Creative Process

Intro

         

This website is designed to inspire you with ideas to help create quality, artful furniture for you and your home.   Unless noted, everything you see on this site has been designed and built by me.

Short Bio

    After completing university toward my masters in 1976, I took a sharp turn and began my career in building. For the next 11 years I designed and built the interior furnishings of themed restaurants, bars, bakeries, stores, and high end homes in Vermont. This, coupled with adventuresome living in a tipi, geodesic dome, triangle house, passive solar home and a few cranky Vermont farmhouses have well informed me on various interior spaces. Also during this time, my wood-working shops were in an attic, woodshed, barn, garage & an artists studio. These experiences have been important to my understanding of the marriage between beauty and functionality. My current studio, built in 1987, is my dream workspace (its exterior is pictured above).

    From within this lovely, well lit space, my designs and creations are made for people from all walks of life and financial means (some of their comments can be read on the testimonial page). I treasure and learn a great deal from these partnerships, and take great pride in seamlessly matching my work with the lifestyle, aesthetic, and demands of each client and their family.

The Creative Process

I provide three basic services:

Design Service :
      Our first hour is free, whether together on the phone or in person.  From our discussion,  I then sketch conceptual pieces.   Once we've selected a design direction,  scaled drawings of the furniture are made, and from these, prices are determined.   This process, along with business expenses, will be billed for separately from the actual furniture.

Creation:
    Once a design is finalized and paid for, a 50% deposit for the agreed upon price will secure your place on my schedule and initiate material ordering.  At this time,  a date of delivery window is assessed and agreed upon.   When the first board is cut, you will receive weekly photo updates to keep you informed…a great way to share in the excitement of creating your piece !

Delivering and/or Installing :
        
    If you live within 250 miles of my studio, delivery/installation of the item is done by myself.   Over 250 miles away?  Likely this would involve a white glove delivery from a reputable carrier. Either way, the estimate is based on a per piece basis.

    Please feel free to call or email and I’ll be in touch within 48 hours. Think you have a difficult situation or need to fulfill?  The bigger the challenge the better!

Letters & Testimonials

    "Both in restoration and new work, Paul has shown a deep contextual understanding of what it is we are asking for and never fails to imbue the end result with a better product than we had ever envisaged."
~ Bill and Kate Schubart VPR Commentator/ both published authors   

    Paul is very a skilled master craftsman but he is first and foremost an artist whose medium is wood. What is unique about Paul as an artist is that he includes you as an integral part of the artistic process so his creation both reflects and defines you.
~Steve Hyde,  BA /MA  School Guidance Counselor

    Paul, you have created so many stunning pieces of furniture for our home over the years that we cannot help but think about you every time we turn a corner. Dick and I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you from start to finish on these projects. You have an eye for detail, an uncompromising craftsmanship, plus a sensitivity to our own changing ideas. Each of your beautifully crafted pieces seamlessly occupies its intended place and use. We heartily recommend you to anyone who desires elegant and timeless furniture to grace their home.
~Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize winning Author/Presidential Historian/NBC News Consultant  

    Zenaty fine handcrafted Vermont furniture - timeless and beautiful. Each piece feels personal: an experience that captures your heart and soul like a favorite song, radiating and glowing in your home like an exquisite piece of art. Many pieces will become cherished family heirlooms passed down for generations. I dare say, many pieces will find their way to museums generations from now. Paul Zenaty is truly one of New England’s best fine furniture makers. 
~Craig Shepard  Natick, MA   client and friend

    We have known Paul Zenaty for about 15 years He is an artist as well as a cabinetmaker and perfectionist. He does beautiful work with magnificent detail. We love everything he has built for us.
~Harriet and Marcel Grunvald /Founder Presci Manufacturing, Winooski, Vt.

    Working with Paul is a true delight. He is a master craftsman and a deeply creative person. We worked with Paul to design and build bookshelves for our new home. His vision for the shelves and the room was far beyond what we could have imagined. He has a very unique ability to look at a space and see its potential and then communicate that to people. He is truly extraordinary. Working with Paul you engage in a partnership. He is meticulous about his work and about the space he is working in. He attends to every detail from the proposal to the last bit of sawdust. We miss working with him but are delighted he continues to be a friend.
~Courtney Cahill: Organization and Management Consultant, Burlington, Vt

    My wife and I have had the pleasure of working on several projects with Paul Zenaty.  He is a genius at designing and handcrafting furniture.  He’s made three dining tables sets for us, from a space-defining kitchen banquette system to an 8 to 18’ expandable dining table.  He also did a 9’ sideboard to accompany another custom dinner table and a curvaceous mantle for our master bedroom fireplace. 
    The enjoyment we get from these custom designed pieces is continual.  His designs both complement and enhance the space. His woodworking and finishes are a source of constant admiration and enjoyment. 
    My wife and I have spent a lot of time researching potential heirloom-quality pieces that will serve our family for generations.   Working with Paul gives us that level of timeless quality but custom designed for our space and our lives.
    The woman who introduced us to Paul said that he was “Probably the best woodworker in the country.  Today.”  It seemed like the hyperbole of a loving spouse (actually it was his lovely wife Kaye), and we had to clarify she was serious.  After working with him for several years, and also not wanting to take anything away from the greatest American artisans of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, I think she may be completely accurate!  Today.
     We recommend Paul without reservation,
~Ed Biggins and Kerry O’Brien, entrepreneurs

Paul Zenaty, Furniture Maker
    Paul is a very strong conceptual thinker who understands his work within a greater context. While being styling-minded in his design approach, he is a willing participant in a design dialogue that serves our clients best interests.  His shop drawings are informative and allow for additional refinements to the design.  His fabrication work is meticulous. His joy in creating furniture is evident in his careful selection of materials, his understanding of joinery, his skills with his tools! His art celebrates both craftsmanship, function and service to his clients.
    A true professional.
~Joseph J Zelloe, AIA

    In 1997 we moved into a 3,000 square foot penthouse apartment. Paul's ingenuity and superb workmanship showcase his talent in nearly every room in our home, from our wall to wall mahogany bookcase in the family room to our uniquely designed kitchen cabinets and countertop. Our powder room cabinets and soffit of curved mahogany are one of a kind and always elicit complements from our guests. A few years after we moved in, we called upon Paul to come back to do more custom work for us. He created our master bedroom bedside tables with drawers and a curved wall cabinet to accommodate more books and a television. Paul's genius resides with us in close proximity and not a day goes by without our appreciating the timeless beauty of his craft.
~Bob and Holly Miller Burlington, Vt

     Paul Zenaty’s timeless creations enhance my everyday! Bookshelves, tables, mantle pieces, TV console, steam shower bench, vanity; all things he built for us ... Superior craftsmanship, warmth and beauty, practical functionality. What more can I say?
~Margaret Karg and Dr. Shantnu Basu Weston, Ma