About
Paul Rene
Founder · Designer · Maker
Before Paul Rene, there was Ford Motor Company. Paul Rene spent years designing concept cars in Detroit, learning the discipline that would later define his furniture: form follows feeling, proportion creates emotion, and every surface communicates something.
He left Detroit for Los Angeles. A significant business loss stripped him of nearly everything: career, savings, the version of himself he thought he was building toward. He rebuilt, slowly, in Phoenix.
"In L.A., I had to endure the fire of complete failure. In that lowly and exposed state, I could see myself and my choices clearly."
What emerged from that clarity was Paul Rene, a private furniture practice built on the conviction that a home should reflect the life being lived inside it. Not a catalog. Not a trend. An expression.
In 2021, Paul was selected for Ellen DeGeneres's HBO Max series Ellen's Next Great Designer. In 2023, The New York Times featured him among furniture designers shaping the field.
Today the studio operates by private appointment from Phoenix, creating original work for clients in Arizona and beyond.
Explore the WorkThe Transition
My journey did more than change the direction of my life. It changed my understanding of what design could mean.
From that experience, Hereafter Design was born.
Hereafter Design
What comes after here?
HERE is where we are now—who we are and what we understand.AFTER is what becomes possible through new understanding, experience, light, growth and purposeful motion.
But the moment AFTER is reached, it becomes a new HERE.And the question begins again.
What comes after here?
Hereafter Design is the belief that we are continually becoming—and that the environments we create can participate in who we become next.
"Not Furniture. Becoming."
Your Identity. Given Form.
Every life has a story worth expressing.
Let us explore what yours might become.
The work speaks.
They noticed.
The New York Times
Names to Know · March 12, 2023
"A bookcase is a bookcase because it has to hold a book, and how many ways can you approach it?"
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Phoenix Home & Garden
Masters of the Southwest · 2022
Six creative powerhouses who have made their marks in the Valley and beyond.
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Modern Luxury Scottsdale
Magazine Cover · 2019
The Luxe List, Scottsdale's defining names in design.
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Iconic Life Magazine
Works of Art · 2023
Paul Rene Furniture showcases their latest Kallos Collection at the Bentley Gallery.
Read ArticleAtomic Ranch Magazine
A feature about Paul Rene titled "Art Meets Design."
"A furniture designer and owner of Paul Rene Furniture. His understanding of the modernist category informs his work and makes him a leader in the industry."
This is who I am.
This is what I believe.
This is how the world has recognized the work.
And this is what the work is here to do.
Paul Rene presenting on Ellen's Next Great Designer, HBO Max.
Have a questionbefore you begin?
Phoenix, Arizona · By appointment only. We respond within 24 hours.
From the Studio
New work, studio notes, and thoughts on Hereafter Design. Sent occasionally.
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