Custom furniture shop
Took a job in a custom furniture shop and learned the fundamental techniques and hands-on skills involved in building furniture — the starting point for everything that followed.
Independent designer & builder
Ventured out on my own, designing and building custom furniture along with other interior and exterior projects.
General Contracting license, Design/Build business
Obtained my General Contracting license and started a Design/Build business, designing custom homes and remodels in a small beach community in California.
First project in Tahiti
Built a home for a client on the island of Tahiti, French Polynesia — a fabulous experience on several levels, and one that meant picking up some French and Tahitian along the way. It was the start of an ongoing relationship with French Polynesia that continues today.
Second Tahiti project
Remodeled and upgraded an existing home in Tahiti, working bamboo into the porch rails and interior wall detailing as a defining accent.
School alterations, Cambria, California
Served as job superintendent for alterations and additions to an Elementary and High School in Cambria, California.
Design/Build continues
Continued the Design/Build business, including designing and building another personal spec home.
Molokai, Hawaiian Islands
Lived on the island of Molokai, carrying forward several design projects from California while taking on local design work.
Marathon, Florida Keys
Lived in and remodeled a property in Marathon, Florida — took a plain flat-roofed house and gave it a steeper pitched metal roof along with other tropically-oriented enhancements. Remained in Marathon until 1993. While there, time spent with a good friend deeply knowledgeable about dolphins sparked a lasting interest in learning more about them.
Ahe, French Polynesia — oyster pearl farm structure
One of the most interesting projects of my career: designed and helped construct a small two-story structure on a coral head in the middle of a lagoon on the island of Ahe, used as a venue to graft oysters for the famous Tahitian black pearl.
Back to Design/Build, central California
Continued the Design/Build business in a small beach town in central California.
Focus shifts to design & Vectorworks training
Made the decision to stop General Contracting and focus solely on design. Began training others in the use of Vectorworks CAD software around this time as well.
Medical imaging facility, California
Produced a full set of working drawings for an MRI facility in California, working alongside two associates, consultants, and a structural engineer.
Design work & CAD training expand
Primary focus remained on design work and CAD training. Other architects regularly hired me to produce 3D renderings, presentational graphics, virtual reality work, and animations of their projects for clients. Also set up several architectural and design firms to run Vectorworks CAD software in their businesses.
Life aboard Tere Hau Nui, Hawaii & Tonga
Purchased a liveaboard catamaran in the fall of 2003. My new catamaran, Tere Hau Nui, sailed from California to Hawaii and was based at Ko Olina Marina on the west shore of O'ahu — made possible by the growing reach of broadband internet, which let me live and work from the boat while keeping a client base in California and continuing residential design and presentation graphics work.
During this period I worked for several architectural firms in Honolulu. For IDS Architects, I produced working drawings and 3D modeling for commercial retail stores including Crazyshirts, Rolex, Le Sportsac, and Christopher James, among others. Genesys Design Group, an O'ahu-based firm, commissioned several renderings and presentational graphics for church projects they were designing in Hawaii. In April 2009 I left Hawaii and relocated the catamaran to Vava'u, Tonga, where I spent a year living aboard while continuing my architectural business — designing custom homes and taking on outsourced work from other firms in the US and Canada.
Fiji
Departed Vava'u in May 2010 and sailed to Fiji, where I lived aboard Tere Hau Nui for sixteen months, continuing my architectural practice while anchored in the South Pacific.
Mo'orea, French Polynesia
Sold the catamaran in September 2011 and relocated to the island of Mo'orea, where I've been based ever since — running K.S. Keys Design, continuing residential design and architectural illustration work, and assisting other architects and designers with their projects. Today the practice runs on Vectorworks 2026 and Rendair AI for photorealistic renderings, with training for other Vectorworks users an ongoing part of the work.