On this Christmas-week edition of The Chaise Lounge, Nick chats with Timothy Murenzi from Studio Tumo in Ontario, California.  Murenzi is a lifelong entrepreneur who started his first business DJing for weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs on Long Island. He left when he was 18 to pursue an interior design degree in Tampa where he started finding work redoing bathrooms, starting with his aunt’s. SInce then, He started Studio Tumo and is constantly growing his business and tackling two to three large projects at a time with his team.

Getting Started

When Murenzi was still finding his place in the industry, he struggled to find contractors he could work with who didn’t see themselves also as designers. He did finally join forces with a firm where he could learn about the construction process while also teaching them about where to find the best materials, how to source them and mark them up. The business agreement fizzled out, but it left Murenzi with a wealth of experience he needed at the time.

Taking projects personally

Interior design is a business, but not a business like any other. Designers are hired to change the form and function of the places people inhabit, so Murenzi cares for all his clients and feels emotionally invested in every single project he takes on, even if some designers or even clients disagree with that method.

Watch Murenzi’s company’s site at www.StudioTumo.com as it goes through a re-branding.