Roland Smith Furniture

Roland Smith Furniture I'm Roland and I make fine furniture, both bespoke one-off pieces to commission and limited edition pieces.

I thought I would take 2 or 3 months out in the summer to build a van, but it seems to have taken all the autumn and som...
14/12/2023

I thought I would take 2 or 3 months out in the summer to build a van, but it seems to have taken all the autumn and some of the winter tòo. Anyway, here are some of the components which should get fitted next week and then it should just be the bed which needs completing.

When you are trying ot create something  special it is amazing how much difference a tiny adjustment can make. Here I am...
06/12/2023

When you are trying ot create something special it is amazing how much difference a tiny adjustment can make.

Here I am making the front of a yew knife rack. In this case, I need to accept that the slightly shorter version aligns better than the longer one.

Not chronologically accurate,  as this was the table shown in my previous post, prior to being glued up.
22/10/2023

Not chronologically accurate, as this was the table shown in my previous post, prior to being glued up.

I'm working on a couple of walnut side tables at the moment. They will be ebonised before they are oiled.You can see the...
15/10/2023

I'm working on a couple of walnut side tables at the moment. They will be ebonised before they are oiled.

You can see the original sycamore table in the background but this commission was for the same thing in black. It seemed like a great idea, so I am making two of them.

The cabinets for the camper  van are coming together.......and the MDF mockups as well.
04/09/2023

The cabinets for the camper van are coming together.......and the MDF mockups as well.

The finished library steps and three stools of which this was the prototype will all be on show in the Wirksworth art an...
09/09/2022

The finished library steps and three stools of which this was the prototype will all be on show in the Wirksworth art and architecture trail this weekend.

I will be at Coachhouse studios, venue 23.

I look forward to seeing you there.
...

And now for something completely different; The standing desk in the background took about 4 months to make. The bench f...
17/05/2022

And now for something completely different;

The standing desk in the background took about 4 months to make. The bench for the workshop, took just over a day.

That is partly because the latter is not finished to the same standard, and also because it doesn't have such complicated mechanisms, but mostly because it doesn't have any curves or difficult angles.

More on that when I write the blog post. (about the desk - not the bench)

You may remember a video of the legs coming out of a steam box back in November?  After an awful lot of further work, th...
15/05/2022

You may remember a video of the legs coming out of a steam box back in November? After an awful lot of further work, this was the end result.

They are not so curved that I could not have just sawn them directly, but this looks so much better as the grain follows the curve, also making them a lot stronger.

This workshop view, before the desk was completed, goes a small way to explaining why it took a while to complete.      ...
12/05/2022

This workshop view, before the desk was completed, goes a small way to explaining why it took a while to complete.

The standing desk is complete.  This shows one corner, highlighting the use of brown Oak to create a "floating" shadow a...
10/05/2022

The standing desk is complete. This shows one corner, highlighting the use of brown Oak to create a "floating" shadow and a strong chamfer where the legs meet the top to do the same thing.

I built this pergola out of steam-bent English Oak about 4 or 5 years ago.  Some of the plants have grown over it a litt...
29/04/2022

I built this pergola out of steam-bent English Oak about 4 or 5 years ago. Some of the plants have grown over it a little more now.

I gave it a coat of UV resistant oil, because being a furniture maker it never occurred to me not to apply a finish. The finish looks a little worn now, and being covered in a climbing rose, it is rather difficult to get it back to its original glory. With hindsight it would have been better to leave the Oak to just weather.

It is about time I posted some photos of finished items.  This is the Kazaridana inspired display cabinet I created last...
27/04/2022

It is about time I posted some photos of finished items. This is the Kazaridana inspired display cabinet I created last year in ebonised walnut and rippled sycamore.








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About Roland Smith Furniture

I work with you to develop a piece of furniture that you will love; fitting seamlessly into the space you live in. Whether you prefer to order one of my limited edition pieces, possibly tailored to the size you need in your favourite wood, or you want to be more involved in the design process, commissioning a completely bespoke one-off commission, I am here to help.

Why am I passionate about this? Because I cannot help myself look for inspiration all around me. My designs may start with the Natural World, or the built environment, or an unusual piece of timber, or they may just be plucked from the ether. Either way, the real fulfilment comes when I manage to combine my inspiration with yours to produce something you will be desperate to show to your friends.