Suburban Woodcraft

Deep in Mancunian suburbs, in the heart of the coronavirus lockdown, the tree-lined roads were empty and lifeless. Residents sat behind curtains, shackled to their couches due to lockdown rules. Each day, however, a power tool roared to life, breaking the silence…Someone was furniture making

Gareth Goldfinch Brookes had just begun his journey as an award-winning furniture maker by learning how to make furniture in his garden in Prestwich. “For some reason my girlfriend bought me a power tool for Christmas, I’ve no idea why!” Rather than reaching for the gift receipt, Gareth decided to give it a go.

How Gareth Started With Furniture Making

“I started with a gazebo in the backyard making furniture with very basic tools. I had really no prior knowledge at all, I started from scratch. I call it a YouTube Apprenticeship.” Gareth laughs. “I’m a relatively quick learner and my dad’s an artist, so I think I’ve maybe taken on some of his design knowledge.”

After a year of honing his furniture making skills, to the relief of his neighbours, Gareth finally found a shared workshop, and decided to try and sell his furniture. “I remember the first piece I sold was a four-legged stool,” Gareth explains. Gareth’s signature button stool, made of British wood and traditional constructed with wedged tenon joints, was soon joined by more creative, unique pieces of furniture, all made using only British timbers and British wood.

Why People Love Wood

“Wood is such a beautiful material,” Gareth beams. “I think I really enjoy getting to know the wood I’m working with – I know that might sound a bit weird! You can even tell if it’s been in a storm one year, or you can see rough marks in the tree where barbed wire or fencing might have got caught. It’s really interesting getting to know the wood and working with it. There are certain rules you have to follow with the tree, you can’t work against it, but it guides you into where it can be cut or where it can’t. It’s like giving a tree another life, it’s lived its natural life and hopefully it’ll live another 400 years as a piece of furniture. That kind of sustainability is extremely important to me as a business, that’s why I use British timbers and local timber merchants as I always know where the wood comes from.

“When I make my furniture, I try to pass on some of that joy I get when making the pieces – I can spend hours, days, even weeks working with that wood and so I want to try and pass on some of that happiness that I get onto the client. It’s quite hard to show in photographs, but once you get up close and actually touch it you really can tell the difference between something handmade and something that’s been bought from a major retailer.

People are more likely to keep onto it, everything is made with the intention to last for hundreds of years, these are things to be passed down through the generations.”

“I had really no prior knowledge at all, I started from scratch. I call it a YouTube Apprenticeship.”

Commissions

With an artist as a father, Gareth aims to follow family traditions and infuse his furniture making creations with creativity and f lair, bringing fun to his furniture. “It’s probably not the most understated furniture,” Gareth smiles, “but I like showing people you can do whatever you want with furniture, whatever is in your imagination you can make it!”

“Most of my work is on commission. If people want a wardrobe or a cabinet or something like that then the world’s your oyster.” While Gareth produces bespoke furniture, people often seek out his signature style. “Quite often people will say ‘we want a cabinet, we like your style, these are the rough dimensions, please come up with something!’ and that’s the thing I really enjoy. I like to get to know them as people, what they like and dislike and try to make something personal to them.”

Inspired by artists, Gareth’s favourite piece of furniture that he crafted was a piece he called Hundert’s Cabinet, inspired by the artist Hundertwasser. “He had a reputation for taking unloved, boring buildings like simple blocks of flats or sewage works and would reservice them into really beautiful buildings with ornate designs,” Gareth explains. “I took this cabinet, which was just a simple rectangular shape, and tried to make it beautiful, ornate and characterful through how I’ve designed it. I’m really happy with it, and it’s a good example of my ethos.” From a Christmas present to a successful career-making beautiful furniture, Gareth has developed a unique style using traditional methods and made of British wood. Even his girlfriend is happy she bought him the power tool – especially now he’s out of the backyard!

View Gareth’s furniture making skills at goldfinchbrookes.uk

NorthernLife Jan/Feb 23