Heirloom Homewares Crafted From Western Australian Hardwoods

Neil Turner has been creating fine timber sculptures and furniture for over 40 years. Fuelled by a shared love of modern functional design with clean simple lines, and a desire to showcase the natural beauty of local Western Australian hardwoods, Neil and his wife Suellen established their business Turner + Turner at the end of 2015.

Here they showcase their latest handcrafted range of long-lasting and versatile wooden wares.

Written

Elle Murrell

Established in 2015, Turner + Turner handcraft a range of wooden homewares and furniture showcasing Western Australian hardwoods. Photo – courtesy of Turner + Turner.

Each of the husband-and-wife label’s range is created from a single piece of timber. Photo – courtesy of Turner + Turner.

‘From the inception, we decided the majority of our homewares would be crafted from Western Australian hardwoods as we wanted to showcase the unique beauty and highlight the diversity of timber colours and grains available,’ tells Neil. Photo – courtesy of Turner + Turner.

‘We love it when items are passed down through generations, so our decision to use a single piece to increase our works longevity made perfect sense to us,’ says Suellen. Photo – Dion Robeson. Concept and Styling – Anna Flanders. Food prep – Fenella Peacock.

The range and custom orders are available online, or pieces can be browsed at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth. Photo – Dion Robeson. Concept and Styling – Anna Flanders. Food prep – Fenella Peacock.

Writer

Elle Murrell

22nd of June 2018

How many times have you had a friend tell you to bite the bullet and give a seemingly pipe-dream business idea a go? A little bit of encouragement to commit wares to a friend’s market stall was all that it took for this talented husband-and-wife duo to kick-start their woodcraft business, Turner + Turner.

‘This was a wonderful opportunity for us to bring together the homewares we designed and made for friends as gifts over the years,’ recalls Suellen Turner, a photographer by trade. ‘We’ve kept up the momentum since then; we’re excited to see our brand grow and develop as we add new products and collaborate.’

To date, Turner + Turner’s offering includes a signature natural-edge range of bowls and serving bowls, timber serving boards, bowls and dishes, alongside spoons, spatulas, rolling pins, knives (cheese, bread and cake) and also cake stands and vessels. All pieces are designed and made – from a single piece of hardwood! – in Neil and Suellen’s studio in the South West of Western Australia.

Functionality and longevity are priorities for the pair, who want their wares to be passed down across generations. ‘We handcraft each piece to highlight the beauty of the timbers we use, which are unique in colour and grain and enable us to create one-off pieces,’ tells Neil. ‘We never get tired of working with timber as we still get excited when we see a beautiful piece and continue to discover new woods to work with.’

Shop online at Turnerandturner.com.au, where bespoke orders for custom homewares and furniture are welcomed. A selection of pieces can also be browsed at Gourmet Food Merchant in Cowaramup and the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth.