1930s Art Deco Walnut Sunburst Display Cabinet (Sold for £400)

Hi and welcome to Alex Craig Furniture. After completing seven years of art and design education in 2019, I instinctively progressed from sculpting and working with one natural material - clay - to another: wood.

After my degree in Fine Art, I set-up my arts courier business, Art Removals UK, and started delivering artwork, theatre sets, antiques and upcycled furniture to and from galleries, studios, antiques dealers and private collectors all over the country. This enabled me to learn from some of the UK's most experienced and talented designers about the many processes, materials and fixings involved in furniture restoration and upcycling.

I quickly became hooked on seeking out beautiful but neglected furniture to lovingly work on and became focussed on restoring and refinishing retro, vintage and antique furniture to their former glory, sometimes beyond, breathing new life into the old, or creating something thoroughly new from a classic design.

I have transferred my ongoing fascination with the theme of broken beauty from my sculptural work to furniture. The Japanese artistic process of kintsugi, or kintsukuroi, influences aspects of how I restore and finish my work.

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This mid-century kitchenette has been uniquely refurbished and hand-painted using Fusion mineral paint. I cleaned and kept all the original hinges then enhanced the piece by adding new, black screws, dark chrome ball catches, red, leather handles and patterned oilcloth to line the drawers.

Measurements:

178 cm high

92 cm wide

46 cm deep

Upcycled 1950s Kitchenette (Sold for £595)

I recently studied carpentry and joinery at Bradford College and have been practicing various aspects of furniture making.

I am also an experienced Gallery Installation Technician and have a wealth of tools with which to fix and position anything you need to install.

If you already have a beloved piece of furniture which you would like me to work on, please get in touch via my contact page to discuss how I can be of assistance.

All items will be collected, packed and delivered personally by me for a reasonable delivery fee, or can be collected from my studio in LS13, free of charge.

These made-to-measure shelves are available to order by commission and can be tailor-made to specific dimensions and colours.

Alex Craig Half-Moon Shelves (£90 a pair)

Ercol Old Colonial tables have hidden treasure beneath their original lacquer in the form of gorgeous elm grain. Updating a design classic for modern tastes, the tabletop has been sanded bare to a smooth texture then protected with several coats of high-grade, hard-wearing furniture oil.

Measurements:

72 cm high

152 cm wide

77 cm deep

Refurbished Ercol Old Colonial Refectory Table
(Price negotiable)

This elegant, mid-century evening cabinet underwent a recent metamorphosis and now proudly stands in new coats of Dixie Belle and Fusion mineral paints on the main body and Roberson Liquid Metal paint on its feet.

My admiration of the Japanese tradition of kintsukuroi coalesces with one of my main recurring artistic themes: broken beauty. With this in mind, I have kept the original, imperfect window panes and warped back board to maintain a sense of its initial character and authenticity, restoring the original components of the cabinet then updating the overall colour scheme and finish, adding two, new brass door catches, a circular brass latch and painted wallpaper on the back board.

Mid-Century Evening Cabinet (Sold for £350)

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These matching Ercol Old Colonial chairs are in great condition and come as a set of six. I elected to replace the old cushions with quality, light blue seat pads. The original cushions are also included in the sale, should you want the initial look that Ercol went with.

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One previous, careless owner had sawn-off the right edge of the tabletop and made a small hole in the back board. In reverence to the Japanese art of kintsugi, both parts have been lovingly restored, the breakage and repair embodying the history of the object, rather than something to conceal or replace. The tabletop has been sanded to a glass-like finish of 400 grit then oiled in a high quality, waterproof resin. The cutlery tray has been painted in my own self-mixed shade of blue to match the chair cushions.