About Penwood
Arpen Shah
After growing up in the midwest I moved to California for school and quickly fell in love with the epic Redwoods and natural beauty of Yosemite. I started my woodworking journey in a community college shop after working behind a desk all day. I studied engineering because I liked to build things and quickly realized that I preferred working with my hands over making spreadsheets. When we moved to Kansas City in 2020 for my wife to pursue her career, she encouraged me to do woodworking fulltime. Working in various local shops I learned everything from sawing and drying lumber to creating world class tables and furniture. Finally in 2024 we moved to RVA and I decided to pursue my own path.
Dustin van de Veerdonk
I am one of the guys behind Penwood. For as long as I can remember I have always had a passion for nature. Growing up in the country has driven my admiration and desire to preserve the natural beauty all around us. I majored in Environmental Biology and pursued a career in that field for several years because I was so passionate about sustainability. It left me feeling unfulfilled and in 2020 I began my woodworking journey. Like many people, it started out as a hobby to pass the time during the pandemic but I quickly learned how much I loved to work with my hands. I changed careers in 2021 to gain more professional experience in the industry and learn the craft from framing and renovating homes to fine carpentry. I am proud to have made my passion my profession.
Shortly after arriving in Richmond, we met at a shared community workshop space. We hit it off immediately and quickly realized we shared a similar passion and vision for our future in woodworking and could do more together than individually. We create custom hardwood tables to showcase the natural beauty of trees. We also create specialized cabinets based on our own mid century, japanese and danish inspired designs for credenzas, bar cabinets, media cabinets, record player consoles and sideboards.
Our Mission
We believe that where you spend your time matters and we spend most of our lives around furniture. We believe that furniture should be as beautiful as the art on our walls. Having the right pieces of furniture to make those spaces your own really makes a difference in how you experience that time. That’s why we here at Penwood strive to make those spaces uniquely yours. Our goal is to bring your ideas to life and give a second life to nature that will last generations.