Romero Furniture
Jesús Rodríguez Romero, an industrial designer turned furniture maker in Mérida, Venezuela, shares his transformative journey, from childhood wood projects to establishing Romero Furniture, crafting high-quality, bespoke pieces with exotic hardwoods.
Edition 3 Feature
Words by: Jesús Rodríguez Romero
Location: Mérida, Venezuela
I am Romero, an industrial designer who adopted carpentry as a lifestyle. I was born in a little Venezuelan town called Mérida and also studied here, at Los Andes University. There I had my first contact with wood furniture and realised that I was really good at working with it. For that reason, my interest exploded and I decided to become an awesome furniture maker.
As a child, I used to help some family members to make small wood projects, like little shelves, or restore old furnishings in my grandma’s house. But I didn’t grow up in a wood-maker’s family – most of my family are dentists, although they are also wood enthusiasts. So, this is how my story began. In contrast, I didn’t want to be just an enthusiast: as my love for the wood grew steadily more and more, I decided to get prepared to become a furniture maker. While at university and based in the Architecture and Design School, I completed my first project on my own with wood. There I realised that I had the skills to work with my hands.
