Once upon a time, there was a glorious oak tree that stood majestically in the centre of the great forest. The oak had seen many hundreds of years pass by, it had witnessed travellers on their whirlwind adventures and wanderers lost off their paths. Whether journeying or discovering, at least the humans had freedom to roam, to learn and pass on their knowledge - they had purpose. The lonely oak watched the world live and die around him. One Summer, a tree surgeon stumbled upon the oak and gazed at it with an ambiguous awe. Breathless at the oaks strong, rustic trunk and whimsically intertwined branches, the tree surgeon knew this was the one he had been looking for and grateful for his find, axed the monumental structure and transported it to the landsite he was working at.
“What a fine specimen” the tree surgeon’s colleague smiled as he stroked the bark with a world of possibility visually cascading before his eyes. There were many plans for this beautiful wood, but with a tree so incredibly enchanting it was fit only for one in particular. The Lord of the Manor that the men had been working at had commissioned their service to build him a grand bookcase that would be a gift to his wife, who loved books.
The process began and soon the once bewitching branches became feet to the most opulently carved bookcase you could imagine. The oak tree who had once stood and watched other people grow, live illustriously and then pass on to the next life, was finally at peace after all that time living without a purpose. The oak now had knowledge and literature on its shelves, it had admirers visit him every afternoon where they would run their fingers over his rich engravings and he knew he was desired and loved. The oak felt a warmth he hadn’t felt since he first reached as tall as he could grow. Another life - a different life, but a new lease of it.
At Eat Sleep Live, it is our greatest value and pleasure, to find more of these wonderful items - like the grand oak bookshelf, and once again reincarnate it into something special. We search the depths of the country like hungry explorers, looking for reclaimed wood with a past and a present so that we can allow it its future. No more trees need to be chopped down - but the wood that has already been chopped down and used beforehand, is the wood we collect and make use of again. For lifetimes to come, our oak bookshelf can then become a desk, a large clock, an ornate mirror, a solid dining table, an outdoor bench - the possibilities reel on.
This means that our way of up-cycling the materials to create our esteemed reclaimed wood furniture is not only environmentally friendly, but it is aesthetically enthralling. For interior or furniture fanatics, the idea of having a piece of timber from hundreds of years ago, wrapped in its own history and laden with secrets and stories, is the most authentic way to add character to your home. Our reclaimed wood is sourced from local heritage sites and old buildings and then chopped, shaved, welded, broken down and resurrected into something that appears relatively new, but with all the original magic woven into the gaps.
The wood we use is immensely durable and so our furniture is built to last until the earth’s dying day - after all, it is nature itself. Due to its uniqueness, the furniture becomes a point of story telling, with their original markings and potent colourings making remarkable statements in your living areas.
Like the oak tree in the story, all our wood blossomed in the beautiful outdoors, was chopped down by a first source, used for a primary purpose and then either left unused or neglected - that’s where our team of creatives and optimists ride in on our valiant steeds and rescue them with dreams of rekindling their bark. There we have it - a piece of Eat Sleep Live is born.
