I've been designing furniture for international factory-production for much too long

I resent the pressure to compromise on quality of materials and workmanship, just to compete with other mass-produced big name brands

My home is filled with old, old furniture that's been handed down generation after generation; some of which was made by my ancestors, and still in everyday use

Furniture isn't made the way it used to be
It's just not made to last

• I want to make furniture from a tree, not from MDF and veneers and chemical lacquers
• I want to make furniture using cabinetmaker's skill, not computerised milling machines and nail-guns
• I want to make furniture that's guaranteed to last generations, not just a fixed period after purchase

Brian Bailie MCSD, ASFD
cabinetmaker and designer of international best-selling children's furniture

 

 

I'm using timber from mature hardwood trees grown in the grounds of Shane's Castle, one of the most beautiful parklands in Ireland

The family had ruled over Ulster for over a thousand years when the O’Neills of Clandaboy built Shane's Castle in 1345

However the castle has lain in ruins since 1816, after a rook’s nest ignited inside a chimney and caused most of the castle to be destroyed by fire

There’s a head carved in stone on one of the surviving walls of the castle, and legend says that, when it falls, the O’Neill clan will be extinct

The parkland of Shane's Castle extends over 2,600 acres of beautiful countryside, and along the shores of Lough Neagh

The waters of Lough Neagh are said to have miraculous properties that can petrify wood, and tradition says that on Midsummer’s Eve the waters can cure all sorts of sickness in man and beast

find out more about this traditional solid Ash bedroom furniture