Budget Breakdown: A Woodworker Couple Make $10K Go the Distance Renovating a 2006 Camper

Path Design turned out to be a fitting name for Casey and Brandon Smith’s new furniture company. Shortly after founding it in 2019, the Bayonne, New Jersey–based wife and husband charted a new course for themselves, striking out in a Road Runner trailer they purchased and retrofitted for less than $10,000. In the summer of 2022, it served as their only accommodation for more than 7,000 miles.

When they started building furniture, it marked a new trajectory for Casey, then a college student and visual artist, and Brandon, a music producer-engineer and multimedia pro. But they took to it quickly.

"Woodworking was a middle ground for us, where we were able to be creative. But it was also more financially stable, so we didn’t have to rely on making a song or making a painting to pay the rent," Casey says.

"We both love nature, too," she adds. "So to be around wood while also letting our creative juices flow was really fun. And once you build your first table, you can build practically anything because the principles are all the same. You can change up the shape or the colors or the smallest little details."

Beginning a furniture business on the eve of the pandemic proved oddly well timed, given the home-improvement boom that followed. Early on, Casey and Brandon rode a brief farmhouse-style wave that emerged during lockdown, selling as many pieces as they could make. As their carpentry confidence increased and the couple began building with hardwoods (particularly ash), their work transitioned to a more timeless middle ground between traditional and modern.

Yet still in their mid-twenties, they weren’t quite ready to settle into decades of churning out tables and benches. When the owner of their rented warehouse-studio decided to take over the entire building, instead of seeking out a new space right away, the couple decided to embark on a road trip—or, more accurately, another road trip.