Makers
Meet: Selwyn House, Woodworkers
Meet the creative duo behind Selwyn House. We catch up with them at their studio in Derbyshire...
With a name translating to 'a friend in the house', Selwyn House create timeless, understated pieces that fit seamless into your home and everyday life. Drawing on the beauty and simplicity of the timber itself these carefully crafted pieces marry contemporary design with traditional craftsmanship.
Tell us a little bit about your journey and what it took to start the business?
Sean: We met at university, both studying Fine Art in Leeds. Then I began working with machinery in a technology department, and Ellie worked for a few different retailers. It was really that all the pieces fell in place at the same time and we were able to leave 9-5 jobs, move back to Derbyshire (Ellie's home county) and start working for ourselves, something we had always wanted to do. Luckily our skills work very well together - I've always wanted to know how things are made, and Ellie knows how things should look. I was already self-taught on the lathe and made some pieces for our own home, so we started making products that we'd use ourselves - boards, coffee scoops, bowls.
What advice would you have for makers at the start of their journey?
Sean: Start small, be realistic with what you can achieve with what you have. We started on a small second-hand lathe and only made pieces of a certain size because that's all we could do! But it really made us understand the wood and the machinery and that's made our work better now we can scale up a bit.
Ellie: I read somewhere that craft is making the same thing over and over again and expecting it to get better each time. You will be shit at the beginning! But every time you'll make something a little bit better than the one before, and if you're always striving for quality that will become obvious to your customers.
What’s a typical day in the life of Selwyn House?
Sean: We're very lucky in that our workshop is at home, so during lockdown we've been here 24/7! Just us two and our cat Sue! We've got into quite a good routine, we always have a fairly long breakfast to start the day then it's into the workshop pretty much everyday. Depending on what orders we have we may be moving timber about for marking and cutting, or on the lathe, or sanding, or finishing.
Ellie: As with most makers, everything is down to you! So even when I'm not in the workshop I'm in the house answering emails, photographing products, updating the website and Instagram or wrapping orders. It can be hard to finish the day at a 'normal' time but we always stop for tea and a sit down in front of the telly!
What inspires you?
Ellie: We've always loved making (and eating!) food, whether it's just for ourselves or having family and friends over. So we always design our products to fit into normal life. Quite often I'll mention a very vague idea of a design to Sean, something I wish we had in the kitchen for example, and we'll go and draw it out straight on the timber, there's never much conscious 'designing!' It has to be functional first so most of the design decisions come from actually making it and feeling the weight and shape in real life.
Sean: Quite often we'll see a piece of really beautiful timber and we've bought it with no purpose! But often the timber dictates what we make from it. We like to think our designs are 'quiet', quite understated, they're well made, beautiful things you have everyday in your home.
Is there a favourite piece you like to make or are really proud of?
Ellie: I love that our Mini Vases start as little blocks of timber (usually odds and ends that might otherwise get thrown away). Then Sean seems to 'read' each one and make something with a little personality! If I've been in the house all day I'm always excited to see a fresh batch of Mini Vases come in for oiling, because I'm never quite sure what we're going to get!
Sean: I really enjoy starting with the raw timber. I like the process of starting to see the grain and colouring of the wood come out as I work it into a product. I'd love to do more green woodturning, really starting with raw materials and working right from the beginning!
Okay! Quick Fire Four:
Favourite spot to get a coffee?
We're at home pretty much 24/7, so the kitchen! We don't actually remember the last time we had a takeaway coffee…!
What book or tv show are you currently enjoying?
If we're going to admit it, we've really got into Star Trek the original series, from the 60's (currently on Netflix!), as much for the comedy and sets as the sci-fi I think!
Which artist or maker are you loving at the moment?
We're both really interested in other maker's processes and work spaces. So on Instagram people like @grwoodturning, who makes incredible huge wooden vessels! And @pottery_west, we love seeing their workshop and the simple forms and beautiful muted colours of their ceramics - making simple forms is exceptionally hard!
And lastly your favourite Pophams pastry (if you’ve managed to visit us) or what are you savouring from afar?
We wish we were closer to be able to visit in person! If we were to visit we'd have to try one of the weekend specials - they always look SO good!
Find out more at www.selwynhouse.co.uk
Follow @selwyn.house