Old dhows.
New life.

Kipaji Dhow Furniture started in 2019 in Nungwi, on the north coast of Zanzibar, where dhows have been built and repaired by hand for generations. We began with a few tools, a few boards and one idea: the wood from these boats is too good to waste.

The first pieces went to neighbours and friends. They told others, and the orders kept coming. Today we work from Bwejuu, on the island's south-east coast.

A dhow spends its life in sun, wind and salt water. When a boat is finally retired, its hardwood is denser, darker and more beautiful than the day it was cut.

We give that timber a second life. Every board is cleaned, dried and shaped by hand, and we keep the marks the sea left behind: old nail holes, weathered grain, the curve of a hull. No two pieces are ever the same.

Our furniture is made by local carpenters who learned their craft on this island. Joints are cut and fitted by hand, surfaces are finished slowly, and nothing leaves the workshop until the person who made it is proud of it.

Buying a piece keeps that skill working here in Zanzibar, and carries a little of the island into your home.

Tables, beds, chairs, cabinets, doors and custom pieces for homes, villas, lodges and restaurants. Choose from the pieces in our shop, or tell us about your space and we will build to fit it.