I launched Alex Brooks Furniture in 2018 having made organically inspired outdoor furniture for our brother company Ed Brooks Furniture with my mum, dad and brother, (which I continue to do).

Throughout the years of making outdoor furniture, searching for the perfect curves from tree trunks and branches in durable oak and sweet chestnut, we have seen stunning windfallen ash, beech, sycamore, pine and other trees. These couldn’t be used for outdoor furniture as they are less durable, but this led to Alex Brooks Furniture and a range of indoor pieces.

I wanted to capture the character and features of the tree for indoor freestanding furniture.  To retain as much of the tree’s life story as possible, that will captivate the eventual owner with tables and products that are visually stunning, tactile and functional.

To achieve this, we take slices across the trunk which retains the shape of the tree and shows off the wonderful end grain detail such as spalting and growth rings. Every tree offers a limited-edition number of slices, each completely unique but linked to a wonderful story.

I call these trunk slice tables and they are feature pieces, whether a coffee table, occasional table, side or bedside tables.

Resin is used to fill the natural splits and imperfections of the wood, this is a practical solution, but also frames and enhances the wood.

Iron work leg frames follow the shape of the tree, giving scale to the pieces but avoiding being visually cumbersome. The frames are handmade by Alex. The mild steel is brushed clean to its raw finish and varnished, giving a natural patina that, like the resin compliments the wood.

We also make solid trunk tables (actually hollowed out to make them manageable for moving around, but don’t tell anyone). These celebrate the weathered outer skin of the tree, with knots, burrs and gnarls.

We have ranges of furniture pieces with a more geometric shape. Still celebrating the wood features but with a more functional shape, more suited to smaller spaces or rooms with a less organic theme.

I am also happy to make commission pieces and look to make products and other furniture focusing on the organic nature of the timber such as bread boards or mirror frames.

Our pieces are individually handcrafted from locally and sustainably sourced wind fallen trees, carefully chosen for beauty and integrity. Many of the trees have been obtained from farmland so near that they overlooked the workshop before falling in a storm or old age. We name each table after the farm, farmer, field or village where we get them. We are also sustainable because Dad’s tractor doesn’t like travelling too far!

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