Meet PAUL NERI | Installer, Woodworker & Artist.

We had the good fortune of connecting with PAUL NERI and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi PAUL, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’ve lived most of my adult life taking risks. I grew up in a small town in the French Alps surrounded by my awesome family and friends, and now I have my own woodwork business in the amazing city of Los Angeles!! So yeah it took quite a few hard decisions and challenges to get where I am today but very young I realized that I never wanted to compromise about my life.
I guess my story really started on my 21st birthday when I took a 2 week trip to New York by myself. I remember completely falling in love with the country, the city, the people…Following that I came back on vacation every other year in the States, and that feeling of belonging and happiness got stronger every time I visited.
The following year, one of my best friends motivated me into the idea of opening a clothing store in our hometown, but after spending months working on the project he bailed on me 2 days before going to the bank. So I could either stay at a job I didn’t like or take the risk of opening the store by myself, which I did but it ended up putting me 20.000 Euros in debt.
It was a big slap in the face but I tried to learn from that painful experience and bounced back by finding right away a job as a salesman in a furniture/home decor store where I got promoted a few months later as assistant manager. That position came with a nice paycheck but I still wanted to erase my debts fast so I took the very risky challenge of buying an apartment and flip it, which if successful would allow me to start over debt free. But if that project didn’t work out as planned it would put me even deeper in the hole, it was basically a “Double or nothing” situation.
I still went for it, bought a 1 bedroom apartment and a few months after, the 2008 financial crisis happened making that project even more challenging. I worked relentlessly on the renovation for 6 months on top of my job, and I turned the place into a beautiful and modern space. Despite the economical situation, I managed to sell it in only 2 weeks with a 20% margin allowing me to wipe my slate clean and erase all of my debts!! YAY
Loving that whole renovating/designing project, I bought a small studio apartment that I renovated as well and realized I wanted to renovate spaces full time but in order to do that I needed a certification. Then once again, I was at this crossroad where I decided to take the risky path of quitting my well paid full time job to start an interior designer home school program which if I passed would allow me to create my business.
To pay the bills, I found a new job and worked full time at lunch/diner shifts co managing a small Italian restaurant and I spent my mornings and afternoons working on my design courses.
After a year I got my diploma with an A grade, and I opened my 2nd business, “Home Design 74” as an interior designer/contractor! I hustled for months trying to find customers, until I finally got hired for my 1st project. My satisfied customer recommended me to a friend who hired me as well, and after a great word of mouth and feedback I ended up working non stop for 6 months! It was such a cool experience.
But in September 2013 I realized that despite the cool life I had and all it took to get there, I still wasn’t happy…
So I took the hardest decision of my life, leaving France and starting fresh in the US. In less than 3 months, I closed my business, sold my truck, my studio apartment and pretty much all my belongings, and on NYE for my last night in France I had a big party with all of my friends! They rented a van so that they could all take me to the airport, dropped me off at 4am, hugged me, and I got on the plane ready to start this scary adventure.. It was really the best farewell scenario I could have hoped for..
I showed up in LAX hungover January 1st lol with my dreams, one luggage and my savings, not knowing at all even how to start this new life.. So after a month staying in a hostel I found myself a job on Melrose ave, a cute little guesthouse in Ktown to live in and I was all set up to start this journey! In my 2nd year here I got hired as a stylist/salesman at West Elm in Weho which was a very intimidating experience at first, working for such a big company, not knowing all the vocabulary and terms related to this industry. But I worked hard, and I quickly got promoted to full time installer for the brand across LA. I won the titles of “Employee of the month” and “MVP 2016” for my store, I even reached #1 nationwide ranking thanks to my numbers and feedback as an installer! During the 5 years working for the company I also started woodwork at home in my spare time as a passion. I organized a tiny space at the back of my guesthouse, and started creating a small collection of home decor. The goal was to make art pieces using a majority of recycled materials and using a percentage of each sale to go buy and donate food/toys to animal shelters in LA.
In January 2020 I got offered a full time job renovating a big property in the valley which would have been an amazing opportunity so I decided to quit my job at West Elm to focus on that. Turns out a week later that project fell through leaving me jobless, which is when I decided to open my own business of home installations and custom woodwork. I designed my own website, created all of my advertising/ business cards and went for it!

So now that you know a bit more about my story, you can see how it took a lot of hard work, dedication, and life experiences to get where I am today. I am incredibly happy and proud to say that I am now starting my 3rd year in business creating cool stuff all around the city and just living my dream! None of that would have happened without taking risks, so never give up on what makes you really happy and just go for it!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’ve always been fascinated by artists, painters, woodworkers and overall this ability to create and design. I fell in love with the idea of woodwork when I was a teenager , I remember watching a TV show in which there was a woodworker who had his own little shop making furniture, and the way he described and talked about his pieces was so inspiring, it always stuck to me.. Far from imagining for a second that it would be my profession one day, I still don’t realize it at times haha
Having my own business today as a home installer specialist and woodworker making custom furniture and art pieces is a result of 15 years of professional and personal experiences that led me somehow to this super cool life.
I come originally from a retail background, working for most of my professional life in furniture/design stores, going from assistant manager position to salesman or even creating my own business. Those experiences have taught me how to be organized, efficient and be computer savvy. On the other hand I’ve also graduated as an interior designer, renovated a lot of apartments and worked with the visual team of West Elm for 5 years where I’ve learned how to build, design and just work on my manual skills and creativity.
I started woodwork on my spare time, I never took a class, I just started building stuff. After a few years, I had made a small collection of very cool and original items that I started showing around, turns out people seemed to love what I made and was even told I should start creating custom art. In September 2019 I sold my 1st art piece which was such an accomplishment!!

