About Us

We’re a happily married couple living and working in Huntington Beach, CA. We share a love of old things, interesting places, being in nature, and making a mess in the kitchen. You’ll most likely find us at the local flea market talking each other into buying something we don’t need but can’t live without.

John and Kelly first met through mutual friends while living in Long Beach, CA. John was preparing for a move to Brooklyn, N.Y. and Kelly was in the midst of a move to Portland, OR. They soon fell in love and decided to blow all their saved “moving money” on a month long trip to Spain instead. They found themselves flat broke when they returned and lived under a fig tree in a room sized canvas tent furnished with an antique bed, persian rugs, and a nice area to make coffee and tea. Shortly after they started their first business together – Almery and Company. Felt Needs is their next adventure.

About Felt Needs

Felt Needs is an intuitive design firm run by a husband & wife team. We specialize in one of a kind interiors and sourcing goods. Our design aesthetic draws on inspirations from many lands and throughout many times. In an industry fueled by consumerism we do our best to source vintage and antique goods – often re-furbishing and upcycling items for new uses.

What Are Felt Needs?

Not to be confused with basic needs, “Felt Needs” are changes deemed necessary by people to correct the deficiencies they perceive in their environment. I came across the phrase while doing some research and it struck me as very interesting. While the term is traditionally applied to community development and urban planning, it’s basic precept can be applied to any discipline – especially design.

Part practice and part gift, design is imposing your dreams upon reality. Far from pure whimsy, it is also very focused on making life more livable. Charles Eames once said “Recognizing the need is the primary condition for design.” Design minded people can walk into a room or look at an object and recognize what it needs or what it wants. The ultimate goal being a combination of heightened aesthetics and increased functionality. Much of this skill is learned through practice but a certain deal of it lies in the secondary ability to feel it.

A design project is much like a painting. An artist may stand back from his work and say “Do you know what would be good right here? Some yellow” Designers work with space in very much in the same way. In my time working with some of the worlds top designers and galleries I heard many a “Felt Needs” expressed aloud; “I feel like that wall needs a large canvas”, “I feel like that this room needs linen drapes”, “I feel like the sofa needs to face this way” “I feel like that piece is too heavy for this space”.. etc etc.

There is a secondary meaning in Felt Needs. Felt is a soft material, it can be fashioned in interesting ways, and is pleasing to the touch. In a similar sense we strive to make our projects interesting but we also aim to create the sensation of pleasure through comfort… through touch.

While some may argue that design is superfluous and not necessarily a “need”, I would point out the history of all cultures and how they have all seen fit to decorate – themselves, their goods, and their homes. This need has been addressed since the beginning of time and so it must serve an extremely important function in enriching our souls.