About us
Welcome to Taran Eco Designs where we create the beautiful items that surround you. Everything you see has been made by us with locally sourced materials.
We take pride in the fact that we have never killed a tree to make furniture. All of our wood is reclaimed or recycled.
Where we source our wood?
- We sift through reject piles at local sawmills, usually destined for firewood.
- We use old fencing posts from farmers that we then carry down the mountains
- We comb the sea shore for driftwood
- We are known to be pulling massive logs out of the river and carrying them up steep river bank
- We use old barn beams from local barns that come down
- We are often offered windblown trees (some of them come from the Craft Centre car park
- Occasionally we found treasures in skips
- We find dead wood and other wooden gems on our many wilderness adventures
You name it and we'll use it. There is no such thing as wasting wood.
This process ensures that all our pieces are unique and we never know what wood we will find. Once it's been discovered and brought back to the workshop it's dried for a year (or sometimes even longer), shaped, cut, planed and sanded. The larger pieces are made into tables or our magnificent Story Telling Chairs, smaller pieces become dining chairs, coffee tables and hobbit stools. The off cuts from the building process are made to be blocks for the pyrography that you can see on the walls and shelves (and that you can have personalised!). Glance towards the desk and you might see one of the girls making some at the moment.
Every piece of wood we get our hands on is used to its fullest potential (yes, even for the sawdust we find new homes!). Each work we create has its own unique story and will continue to make memories when it goes home with you.
And in case you didn’t know yet: we love wood, but we also love trees and don't like cutting them. On the contrary! We sell salvaged trees that were growing on footpaths because they wouldn’t have a chance to survive. We have our own woodland where we play and plant trees. We do everything we can to save the trees and the forests.
John... The Wood Wizard
John likes trees, believes in silliness and refuses to stick to the path on walks. He is the "Big Boss" at Taran Eco Designs (meaning he pays the bills) and is often found wandering the local area foraging the wood you see for our furniture. He has an eye for interesting timber and sees beauty and character where often people see blemishes and irregularities. He gives this wood a second or sometimes even a third life, becoming the beautiful and functional furniture that surrounds you in our shop. Originally a forester, his love for trees and the wilderness brought him to Wales and after meeting like-minded people that were happy to share their furniture making knowledge, he started Taran Eco Designs in 2010.
His favourite thing to make? A good swing!
Iker... The Sanding Sourcerer
Scott loves his Motorbike and tea. If you listen carefully you might catch him singing while grinding wood outside the back. Iker is John's "apprentice" and is learning all about the craft of rustic furniture making. Affectionately referred to as the grinder and sander of things, he helps make many of the pieces in the shop.
His favourite thing to build? Stump tables!
We have several Fire Fairies here at Taran Eco Designs, each with their own individual style. Kim and Genesis are currently our main fire fairies. Kim also makes out beautiful turned bowls, knitting needles and all the knobs for our furniture, both started out as friends of the shop and ended up staying… and falling in love with the art of pyrography. Our Fire Department gets lots of help from other fairies along the way.
We also often have guest artists visiting us, who also create wonderful fire creations in their own styles. So far, we’ve had Fire Weavers, Fire Crackers, Fire Lovers and Fire Workers joining our team and we’re always welcoming new Fire Masters.