Members of a consumer focus group laughed at Don Woodruff of Pittsfield 10 years ago when he chucked a lucrative career to make furniture. People weren’t going to travel inland for quality wooden pieces when they could shop along the Maine coast, they told him.

But Woodruff crossed his fingers and pursued his dream, turning his century-old barn into a studio and taking to the superhighway of the Internet to market his one-of-a-kind creations.

Mainmast Ltd. merges Woodruff’s two passions: working with wood and working with people. When dealing with clients, Woodruff said, “we build relationships. The furniture comes later.”

Creating a relationship with a customer is as important as creating the right joint or turning a perfect table leg, said Woodruff. Crafting furniture is only a vehicle for crafting a content, peaceful lifestyle, he said. “Doing something you love, something that is the right thing for you, makes such a difference in your attitude about life.”

Woodruff’s work space is a former stable, with stall areas still visible (one is used as a finishing room) and one horse’s name, Monarch, still written below a window. But the smells that fill the air are of unfinished wood, sawdust and fresh coffee. The strains of soft music flow through the building.

Up a stairway with century-old worn treads is the barn’s loft, where Woodruff pursues his hobby: building wooden kayaks.

But downstairs, the 61-year-old bearded woodworker focuses on the home office market.

As the Internet explosion allowed more and more people to work from home, Woodruff began creating quality office furniture that would grace and decorate the home. His pieces bring the beauty of handcrafted wood to the office setting, softening the hard lines of any work space.

“When your office is your home, the furnishings must also enrich your decor. Metal file cabinets and coldly functional units may be fine for corporate cubicles, but a home office deserves the warmth and solid beauty of wood,” he said.

“Everyone used to have a home office – the kitchen table,” he said. “In urban areas, where the price of real estate per square foot is exorbitant, it really makes sense to work from home.”

Standing in his barn studio recently, gazing out a back window at the waters of Pittsfield’s Mill Pond, Woodruff said he never has regretted the move to work for himself. Although his educational background is in wood technology, Woodruff said he worked 30 years outside that field, including 17 years for C.M. Almy and Sons, makers of clerical robes in Pittsfield. When he left that job, Woodruff said, he was a well-paid vice president of manufacturing.

“I had to do something to work for my spirit,” he said. “If you are lucky enough to find something you are passionate about, it makes such a difference in your well-being and attitude.”

For five years after leaving C.M. Almy, Woodruff worked with a partner making furniture and Shaker-style boxes out of a small workshop in nearby Burnham. He ended that partnership after choosing to work at home.

Woodruff then built up his own business to the point where, a year ago, he had four employees. But again, he began feeling that he wasn’t being true to himself.

“I couldn’t stand the paperwork. It was just too much. I was managing people and pulling my hair out when all I wanted to do was listen to the radio and make furniture.”

It’s more a matter of the heart than the wallet, he explained.

Working alone, he creates up to 60 pieces of hand-fashioned furniture a year. “That’s a comfortable pace for me,” he said.

His arts-and-crafts style furniture is gracing home offices from Washington to California. Red oak bookcases have been shipped to apartments on the 34th floor in New York City. Library tables and curved office desks have been installed throughout Maine.

“People don’t purchase furniture every day,” he said. “When they do, it’s important that what they buy be perfectly suited to both the work environment and work style.” Because each piece is handcrafted, it can be customized easily.

What at first glance appears to be an armoire actually is an entire home office, closeted behind meticulously finished maple. The drawer on a mission-style cherry library table is a keyboard shelf.

His prices range from $150 for computer monitor accessories to $875 for large wooden filing cabinets. Desk tables range from $400 to $550. He quite often also barters his pieces for services, such as stays at inns, radio advertisement time, and rooms at resorts.

Woodruff also offers free delivery within the state and enjoys visiting his clients’ homes and offices.

“I’ve seen so many beautiful places,” he said, “but the real bonus is I get to check out my customers’ homes. This way I can determine whether there are similarities between my customers and what their upcoming needs may be. It’s a successful marketing tool.”

Another business key is the Fryeburg Fair, said Woodruff. Setting up an annual display of his furniture in the Forest Resources Building, Woodruff said a full 20 percent of his business comes from the fair contacts. “We get their interest, awe them with our quality and attention to detail, and then make the sale,” he said.

Part of that sale is the relationship Woodruff builds with his clients. Each piece is made to order. Measurements reflect the space available in a client’s office and details mesh with the individual client’s needs.

He offers a six-week turnaround time for any handmade piece and has six to eight projects going at any one time.

“I blend a deep concern for my customer with the quality and integrity of Maine,” said Woodruff.

Woodruff’s wooden furniture can be seen at www.mainmast.com and Out Of The Woods in Belfast.