Golden Opportunity
Russian immigrant Sergey Volzhskiy makes his mark on Atlanta
By Karon Warren
For more than 25 years, Sergey Volzhskiy worked in the construction
industry of Russia. As a general engineer, his experience includes
work in framing, foundations and painting. And he worked for years
for a construction company that helped restore the interiors of
palaces, cathedrals and other historic landmarks in and around St.
Petersburg to their original condition. Now living in Atlanta, he
gets to work in the specialty he enjoys most: wood flooring.
Specializing in flooring seemed an easy choice. "First of
all, I don't want to have a lot of guys in my company, " Volzhskiy
says. "Second, I tried to think of the most artistic way [to
work]. And, third, I love wood to death. When you're working with
the wood, it smells so good-especially pine-it reminds me of when
I was a kid. I love it, I really do."
Volzhskiy turned that love for wood into a very successful business.
He opened Artistic Hardwood Floors, d.b.a. Golden Hands Inc., in
Buford in 1998. Golden Hands is a Russian nickname given to those
who are talented with their hands. At that time, he worked primarily
on what he calls plain jobs-installing standard flooring, inlays
and trim work-and completed a few custom-design jobs. Now four years
later, he is moving toward more custom work, which he prefers.
"I let my artistry go out instead of my management skills,
and I want to keep it this way." he says. "When I came
here, maybe 10 percent of our jobs were custom, and 90 percent were
plain. Now we do a lot of installation of custom things."
Because of the myriad of woods available, Volzhskiy can design
just about any project a customer can imagine. "It's so easy
here in the United States to get any kind of wood from any part
of the world," he says. "I can have it in three days from
Burma, Thailand or Brazil. I have 350 different wood products here."
 Not
just for floors, Volzhskiy's woodwork also graces walls, tabletops
or display stands. For that reason, his showroom features several
different designs that can stand alone or be incorporated into another
design project. "A lot of the customers don't want the designs
in the floor," he says. "They want to keep them on the
wall or a stand. One customer bought four [of one design] to use
as a top to card tables."
Some of the more magnificent pieces seem reminiscent of paintings.
"Look From the Universe," as Volzhskiy calls it, stands
more than 7 feet high and spans 5 feet across. Volzhskiy says he
was inspired to do the design after finding a piece of wood with
a knot that resembled an eye. Various pieces and species of wood
surround the eye, making a striking picture. "It's an eye that's
from the universe, because somebody is watching all the time, "
he says.
It's easy to see why many clients tell Volzhskiy his showroom looks
like a museum. But don't expect to see any exhibits featuring rough
sketches or drawings of his designs. He commits nothing to paper.
"I never, ever put what I do on paper," he says.
Volzhskiy has quite an amazing talent, and one he would eventually
love to share. In the future, he hopes to open a cultural center
somewhere in the Atlanta area. He says his dream is to open a center
with his wife, who is a piano teacher, complete with a museum for
his artwork and musical department for kids. "I've been thinking
about opening this kind of center to teach people how to install
wood floors by themselves, to let them learn to create them from
me," he says. "When I came here, I wanted to try to put
hardwood floors in each house. That is my goal."
Until the center is built, you will find Volzhskiy working hard
for his customers. It's an opportunity he's grateful to have. "When
you are in the United Sates, every door in the world is open for
you," he says, tearing up. "All you need to do is work
hard and be honest. Every day we appreciate that we are here. That's
what I say every time: God bless America. That's why we're here
and why we want to keep it going."
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