As part of our ongoing "Getting to Know Your Local Businesses" series,
this week we sat down with Rod Ferreira, owner of RBF Designs!
Tell us a bit about your business: What does your business offer and how long have you been around?
With a few exceptions, we build anything and everything out of wood! Kitchens, home libraries, tables, banquettes, entertainment centers – we do it all. Except chairs. I once built hundreds of chairs for a cinema and that was enough for one lifetime.
Fortunately for me, building furniture is one of the things I do best - and I’ve been doing it for over 30 years.
How did you decide to get involved in this line of work? How did the business get started?
I started helping out around my uncle’s woodworking workshop in Sao Paulo, Brazil when I was 11 years old. I was good with my hands, and I have never settled for doing anything halfway – it helped that I had a good eye for design too. I really enjoyed the work and my uncle invested a lot of training in me - by the time I was 15, I had achieved the level of a trained cabinetmaker. I managed a team in the large-scale interior build-out of cinemas across Brazil and I continued to design and build furniture for residential clients. Sometimes we worked
20-hour days. I started my own business after moving to the Northeast coast of Brazil, and later, when I moved to the US with my wife (who is American), I launched RBF Design.
Tell us a couple things you are proud of about your business. What are you known for? What separates you from the competition?
I am very particular and have very high standards – I’d say I’m a perfectionist (and if you ask my wife, a little OCD). I only work with high-quality materials (domestically sourced wood, exotic woods and European hardware); I’ve dropped suppliers when they downgrade to cheaper quality wood. I never compromise on my materials or the quality of my work – and I usually work on only one project at a time, so I can give each one my full attention and expertise.
Also, people don’t always realize how much creative problem-solving is involved in my work, especially crafting
custom and built-in pieces. I’ve made oddly shaped cabinets and drawers that fit perfectly under a staircase or a three-angled kitchen corner, added a full size bunk bed over a queen bed, made a canopy bed with some hidden details and built a treehouse in an avocado tree. With 30-plus years of woodworking experience, I can build pretty much anything and I always enjoy a challenge.
Can you tell us something about yourself?
I live in Kingwood with my wife and our two young boys, who are 3 and 7. I also have a 19-year old son currently serving in the Marines. In my spare time, you’ll find me in the backyard, tending to my herb garden, swimming with my boys in the pool or grilling
up some Brazilian BBQ. I have too many hobbies, but I really enjoy (and know a lot about) sport fishing, hunting, working on cars and horseback riding.
To learn more about RBF Design, check out their business page on
Kingwood.com!
