Nick launched Nicholas Bailey Fine Furniture 12 years ago. An informal apprenticeship, working alongside a friend’s master craftsman father, had ignited his passion to pursue furniture design almost a decade earlier, leading to a Diploma of Fine Woodworking at London’s Worshipful Company of Carpenters and a Diploma in Forestry. “It may seem odd to study forestry when the ultimate goal is to make furniture, but I’ve always loved trees. To work effectively with timber, you really need to understand how it behaves and responds to various climates,” NIck explains. He favours working with sustainably managed North American varieties such as oak, cherry and walnut.
Continually honing his skills across myriad styles of woodworking, Nick’s career highlights have included a Churchill Fellowship in 2005 to study and work with studio furniture makers in the UK and USA, and the opportunity to create a display cabinet for the Tower of London, which involved an access-all-areas tour of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Royal commissions aside, it seems Nick enjoys the simple pleasure of producing tailor-made furniture for people to cherish.
“I’m often asked if I get attached to pieces, but for me, handing it over is the part I find most rewarding,” he says. “When you work with someone to create a piece of furniture you often form a great relationship, so when it comes time to install the finished product in the spot it was intended and see their joy, it’s incredibly satisfying.”
While weekdays are spent working alone, come weekends Nick’s six-year-old son Andy is an enthusiastic offsider, with his sights set on an apprenticeship. “He helps me out with handyman projects around the house and he’s declared he wants to work for me when he’s older,” says Nick. “We haven’t discussed pay, though – which may change things!”
View Nick's portfolio or commission a piece at Nicholas Bailey Fine Furniture.
