Stephen Roberts of Wood Design tells us about his approach to furniture

 

“I will always try and come up with a new idea, when working with a client it is exciting endeavouring to make something the client likes and often interesting things come from the restrictions of some body's specifications", says Stephen Roberts of Wood design.

 

Stephen specialises in inlaid wooden furniture working to commission and selling through the shop adjoining his workshop. Previous clients have included cane lampshades for Eden founder Tim Rice, and furniture for travel writer Gill Charlton.

 

Stephen has been running his business Wood Design in Cornwall for 35 years, and has seen all manner of trends come and go “In the past it was beech or birch dressers, some chairs but chairs are expensive, now it is tables”. After an initial focus on joinery and kitchens, for the last 15 years Wood Design has been exclusively furniture.

 

“When making, the choice of wood will affect the design of a piece, with a lively wood I will do less decoration”. It’s the decorative potential of wood that Stephen enjoys, working with a wide range of woods, using the variances of tone and colour to develop pattern and detail such as inlayed panels, “I have done a lot of very big tables with central panels of inlay, these have been my most innovative pieces”.

 

Stephen uses his shop to sell a range of accessories along side the furniture including his gorgeous chunky striped chopping boards.

 

 

Jessie Higginson, March 2006