Paul Kane was living in the Waterfall Building on West 2nd Avenue when he accidentally took his first step on the path to becoming a custom-furniture designer. The units of the brand new, mixed-use structure were then without blinds, so Kane took it upon himself to drill a couple of holes, install a supporting rod, and hang some curtains in his place. Seeing this, the owner hired him to do the same for the whole building.

Kane, who was raised on the West Side, had just moved back to Vancouver after an acting stint in Los Angeles (he had a recurring role on the soap Days of Our Lives). So he was free not only to work on the Waterfall Building but, when a friend’s company relocated to larger space, to fill an order for 50 desks.

Always adept with his hands—he won the metal- and wood-shop awards yearly at his high school, Lord Byng secondary—he had no trouble, despite his relative inexperience, constructing the wood, stainless-steel, and glass-panelled desks, which are still in use today. Five years after those initial jobs, a steady stream of customers finds the furniture maker through word of mouth. (He also has a Web site: www.paulkane.info/.) “Half the time I don’t know who’s calling,” Kane says, interviewed at his East Side workshop, “or how they got my number.”

He specializes in tailoring couches, kitchen counters, shelves, and beds to fit the needs of his clients. Often someone will see something he or she likes in the catalogue of a higher-end manufacturer, like German-based e15 or Italy’s Flexform. Kane can usually make the same piece, outfitted specially for the needs of a particular room, for half the price. With condo space at a premium in Vancouver, he also keeps abreast of ideas from Monaco-based Wally, a firm he says “has set boat design on its ear”.

“With limited space, you have to figure out ways to get it in there and maximize functionality,” Kane says. “You try to build things in with storage. If you have a massive house, you can have knickknacks everywhere. But if you put all those things in a small apartment, it becomes cluttered.”

An uncluttered space looks larger, and this is one reason Kane prefers hardware-less doors with a mitred edge for a handle or a touch-latch system. “If you put handles on the doors you notice how small things are,” he says. The lack of handles also shows off pieces, like a French-mounted (no feet), wraparound cherry-wood stereo cabinet built for a $65,000 West End condo reno, to better and more elegant effect.

When hired, Kane usually presses for higher-end materials, like walnut, oak, and cherry. “Why use maple when, for $100 more, you can have something with intrinsic value?” the designer says. “That way, it’ll always be worth something, and it’s a lot nicer.” Except for the difference in the price of the wood, he doesn’t charge extra for the added value.

For new wood—he doesn’t do a lot of refurbishing, and would rather make something from scratch—he looks to local hardwood suppliers. When working with reclaimed wood, he likes a supplier in Aldergrove. That’s where he found a piece from a 100-year-old bridge he used for the mantle in the West End condo mentioned earlier.

Besides condo renovation, Kane has also worked for Clutch, a West Side auto dealership. He helped conceptualize, design, and build a space that is minimalist-sleek, and that looks less like an office and showroom than a modern kitchen complete with table, stools, counter space, and shelves stocked with bottles of Ferrari water.

Individual pieces make up the bulk of his business, however. He makes everything from $100 ottomans to DVD holders and, since the birth of his five-month-old son, baby furniture. His tot pieces, including cribs, dressers, and change tables, are attracting a lot of interest.

Between his newborn and his partner, Kane believes he has the perfect clients. “She isn’t the tidiest person,” he says of his girlfriend. “So I design furniture with her in mind. And that should keep everyone happy.”