fabrication, patina, stone, masonry, and everything in between to bring our visions to life.
We draw great inspiration from nature, architecture, rituals, art, and cultures all over the world. Our creative vision has always aimed to masterfully blend elements with the goal to craft beautiful, functional, and thought provoking furniture. We’ve become known for the incredible detail we incorporate into our designs and often include many eye catching metal adornments to pull in passers by for a closer look.
We hold all natural resources in the highest regard and strive to put intense thought and care into our furniture with the hope that it will last a lifetime and then be passed down to future generations.
Our designs are bespoke in nature and always built with integrity from sustainably sourced solid woods and hand-finished using No VOC pigments, oils and waxes. Prioritizing these fundamentals in our process is what we believe truly sets us apart from mass produced modern furniture–which is often made from engineered wood and finished in polyurethanes that can have a negative effect on our health and air quality.
We take pride in approaching the creation process with great patience and intention. When we meet with a new client, we spend time inquiring about their needs, what inspires them, and how they wish to feel in their space. We then bridge these details together, channel them through our creative lens, personally select raw materials and then utilize the natural variation within them to craft a truly one of a kind piece for our clients. Our studio is a one stop shop for this entire process, and we’ve received such positive feedback regarding our practices, clear communication, and keen attention to detail.
We would be nothing without all the incredible artisans that have documented their work for the world and such has inspired us to do the same. As we continue on this journey, we long to freely share our artisanal techniques with the hope to connect with, encourage, and be mutually inspired by creatives from all walks of life.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
There have been many lessons learned on our business path, but a handful really stand out that we feel called to pass on. The first one that comes to mind is that bringing your dream to life might take longer than you think, but that could actually be a good thing. We knew in our early adulthood what we wanted to do, but did not have the funds or space to make it happen back then. However, we used that era as an incubation period–filled with research, experimentation, slowly investing in tools, and seeking out a multitude of resources to prepare us for what was on the horizon. Try to absorb as much as possible from every role you play leading up to your start–as all of those skills will absolutely translate as you lead your own business.
The next that comes to mind is to realize that your dream is precious–be very selective with who you share it with in the beginning. When you strike out on your own, you are filled with excitement and it feels so natural to express the details of your new path in conversation. However, you might encounter a handful of personalities that project unwarranted doubt upon your direction. Our advice is to use keen discernment and understand that some people simply speak from their own fears. Shake the doubtful words from your mind quickly and remember only you know the true capacity and power within. On the other hand, there will also be incredible and loving people in your corner the whole way through. Cherish them–for their support can be absolutely life giving to the wavering creative spirit.
As you make your way, it’s easy to fall into the pattern of saying yes to everything that comes knocking. Gaining experiences through a variety of projects is a wonderful thing, but reflect on each project and commit to refining your approach. Your time is your greatest asset as an entrepreneur and it’s important to say no to work that does not align with the direction in which you want to take your business.
With all that’s involved in launching a dream, you can quickly feel the drain caused by the hundreds of tabs constantly open in your mind. To help with that, have at least one hobby or activity in your back pocket that you know has the power to ground you. When you are in the thick of it, resources and time can be limited but finding a way to decompress is important. You would be surprised at how much a short hike or ice cream date can do for your soul when you’ve been grinding away to make it all happen.
Lastly and perhaps our most important advice is–expect challenges, but expect miracles too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://terraformadesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terraforma_designs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569640130757&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@terraformadesigns
- Other: https://g.co/kgs/cfBD5Bg