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– The 10 Most Important Things to Know Before Buying a Custom Dining Table
– How to Revive an Oiled Furniture Piece
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Lloyd Brooke Furniture Newsletter / Blog
- How to Get Inspired
I like routine. My mind can become easily fragmented and routine provides a framework, a foundation that helps settle the often tumultuous thoughts in my head. Most mornings I’m up and walking before the sun rises, then back for exercise, then that “green” drink.. Rinse, repeat and keeps me sane! I was talking to friends … Read more - LBF Dovetail Digest : August ’25
As always things have been flat tack around here. Throughout my life, winter has always been “the hard time” so I’m pleased to keep myself busy while I pine away for the warmer months. My skinny frame is definitely better suited to the heat. Furniture Waste Becomes Garden Beds Up here in Northland, everything that … Read more - How We Quit Fast Furniture
Like fast fashion, furniture has become one of the latest recipients of the “fast” moniker, forcing us to consider the wider consequences of our buying decisions. This article outlines what you can do to ensure your choices have a positive impact on the planet and society in general. Let’s jump on this “fast food”, “fast … Read more - LBF Dovetail Digest : July ’25 Failure, and the Work of the Hands I woke up this morning thinking about failure — specifically, the kind that happens in the workshop. Any workshop day, for any craftsperson is punctuated by these little failures at regular intervals. A handplane reveals a weakness in the timber. A detail, so vivid in the mind, falters … Read more
- The 10 Most Important Things to Know Before Buying a Custom Dining Table Often, when my clients are considering their first custom piece, they will start in the dining room. As cliché as it sounds, the dining room really is the heart of the home. Most of our important family discussions still take place around the dining table, not to mention devious giggles coming from our youngest child. … Read more
- Arcana Modular ShelvingDreaming and pondering and building and dreaming some more… Am I living in a dream? Strange questions for myself everyday, but nonetheless, in amongst it all, the spinning and whirling confusion of life – I think I’ve built something quite special. After months of developments, I’m proud to announce Arcana modular shelving system, handcrafted to … Read more
- Drawing with Dip Pens and… The New PieceGreetings, greetings, greetings. We’ve had a fantastic January here in Kerikeri. Amongst building furniture, we’ve managed to fit in two rounds of overseas guests, celebrated Christmas and New Year’s, played golf, and visited multiple waterfalls. It’s been a blast. Vinnie, however, is exhausted and ready to reclaim the house. I’ve kicked off the year with … Read more
- Timeless Furniture Care: Revive Your Oil Finish for the HolidaysHi everyone, I hope you’ve all had a great year so far. With the holiday season now upon us, guests may be arriving from out of town, or you might finally find a few spare moments to give your handmade furniture some extra attention. Either way, I thought I’d share some tips to ensure your … Read more
- The Swan and the Workshop – RIP W Bayliss – Christmas Gifts – Side TablesI’m going to do my best to get a regular monthly email out to you all. An important part of what I do is connecting with clients, so please encourage me to get on this computer and write to you. I hope you’ve all had a cracker of a year so far. William Bayliss’ Passing … Read more
- New website: “Custom Dining Tables” and available stockIntroducing my fresh new website dedicated solely to dining tables. Why another site, you may wonder? Well, I’ve pondered over the unique experience of purchasing handmade furniture. There’s always been my romanticized notion of engaging directly with the artisan in a shop, delving into intricate details, envisioning how the furniture seamlessly integrates into daily life. … Read more
- 2023 Furniture HighlightsWishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here’s a brief workshop update accompanied by pictures showcasing some furniture highlights from 2023. In my humble workshop, 2023 has proven to be a fantastic year. Collaborating with delightful clients who share a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and possess an open-minded approach to the possibilities … Read more
- Bespoke Handmade Dining TablesWhen it comes to investing in a handmade dining table, several essential factors deserve careful consideration. Each custom dining table should not only serve a functional purpose but also embody your personal style, elevate your living spaces, and become a cherished heirloom for years to come. Below is a brief rundown of the dining tables … Read more
- My Two Favourite Timbers
Coming across quality, locally sourced timber is no walk in the park. Often the trees are harvested and sawn without knowledge of how to get the best out of the log, and they are often improperly dried which results in cracking. Also, supply in suitable sizing and quantities is a constant challenge. After a significant … Read more - A Solution: Ugly Furniture Built From Beautiful Timber
Recently, I had a client come to me with a couple of furniture pieces she didn’t like. They were disliked so much, they were relegated to the garage to be hidden away. The problem was, the timber was beautiful and held sentimental meaning. There were two tables. One was a swamp Kauri slab on a … Read more - New Furniture Offerings from the New WorkshopWell, I’ve been in the new workshop since mid August and it has been wonderful working from home again. My old friend Dale, came up from Auckland to give me a hand. I’d never built a building before so it was quite the learning experience and his help was very much appreciated. Although I was … Read more
- Workshop Update May 2021Work has begun on what will be my third workshop since arriving here in Kerikeri, Northland. Starting off, I made do in a tiny single car garage. It served the purpose of getting the tools out and building a few pieces but I’m grateful to have moved on. I am currently working from a temporary … Read more
