New life for used wood

REFINED RECYCLING: Christian T. Descoteaux, right, and Huetran Duong run Christian Thomas Designs LLC. Shown are a vanity made from reclaimed fir and polished steel and a table of reclaimed hard pine beams wrapped in hollow steel. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
REFINED RECYCLING: Christian T. Descoteaux, right, and Huetran Duong run Christian Thomas Designs LLC. Shown are a vanity made from reclaimed fir and polished steel and a table of reclaimed hard pine beams wrapped in hollow steel. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Christian T. Descoteaux grew up a carpenter’s son.

By the age of 12, he had started helping his father take apart old homes to reuse the wood and materials to make furniture or other odds and ends around their home.

“I can remember scraping bricks down from an original house to rebuild chimneys,” Descoteaux said.

The early lessons of reusing would eventually lead Descoteaux to start his own company: Christian Thomas Designs LLC, which focuses on design and building, based out of the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence. Descoteaux started the company in 2012, strictly working as a contractor. But he always continued to collect reclaimed wood and build furniture on the side. Eventually, his unique design style started resonating with people.

- Advertisement -

“I did some tables for Tortilla Flats restaurant [in Providence], and one of the chefs asked me if I could reclaim the old tables to build a dining-room table,” he said. “I really enjoyed it because it was more interesting than just going into someone’s house to build. It allowed me to be creative and show the beauty of this old wood that people were just going to throw away.”

Descoteaux sources his used wood from all sorts of places. Sometimes he looks on Craigslist.com; other times he stops by construction sites to see whether the contractor has any plans for the old material.

“It’s kind of like a treasure hunt for wood,” he said. “When you get it, you take it home and try to work on it, or for something else down the line.”

Descoteaux continued to build full time and do design work on the side, until about a year and a half ago when he met Huetran Duong, who’s now the company’s chief of operations and marketing. Duong, who also works full time as a researcher at Brown University, encouraged Descoteaux to start focusing on his design work.

The duo applied for and received a $25,000 grant through the Providence Design Catalyst grant program, a partnership between DESIGNxRI and the R.I. School of Design.

“I pushed to apply for the grant, and it’s been great,” Duong said, adding that it has opened a lot of new doors for Christian Thomas Designs.

The company earlier this year relaunched as a design-and-build company, rather than just a contracting firm. The duo met new mentors in both design and in business, who share ideas on how to increase productivity and sales. Descoteaux says he’s sent his most popular pieces to a production line, which will be made available for sale on the company’s website.

Descoteaux is working toward opening a showroom in Providence, as marketing the work has become difficult without one. He would like one day to own a warehouse with a showroom, studio and place to offer reclaimed wood for sale. But for now, Descoteaux and Duong are wholly focused on growing the business and diversifying revenue streams and are happy doing so in Providence.

“A lot of the people we meet and come across here are pushing to do their own things,” Descoteaux said. “I find it inspiring to be around people who’re working together to sell things.” •

No posts to display