Since then I’ve had the chance of creating art/woodwork and doing super cool artistic projects all around the city, from a big mural in Venice to making a mid-century wall art piece who got published on West Elm’s blog, I love my job and have so much fun doing it. It would be very hard for me to describe my art or style, I’m a “Go with the flow” kind of guy but I still create based on those 2 guidelines, upcycling materials and giving back! I use mostly wood and parts that I have in my shop coming from old projects or stuff I’ve found, and I fill up my truck a few times a year with donations for animal shelters.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve actually done it quite a few time over the years when family or friends came to LA, so easy job!! -Day 1: Chill 1st day, I would just pick you up at the airport, show you beautiful views of DTLA, and then go back to my guesthouse in Ktown where I’ll make you a cool american welcome party with a few friends: burgers on the grill, whiskey and rock on the radio!
-Day 2: I would take for a little breakfast on Melrose ave beween LA brea and Fairfax, my 1st job in the US was in a clothing store there and its a very cool neighborhood and shopping area to walk around. Then we would obviously go to Hollywood blvd, get some drinks at the Hard Rock Cafe, then have a good diner in Thai town and finish the evening at the famous and always super fun Jumbo Clown’s room.
-Day 3: BEACH DAY!!!! We would drive west from Ktown to Weho, taking a little drive through Berverly Hills then all the way to Santa Monica. There we would rent bicycles to ride to Malibu for the gorgeous beach scenery and ride back to Santa Monica to have lunch at one of my favorite burger place “The Counter”. We would spend the afternoon walking around in Venice to enjoy everything this original and fun neighborhood has to offer and if we still have some energy we’d go for an evening of clubbing at Trunks in Weho,
-Day 4: We’d start the day by a relaxing hike in Griffith Park, going to the Observatory for one of the best city view in my opinion, then on the way back we’d stop by for lunch in Loz Feliz at “Sidewalk grill” my favorite Mediterranean spot. Being there, We’d walk a block to get a quick and delicious slice at “House of pies” and then we would take my dogs for a walk around Echo Park which is a very cool spot to relax on a sunny afternoon. We would spend our evening in Silverlake where you can find a lot of great spots for food & drinks, I would take you to my favorite quesadilla/margarita restaurant at “El Compadre” on Sunset, then finish the night with a few arcade games at “Button Mash”.
-Day 5: We would have a little coffee time at “The bread lounge” where to me you can find the best bread in the city (and I’m French so I’m picky..), after a morning strolling around to discover DTLA, I would take you for a little bite at the “Grand Central Market”, then we’d spend the afternoon around the Grammy museum and we’d finish the day in the Arts District with a few beers at “Angel City” brewery and then diner in the adorable Little Tokyo.
-Day 6: I would offer you to go to a theme Park because they’re just so much fun and we have many options around, my favorite picks being Universal Studios or Six Flags.
-Day 7: Since its the last day of your trip and I’ve shown you a good little preview of the city, I’d ask you if there’s a specific location you’d like to check out before leaving, and if not I’d take you to Citadel Outlets for a good shopping session!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Since I moved here in January 2014, I have met so many great people who I’ve learned so much from, professionally or personally. But I would love to give my shoutout to all the amazing people I left back in France, I would never be where I am today without my family/friends and their support. I come from a french/Italian family where I was basically raised in my parents Italian restaurants, so very young I learned the value of hard work, money (and good food, I could make pizzas when I was 10yo haha) but also how to enjoy life and good moments.
Our mom being diagnosed with schizophrenia a few weeks before I turned 18, my sister has always been my rock! She taught so many things, from tiling a floor to riding my 1st motorcycle, she has always been there for me and supported no matter what, thank you Sis!!! I’m also tankful for all of my amazing friends that I’ve known for over 2 decades now, I grew with them, had some of the best times of my life with them and even 9 years after I left, I’m still very lucky to call then my friends.

Moving to LA has been without hesitation one of the most challenging experiences of my life for many different reasons, I’ve been through hard times over the years but I wouldn’t be the man I am today or have the life I have today if it wasn’t for all of those amazing people and their support..
Love you all..

Website: www.homestuffla.com

Instagram: homestuffLA

Yelp: Home Stuff

Other: Here’s the link of an interview I did last year for “Voyages LA”, it was a very cool opportunity to be a part of. http://voyagela.com/interview/conversations-with-paul-neri/ This link takes you to West Elm design blog where tey published one of my art piece a few years ago: https://blog.westelm.com/2020/02/03/design-crew-mid-century-glam-with-ocean-views-in-pacific-palisades-los-angeles/