It's kind of amazing, really...
I got into this business out of what I like to call "enlightened self interest," which is a fancy way of saying that when I couldn't find find furniture and home accessories that flipped my switch (everything in the stores was just too dull, too cookie cutter, too low quality, or just too meh) I decided to make it myself. I'd been building and renovating since my teens, making pieces for friends and family and, of course my own home, so I knew I had the skills and the vision. The next step was to make it official, which I did by creating R&R Designworks as a one-woman studio in my garage. It was my vision create aspirational art installations and furniture pieces that expressed wit and individuality, and to do it using salvaged and repurposed materials.
I officially set up my etsy shop in 2011, and began posting the tables and walls I was making from salvaged bowling alley lanes, old gym flooring, and warehouse wall lath. I wanted them to convey hands-on artistry AND top-shelf luxury. It was a tall order.
Most importantly, I set up some very important ground rules in those first days. I vowed to treat my clients like I would want to be treated: to gather their input on every decision, to send them pictures of the work in progress, to really treat them like friends, and to never send out any piece that I wouldn't have in my own home.
Apparently, it worked because lIfe got busy very very quickly. Folks from San Francisco to New York City to France found me through Etsy and placed orders. I was contacted by retailers from Vancouver to Las Vegas to New York and suddenly my two-car garage was too small to handle the volume. I took over a former guest-house behind our home where I still build everything, myself, by hand. On the rare times when I have a break, I scout the country, sourcing demolitions and tear-downs, always looking for an old material to make new again.
As of 2013, I'd created ongoing custom installation pieces & furniture for Lululemon stores, the NYLO hotel group, The Continental, The Dallas Galleria, Cane Rosso, Hattar Motorsports, Artifact, private hospitality suites, art acquisitions consultants, and more than a few hotels lobbies & bars. It's more than I ever dreamed of and I feel immeasurably lucky and grateful every single day.
By the way, I wasn't always a maker. I spent 20 years as an international journalist traveling around the world from Malaysia to Australia to South America and covering events like New York Fashion Week and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair. But my eye was always drawn to the fringes of the design world where artists were experimenting with materials and making bold choices. I wanted to be one of them; turn out now, with a lot of luck , hard works, and Etsy, I am!
I hope you enjoy what this has all resulted in. Contact me with any questions. I'm here and you can be sure I'll be excited to hear from you.
