Brian Murphy started American Furniture Design over 20 years ago with a desire to assist the woodworking furniture industry with furniture plans that could be used by the beginner, intermediate and advanced craftsperson.

Lee Valley Tools and Veritas® acquired AFD in 2015. Lee Valley has long recognized the quality of the AFD line of plans and is pleased to ensure that they continue to be available to a wide range of woodworkers. Lee Valley & Veritas® are family-owned businesses that have been serving users of woodworking and gardening tools since 1978.

AFD represents some of the best names in the industry, including Michael Dunbar, the US leader in Windsor chairs; Gary Knox Bennett, who received the National Endowment for the Arts Merit Grant; Andy Rae, author and lecturer; and Darrell Peart, the leader in Greene & Greene design. The furniture these artists represent is now available in woodworking plans so hobbyists and professionals can build their own pieces.

AFD plans are CAD generated and printed on 36″ x 48″ sheets, with most of the hard pieces shown full size. In addition, there is a complete instruction booklet that walks the builder through the entire project.

AFD has developed a complete line of Mission style, Arts & Crafts furniture that is a leader in the industry. The AFD plan for the Mission Bed has sold more than 82,000 copies worldwide. The Spindle Arm Morris Chair has won Best in Traditional Furniture at the San Diego Fine Woodworking Show, and has placed at shows in Portland, Chicago, Indianapolis and Atlanta. F&W Publications, which publishes Popular Woodworking, purchased 10,000 copies of the Acorn Workbench to sell in conjunction with their book club.

US woodworking tool manufacturer Delta Machinery and Porter-Cable awarded AFD the distinction of being “America’s Best Woodworking Plan Co”.

Brian Murphy has taught woodworking at the American Sycamore Woodworking Retreat, one of the largest woodworking schools in the country. In separate five-day classes, participants build the Spindle Arm Morris Chair, the Bow Arm Chair and the Acorn Workbench.

Brian and his staff produced furniture for over 25 years. For more than two decades, he and his son, Chris, focused on the Arts & Crafts product line and designed and manufactured 32 different pieces in quartersawn red/white oak and cherry. They used very little hardwood plywood and never MDF or particleboard. The workmanship that goes into the furniture incorporates the most durable construction techniques in furniture making, such as true mortise and tenon joinery, inlaid butterfly keys, half-blind dovetails on all drawers and a lustrous hand-applied finish.