VENTURE BUILDING · FURNITURE & HOME

Building an International Home Brand from the Ground Up

Under The Bough began as an idea to connect Paraguay's craft traditions with international furniture and home markets. Building the products was only the beginning. The brand, manufacturing network, quality systems, commercial channels, logistics, and market presence all had to be developed alongside them.

ROLE

Co-Founder & Product Director

ESTABLISHED

2019 · Paraguay / United States

scope

Brand, Product, Manufacturing & Market

CHANNELS

Retail, Trade, Wholesale & Hospitality

overview

Building the company and the product ecosystem together.

The opportunity was clear: distinctive materials, inherited skills, and a manufacturing geography largely unknown to the international home market. Paraguay has deep traditions in weaving, ceramics, leatherwork, woodworking, and metalwork, yet little of that capability was organized to serve international furniture and home buyers. Exceptional capability existed, but the structure needed to transform that capability into an international furniture business had yet to be built.

Under The Bough was created to turn those capabilities into a functioning international business. The products, supply network, and route to market had to develop together. Each decision shaped the next, requiring the company to be built as one connected system.

The challenge was building an environment in which strong products could be designed, made consistently, and brought to international markets.

01 • product

Designing collections that built capability.

The collections were developed alongside the supply chain. Across furniture, textiles, ceramics, leather, and home accessories, each product line helped establish a material capability, refine a production process, or expand what the network could make consistently.

Product decisions began with what the network could genuinely support. Materials, skills, and production capacity shaped the direction, while international market expectations defined the level of consistency and finish required.

The catalog became both the commercial offer and the framework through which manufacturing capability was built.

ASSORTMENT STRATEGY

Building distinct collections around a shared brand language while giving each material and production partner a clear role.

CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT

Using new product lines to establish techniques, processes, finishes, and standards that could support continued development.

MATERIAL & PROCESS

Developing local wood, textiles, leather, ceramics, metal, and handwork into repeatable product specifications.

CATALOG GROWTH

Expanding the assortment as the network gained the skills, systems, and capacity to support new categories.

02 • manufacturing

Building a layered manufacturing ecosystem.

Under The Bough’s product range required different materials, techniques, production scales, and levels of specialization. The supply chain was developed across cooperatives, independent workshops, specialist producers, and industrial partners.

Building that network required more than finding suppliers.

Each partner contributed a defined capability to the wider business, with clear production roles and shared expectations for quality, cost, and delivery. As products moved through sampling and production, those standards became increasingly consistent across the network.

Handmade variation remained part of the value proposition, while clear specifications created consistency where performance mattered.

03 • brand & market

Creating the commercial structure around the work.

Under The Bough was built around a clear market position: contemporary furniture and home products shaped by Paraguayan materials, craftsmanship, and place. The brand language needed to feel refined, internationally relevant, and cohesive across furniture, textiles, ceramics, leather, and accessories.

That position guided the identity, photography, styling, product language, packaging, websites, trade materials, and customer experience. Each element had to reinforce the same point of view while making the products understandable and desirable to an international audience.

The commercial structure had to be built alongside the brand. Retail, trade, wholesale, and hospitality each required different sales tools, relationships, and ways of presenting the collection. Those channels developed independently, but the customer experience and brand image needed to remain consistent across all of them.

A clear brand position gave the products context, cohesion, and market relevance.

THE BUSINESS BUILT

One brand. Multiple systems operating together.

19+

manufacturing partners

Across independent workshops, cooperatives, specialist producers, and industrial manufacturers.

68+

Artisans and specialists

Working across textiles, ceramics, leather, wood, metal, and basketry.

10+

Communities

A distributed production network spanning four departments across Paraguay.

11+

international markets

Distribution across North America, Europe, and Asia, through direct retail, trade, wholesale, and hospitality.

founder scope

What building the business required.

Brand & Positioning

Business concept, identity, market position, visual direction, and customer proposition.

Supplier Development

Partner identification, capability assessment, prototyping, standards, costing, and production readiness.

Quality & Operations

Sampling processes, finish criteria, inspections, order tracking, consolidation, and delivery coordination.

Commercial Channels

Direct retail, trade, wholesale, hospitality, export, sales tools, and account development.

Market Presentation

Photography, websites, packaging, trade shows, showroom presentation, product copy, press, and visual merchandising.

Business Systems

Pricing structure, quoting, inventory, order management, customer service, fulfillment, and reporting.

04 • reach

From Paraguay to international interiors.

The completed system allowed collections made in Paraguay to enter retail, trade, wholesale, hospitality, and international projects rather than remaining limited to local or small-batch craft markets.

Under The Bough products have furnished projects including The Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca and Lovango Resort & Beach Club in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The work has also appeared in interiors featured on Netflix's Dream Home Makeover and HBO Max's The Established Home, with editorial coverage including Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, and Home Textiles Today.