Our crew
Five people, one bench, strong opinions about finish.
Small on purpose. The person who writes your estimate is the person who works on your piece — and the one who calls if something unexpected turns up.
Arman Gostar
Founder & Lead Finisher
Learned the trade in his father’s shop and opened Gostar in 2006. Happiest elbow-deep in a French polish nobody else wanted to take on.
Dana Rourke
Restoration & Joinery
Our structural problem-solver. If it wobbles, cracks or has a joint that gave up in 1962, Dana is who it goes to.
Miguel Santos
Veneer & Inlay Specialist
Patience in human form. Re-lays blistered veneer and patches marquetry so cleanly you will squint to find the seam.
Pat Volkers
Caning & Seat Weaving
Hand-cane, rush and Danish cord. Pat has re-seated more pressed-back chairs than she can count, and still enjoys it.
Theo Lindqvist
Spray Booth & Color Matching
Runs the booth and mixes the colors. Can match a fifty-year-old stain from a photo and a hunch, which still surprises the rest of us.
How we work
One piece, one set of hands — mostly.
Bigger jobs pass between us — Dana rebuilds the frame, Theo shoots the finish, Pat weaves the seat — but one person owns your piece start to finish and keeps you in the loop. You will not get handed around a call center, because there isn’t one. You will get Arman or Dana.
We take on an apprentice every couple of years when the right person turns up. It is how Arman learned, and the only way this kind of work gets passed along.
Talk to an actual finisher.
No forms into the void. Reach out and one of us will get back to you.
Get in touch