Making furniture to bring people together

Hi, I'm Dave. Founder of The Wattle Road.

The Wattle Road specialise in designing and making custom furniture out of reclaimed Australian hardwood. We source reclaimed timber from houses and old buildings across NSW and make a selection of limited run and bespoke furniture to complement ones lifestyle.

The making of a furniture maker

Making furniture out of reclaimed timber feels like an obvious choice for me. I grew up in regional towns of NSW making skateboard ramps, billy carts and tree houses from reclaimed timbers. I majored in woodwork in Year 11 and 12 and then pursued a  business / marketing degree before spending 25 years in the digital world (designing websites and mobile apps).

Woodwork has always played an important role in my life. It has been a side hustle, the escape from the daily corporate grind, the common thread that recharges my batteries and a promise to myself to one day take myself seriously in it. I’ve done the house build, built most of the furniture in it and worked part-time furniture and joinery roles along the way. 

In April of 2022, Dave rode a motorbike 16,000kms around Australia in 50 days with some friends. When one of the riders said he was going to make a coffee table book, Dave knew he needed to make the coffee table. He collected a piece of old reclaimed hardwood from every state and territory they rode through on their loop so that he could make the table. 

That ride wasn’t about the coffee table albeit an incredible memory and a great coffee table, it was about leaning into discomfort and pursuing a road less travelled.

The Wattle Road - Where Story, Skill & Sustainability Meet.

The Wattle Road is an exciting brand that blends the love of adventure, reclaimed timber and sustainability with beautiful limited run creations that are designed to complement ones lifestyle.

We use reclaimed timber because we care - about the environment, about waste, and about doing things the right way. With craftsmanship, skill, and soul, we give old timber new life. We turn what's been left behind into furniture that lasts, and stories that keep going. Find out why in this blog post.

Beneath the often dirty exterior layer that most people see lies vibrant, beautiful, rich timber that has more natural charm and character than most new timber could ever dream of. Learn more in this blog post.

Australia has some of the most incredible hardwoods with such beautiful character that improves significantly with age. Add to this the unique stories of their past and you can begin to understand why we find these timbers so extraordinary.

The timber is often more challenging to work with than new timber (ie: it's much harder, they can be full of old rusty nails, you need to work around bolt holes, it can blunt your tools much faster, etc) and more time can be needed to craft them than new timber, but each piece of finished furniture is not only rewarding to complete but extends the lifetime of that piece of timber.

Design Thinking

Our making is inspired by designing items that make life better.

With a background in design thinking, Dave use's these processes to design products that make the end users experience better. Our designs are heavily influenced by watching how people interact with a space or item. We look at an environment, talk to the end user and think about what could be improved to enhance the experience. We then apply design thinking processes to ensure what we're designing is relevant to the right context. We’ve found that simplicity, sturdiness and aesthetics are important.

Simplicity - we don’t need to over engineer a design to make it work. 

Sturdiness - our creations must enhance an experience not hinder them.

Aesthetics - we let reclaimed timber be the hero, not external bells and whistles.

 

Ready to work together? Let's chat

Our Process

When we work with customers on a custom furniture project they can expect strong communication, collaboration, and ideation to identify problems and inform solutions. They'll be involved as much or as little as they choose because we're happy when they're happy. Find out more about ouy process in this blog post.

Furniture collection

We have been able to make some really useful and beautiful furniture for both home owners and commercial businesses alike. These include tables (for the bath, for a beer, and an assortment of living room and dining room tables), side cabinets, chairs, and benches. All of these items continue to shape our style, expand our skillset and provide us with the opportunity to make things we may never have considered designing ourselves.

 

The Wattle Road is something completely refreshing in a market that is saturated with 'new and cheap'. We look forward to creating more unique memories that will last a lifetime.

With only three years in business, we have already made numerous custom creations for many happy clients. To review some of the references from our clients, visit Google Reviews. 

"It is such a privilege making something that you know is going to be someone's forever after."

 

Ready to work together? Let's chat.