Craig Collins Biography

Craig Collins has been working with wood for the past 25 years. He received a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Colorado College. After an extensive period of off-shore sailing and travel, Craig continued his education as a full-time apprentice at the Center for Wood Arts, a school of traditional boatbuilding, in San Rafael, California. He subsequently pursued a career in the boatbuilding industry for a number of years, working on everything from large yachts to small sailing skiffs.

Collins began work as a furniture builder with Thomas Fetherston, a custom furniture manufacturer in San Francisco in 1985. This experience sparked his passion for furniture design and construction which exists today. After continuing his education in the specifics of furniture design and illustration techniques at University of California, Berkeley, he founded Craig Collins Furniture in Sausalito in 1987. As his commissions grew steadily, he quickly moved his shop to San Rafael and developed a showroom for his designs. Craig and his wife, Sharon Eager, moved to west Sonoma county and founded West County Design in 2006 in Valley Ford, California.

Craig Collins has been making custom and limited edition furniture for 17 years. His designs reveal craftsman, art deco and Asian influences. His work has been reviewed as “classic in form with contemporary lines to achieve a timeless look.” He utilizes a wide variety of materials such as domestic and tropical hardwoods, exotic veneers, metals, stone and glass. Craig utilizes a combination of traditional furniture joinery and modern woodworking equipment to produce furniture that will last for generations.

He received the 1997 NICHE award, Niche Magazine’s national design competition, which prompted feature articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Marin Independent Journal. He participated in a number of Marin Designer Showcases, both as collaborator and designated designer, and was honored to judge the work of his peers in the 2001 Sonoma County Woodworkers Museum Show.

Craig’s work graces businesses and residences throughout the entire Bay Area and ranges from armoires to a 20-foot outdoor celebratory table.

Craig Collins Furniture and West Count Design closed in late 2012.