- New Dining Table Design : AthenaThis custom table was born from a client brief requesting elegance and originality. The design was also partly inspired by the client’s love of the water and cruising the Bay of Islands in their yacht. Forced to think outside the box, the Athena handmade dining tables are what resulted from a vast array of concept … Read more
- Sustainable Timber from Northland, 30 Years in the MakingLast Sunday I drove up from my furniture making workshop in Kerikeri and visited Brian and Gaye Simms at their award-winning farm near Kaitaia, Northland. Brian has known the land since he was a boy, after inheriting it from his father who cleared the land with his own two hands, to prepare it for farming. … Read more
- Where Did It All Begin?People ask me, how did you get started? Where did it all begin? What made you choose woodworking? I usually reply with, well, I’m not sure. And that would be the truth because the turning of events is more complex than I could claim for my own mind. That being said, I joined a bookclub. … Read more
- A Leap of Faith – (Moving Overseas During COVID)Last September, our family, in the midst of strictest COVID lockdowns, packed up house, shop and kids to return to New Zealand. We truly love Melbourne and Australia but time comes when change is needed and in this case, the change we needed was to return home. We’ve settled in Kerikeri, Northland which is a … Read more
- Repairable Furniture
Accidents do happen, especially when viewed from the perspective of decades and not months. Truly sustainable bespoke furniture should be easily repairable. Unfortunately, the most common glue used in furniture making, PVA, cannot be manipulated easily once set. If, for instance, a leg join breaks, that join will have to be cut away and new … Read more - A New Coffee Table Design There is a new design to welcome to the Lloyd Brooke Furniture family. The Finn bespoke coffee table. The client wanted a custom coffee table with prerequisites being splayed legs and baby safe edges. I started by gluing and scraping the top, followed by attaching the breadboard ends. These help keep the tabletop flat. The … Read more
- Bespoke Hand Tool Process Without huge, industrial machines, I’ve found hand tools, when properly set up, to be the most effective way of preparing my timber for joinery. I use a couple of simple machines to take the wood from a rough sawn state, to a square dimension. From there, I will either use my hand plane or cabinet … Read more
- Bespoke Baby Keepsake Box Many of my favourite pieces are birthed directly from the customer’s needs. Recently, I had the pleasure of building a keepsake box for an unborn baby, due in August this year. The baby’s name is secret. All I have are the initials WRF. This, to me, adds another degree of sentiment. Something private and something … Read more
- Ode to a Brilliant Australian Toolmaker
I use a lot of hand tool processes when I’m building a handmade bespoke furniture piece. Not only is it enjoyable, but it also offers efficiency in small, home workshops. Ones that don’t have the capabilities to use large scale machine sanders and need to keep noise and electricity usage to a minimum. The planes … Read more - Growing a meaningful, custom home There are items round the home that you use everyday, often without too much thought. These are useful items that make your life easier: laundry basket, filing cabinet, plant holder, fruit bowl. In our case, these were items bought many years ago without too much thought. These days, with a young family we spend far … Read more
- Furniture Design with Bob Dylan in Mind The sky is the limit when it comes to woodworking techniques. There are makers out there, wizards of all sorts of joinery, marquetry, veneering… The list goes on and on. A question I often ask myself is where to stop? Where will I set deliberate and intentional limits on my craft? Many of the best … Read more
- Conveyor Belt or Custom Made? How many things you own aren’t produced on a mass scale? I was in the car this morning thinking about cars and how car choice affects personal identity. That car has been produced on an enormous scale, with as much individuality as a can of soft drink. How is it possible that this cookie-cutter possession … Read more
- How Sustainable is Handmade Furniture? Is handmade furniture sustainable? Trying to navigate the sustainability of Australian, New Zealand and international timbers is like trying to choose a suitable political party. Heavily weighted opinions are thrown about from all sides, and few are without some sort of agenda floating around in the background. Where does that leave the customer, looking for … Read more
- This Furniture Owes Everything to Meditation After slow, sporadic beginnings, coupled with long and extended absences, meditating has slowly entrenched itself to become a vital aspect of my life. Now, it exists in its own right and demands more of myself than I demand of it. Without meditation, I make overly complicated design decisions, arrhythmic saw cuts and impatience begins to … Read more
- Carving Brought Back from the Dead I’ve taken an interest in carving. The rawness, the tool marks and the expression of meaningful ideas are what captivates me. The process is fresh and exciting. Here’s to hoping I’ll be able to include carved work on future bespoke furniture pieces. All that is needed to get started are a few carving chisels, a … Read more
- Everyone Should Cut Dovetail Joints Why is there still a place in the world for the hand-cut dovetail joints, given there are means to cut a joint that will prove strong enough, by machine only methods? The dovetail joints are intriguing. It draws you in to question the processes that took place in order to make that tight fit. Before … Read more
- Meaning in the Everyday
On a recent trip to South East Asia, I was struck by the abundance of meaningful symbols adorning everyday objects. In an unpretentious way, meaningful imagery decorated items we may consider purely utilitarian or mundane. The prevalence of symbolism is related to human’s need to try and express the inexpressible. Not confined to purely … Read more - How to Work?
Merry Christmas and welcome to the Lloyd Brooke Furniture Blog. The idea here is to share completed bespoke furniture projects, a little thought on craft and to also explore fresh ideas. This will hopefully become a helpful resource for your own projects as well as help me crystallise the ideas I have floating around my … Read more
