Mattapoisett residents Richard Cantwell and Debra Nettles have turned furniture making and art into a family affair.

The husband and wife duo recently set up shop in a downtown New Bedford loft, dubbed North Light Studio.

There, Cantwell runs R. Cantwell Woodworking Inc., a business he first started in Fairhaven 14 years ago. Nettles operates Nettles Design, a graphics and website design business.

Before moving to Mattapoisett in 2001, the two lived on Long Island in New York.

Having previously worked for clients in the Hamptons, Cantwell said his career began in high school.

“I had worked for other shops out of high school. I started sweeping floors. When I was in shop class I never thought there was a profession for high-end millwork. It was surprising,” Cantwell said.

Over the years his work has allowed him to get creative with otherwise common pieces of furniture, he said. For a recent installation in Martha’s Vineyard, Cantwell turned a stairwell banister into a multi-purpose circular TV stand.

For Nettles, her passion for graphic design began in college when she was studying illustration in New York.

“I like to create things,” she said. “Since we moved to Massachusetts, we’ve been freelancers. It’s been good because it’s flexible.”

Not needing all of the 13,000 square-foot space themselves, the pair rent out some of North Light Studio to other artists including Cheryl Baptista, who owns a drapery workroom, surfboard-maker Manuel Palomo and fellow woodworker Peter Allen.

Sharing the loft with other artists is a great benefit, Nettles said.

“It’s a fun collaboration,” Nettles said. “We all kind of help each other out with our own talents.”