We recently connected with Rahil Taj and have shared our conversation below.

Rahil, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

It all started when a friend and I were throwing around the idea of making a coffee table from reclaimed wood about 10 years ago. We drew some sketches on some napkins at this Belgium pub in Claremont. I borrowed a shop smith smith from another friends dad which is like an all inclusive woodworking machine with a bunch of attachments. I began to make random pieces from a shoe rack to a flip down wall mounted desk for my self. Then I borrowed a mig welder from another friend and just kept tinkering around. At the time I was living at home and working out of my parent’s garage and working at a corporate job in TV/film. One of the producers asked if I could make him a mirror for his office and this was my first real commissioned piece. After that another producer asked to make a coffee table and had me design it as well. As I continued to build more people wanted pieces from me. I was working out my garage and an acquaintances shop that I rented space from in Hawthorne who did custom furniture as well. One thing lead to another and soon enough I had commissions lined up. One of the most pivotable projects for me was a retail space off melrose that I landed. It was the biggest project I had encountered and it made me learn how very quickly how to tackle this scale or work. That lead me to even larger projects and connecting with some leading individuals in the greater LA area. I was open to challenges an utilizing my ability to learn quickly to take on these larger and larger projects that involved different trades and design components. Fast forward to now, and we are producing some of the most challenging and unique projects and pieces from custom tables and built-ins to full scale remodels for some of the top restaurants and commercial spaces in LA. 2024 has been an insane year and I am excited to see what projects are next.

Rahil, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As i touched in the previous answer:

We have evolved from a custom furniture studio to a collaborative that can handle all scales of projects that involve woodworking, metal fabrication, cabinetry, and large scale installations. I have tapped into the LA networks and connected with the top artisans and fabricators to handle any project that comes my way. I work with some of the top designers across the U.S. to create these one of kind projects.I have also been developing our own collections for the past few years in furniture, lighting, and products which I am very excited to continue with in the next year.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have always been motivated to make this work. I have made it a priority to put customer service at the forefront and provide excellent attention to my clients and acquaintances. I have solely built this on a word of mouth based business and it has been the most beneficial to my business. Making sure that all projects get the highest attention to detail and completeness possible. Keeping this accountability for my process has been key. Im considered a contractor and unfortuneatly this title gets a bad wrap from people abusing there procedures.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I feel like this a never-ending roller coaster ride. There are so many ups and downs, eb and flows with business in general and the industry I am in is even more sporadic. Just last year, 2023 we hit a 6 month lull and almost put us under and depleted our savings both business and personal. Thank fully I managed to make it out with the help of another like fabricator feeding us projects to stay a float. Word of advise for any business. Keep a 6mth to year savings to keep you going during slow months.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.studiorah-la.com
• Instagram: @studiorah.la

Image Credits
Ill Gander, Bells & Whistles