Guillaume Gentet spent the formative years of his life on the southwest coast of his native France and later attended design schools in Bordeaux and Paris. As the eldest son of an architect and teacher, he enjoyed considerable exposure to the elements of home-building from both inside and out: his mother, whom he reveres as the French Martha Stewart, and grandmother passed on many of the traditions and crafts of fine homemaking. His father converted the riverfront annex of an 18th century castle into the family’s home.
Gentet was chosen among a select group to work for PromoStyl, a fashion trend forecasting agency, in Paris that collaborates with emerging fashion designers. By the early 1990s, unsatisfied with the limitations of the fashion industry, he emigrated to the United States to perfect his English, developing and refining his skills as a faux painter with the European Décor Studio in Palm Beach, Florida. He became a keen observer of contractors in high-end construction and the decisions and distinctions that separate good projects from truly special ones. In New York, Guillaume was fortunate to work closely with Rachel Ashwell. He has also created a unique line of furniture that incorporates artifacts and faux finishing techniques.
With an evolving portfolio of completed work, Guillaume Gentet has continued to cultivate his voice as part designer-fine artist, craftsman and stylist wrapped in the sensibility of a builder. Not only adept at directing construction, designing cabinetry, fabricating custom curtains and wall coverings, he possesses the clarity one needs to sort through hundreds of fabrics, wall treatments, antiques and other furnishings to make just the right choice for his clients.