From a dream to ‘Dwell’ – and a new home for Dark Horse

I started out like most people – getting a “regular” job that was fine and paid the bills.

I didn’t get very excited about going to work, but I guess I figured that was the way jobs were supposed to be – a means to an end.

For years, I worked in construction management, overseeing the installation of Hudson News stores and other kinds of projects.

Finally, it hit me one day that I wanted to build things, but not with sheetrock. Someone I knew wanted a kitchen, and I said I would do it. I probably ending up shelling out money on that project, but it was a beginning.

I launched Dark Horse in my 220-square-foot home garage in 2007. Soon I needed more room, and my first rented space was a whopping 975 square feet. I remember thinking when I moved in that it was a lot of space, but I outgrew it within a year.

Our next growth spurt took us to 3,700 square feet, and now, seven years in, we’ve moved to a new, 6,000-square-foot home, something that seemed unimaginable back in those early garage days.

Top this growth off with having our work featured in Dwell magazine recently, and I can truly say – without a bit of schmaltz or exaggeration – that dreams really can come true.

It just takes a healthy distaste for a blah 9-5 existence, a leap of faith and a lot of long hours.  But all hours aren’t created equal. When you pour hours into work you care about, and you know you will be proud of the final product, those are hours well spent. And shouldn’t we want to spend our time on what satisfies us?

If you’ve been scheming and dreaming of doing something else for years but were afraid to go for it, you can consider me the Poster Boy for leaps of faith with successful landings.

To borrow from Nike: Just do it.

~ Chris Dehmer