Company: Zuerner Design LLC
Owner: Peter Zuerner
Location: 825 West Main Road, Middletown
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Employees: Three
Year founded: 1993 as Zuerner Custom Woodworking, Inc.
Type of business: Furniture maker
Annual revenues: $175,000
Form and function are on equal footing for self-taught furniture designer Peter Zuerner, who after 10 years continues to find new ways to shape his business.
Zuerner started his custom cabinetry business a decade ago, right out of college, and today he is developing his own line of furniture. It started with a small table, and has now grown to include beds, dining tables and chairs.
Zuerner said it is often functionality that provides the inspiration for his work.
"I think I start with a reason," he said. "I made a desk for my daughter for Christmas – that’s motivation for pieces (of furniture) for me . . . I can’t say I have a method or a person who’s inspired me, or influences. I try to avoid influences. I keep it fresh."
To "keep it fresh," Zuerner is able to combine traditional design elements with a decidedly modern feel. His favorite woods are the Northeastern hardwoods – ash, cherry, maple – many retaining their "live edge" even in their finished state.
And Zuerner likes knots, too.
"What others would call defects becomes a tactile part of the piece," he said. "I love wood. I refuse to stain and I don’t like heavy finishes. I spend a great deal of time picking the stock for each piece – it really makes the difference. The way I cut it, the way I pick it, the way the knots show are all part of the piece."
Zuerner said it could take anywhere from 20 to 200 hours of labor to finish a piece, depending on its size and complexity. His favorite kind of job, he said, is a custom design, which allows him a certain range of freedom and collaboration with a client to create a unique piece.
"It’s nice to work with somebody on the design process who trusts me and likes my aesthetic," he said. "The process takes on a whole new meaning beyond just going out and buying a bed."
But Zuerner said he doesn’t become attached to his creations.
"For me, a lot of the pleasure comes from the process," he said.
An Aquidneck Island native, Zuerner’s desire to teach himself the craft of woodworking began even before he went away to Cornell University to earn a degree in economics. But Zuerner never pursued opportunities in that field, opting instead to test his skills as a custom cabinet maker, first for his parents’ friends, then for their friends. His process was trial-and-error. Zuerner incorporated as Zuerner Custom Woodworking in 1993.
Custom cabinets eventually led Zuerner to furniture, testing his designs in his own home and giving some as gifts to family. Those early pieces inspired him in 1996 to apply to exhibit in the Fine Furnishings Providence Show, held each November at the Rhode Island Convention Center. When he was accepted, Zuerner didn’t have any furniture samples to display, so he "basically went to my family and borrowed everything back."
That show paid off in an order for a dining set from a Providence couple, and it was that experience, Zuerner said, that "got the ball rolling. As I got the feedback from the first show and got that order, I got more inspired to do the furniture."
Zuerner has exhibited at Fine Furnishings Providence each year since, and has regularly attended a couple of others, including the Philadelphia Furniture Show, every year. For the next couple of years, Zuerner expects to be on the road even more, he said, because he’s eager to get more exposure for his furnishings. Showing his work in those settings, where it can be seen by architects and interior designers as well as the general public, can be productive, he said.
"Shows are great on one hand, but they’re really difficult," he said. "You can’t go into a show and expect to make sales, but it’s one of the only ways to get my stuff out. I don’t have a showroom. I don’t have a gallery."
Zuerner said that much of his business comes from outside the state.
"I couldn’t rely on just local customers," he said. "(My furniture) is expensive. It’s contemporary. It’s going to demand a certain client. There’s an incredible number of furniture makers out there – it’s a hard sell.
Zuerner said he is the first to admit that the business side of the business provides the biggest challenges for him.
"That’s more difficult than trying to learn how to make a piece of furniture, for me," he said. "It’s my personality, too, because I’ve never been the kind of person who cared about making money. The business and moneymaking side was secondary – I’ve had to really convince myself to concentrate on the bottom line."
But Zuerner said his true passion for the business is being able to practice his craft by creating new designs.
"I think I’ve learned I’m not the best foreman or manager," he said, adding that his next push is to concentrate on branding the pieces he has and increasing production.
"I think I’d be fine to stay small, but I have a desire to become a little bigger, have a little more volume than I do now," he said.
And even if Zuerner is willing to admit to his shortcomings on the business end, he’s at least familiar with his strengths: "If I’m successful, it’s because I’m consistent. I keep going and going and going."
