UO Interviews: Originall Creations
Introducing Urban Renewal x Originall Creations, the latest drop of one-of-a-kind vintage homeware at UO. We caught up with Chris Boxall, Founder of Originall Creations @originall.creations to unearth his secrets to sourcing rare pieces, top tips for buying and upcycling furniture and to discover which decade has the most treasures.
Tell us everything we need to know about Originall Creations... Originall Creations is all about putting good design centre stage and saving great products from the scrap heap. We hunt out timeless classics that have already survived decades of use but with a bit of attention and sometimes a subtle update can be ready for decades more. It could be just a simple clean up, a few minor repairs or sometimes it’s a complete strip down and refurbishment. Occasionally we completely repurpose a piece that is too far gone to save in its original form. It’s an organic process that evolves as you work with a product and essentially ends when you feel like you’ve got the best out of a piece, whilst retaining as much of its history and character as possible. Our workshop can take on pretty much any project and no two are ever the same. The service we offer delivers fantastic vintage pieces that fit into the modern world, offering the customer a timeless and unique alternative to buying new.
Where do you source your furniture?
Anywhere and everywhere! You can’t go out with a shopping list because you just don’t know what you’ll find, where you’ll find it or even when! You just need to always keep your eyes open, look in even the most unlikely of places, never walk past an opportunity and see the potential in every piece. What makes working with vintage furniture such a joy is that every day brings a new challenge and opportunity. You never know what they are until you find them.
Where is the most exciting place sourcing vintage has taken you?
The most exciting place is always the one where you unearth a treasure trove of great products - a place that you never expected to find anything but turns out to be better than you could ever imagine. It doesn’t matter where it is on a map, it’s about what it has to offer. Looking for vintage is rarely glamorous or exotic but muddled and dusty with that unmistakable musty aroma of age.
Have you always had a knack for unearthing rare vintage pieces?
I’ve never really thought of there being a knack to it but having an understanding of the product and your market is important. I enjoy and admire the products that I deal with, buy what I like and hope others will like. However there is a very fine line between a great product and a second rate one, it’s all in the detail and the finish. I suppose making that distinction is the knack if you want to call it that.
3 tips for upcycling furniture at home…
Try to start with a good product in the first place, something structurally sound where it needs to be and something that warrants and deserves the time you’ll spend on it. Sad as it may be, there’s a lot of items out there that don’t have what it takes and it’s important to recognise that.
Don’t be afraid to modify a piece. Most people seem happy to add a coat of paint or some transfers, but sometimes you can do much more! Make it shorter or taller, play with proportions, change the legs, swap parts from another piece. Be creative and create something unique.
Most mid-century furniture is veneered, a slither of fine quality wood covering a lower quality inner. Go too hard with the sandpaper and you’ll find this out very quickly and there’s no easy solution once you do.
Where do you source your furniture?
Anywhere and everywhere! You can’t go out with a shopping list because you just don’t know what you’ll find, where you’ll find it or even when! You just need to always keep your eyes open, look in even the most unlikely of places, never walk past an opportunity and see the potential in every piece. What makes working with vintage furniture such a joy is that every day brings a new challenge and opportunity. You never know what they are until you find them.
Where is the most exciting place sourcing vintage has taken you?
The most exciting place is always the one where you unearth a treasure trove of great products - a place that you never expected to find anything but turns out to be better than you could ever imagine. It doesn’t matter where it is on a map, it’s about what it has to offer. Looking for vintage is rarely glamorous or exotic but muddled and dusty with that unmistakable musty aroma of age.
Have you always had a knack for unearthing rare vintage pieces?
I’ve never really thought of there being a knack to it but having an understanding of the product and your market is important. I enjoy and admire the products that I deal with, buy what I like and hope others will like. However there is a very fine line between a great product and a second rate one, it’s all in the detail and the finish. I suppose making that distinction is the knack if you want to call it that.
3 tips for upcycling furniture at home…
Try to start with a good product in the first place, something structurally sound where it needs to be and something that warrants and deserves the time you’ll spend on it. Sad as it may be, there’s a lot of items out there that don’t have what it takes and it’s important to recognise that.
Don’t be afraid to modify a piece. Most people seem happy to add a coat of paint or some transfers, but sometimes you can do much more! Make it shorter or taller, play with proportions, change the legs, swap parts from another piece. Be creative and create something unique.
Most mid-century furniture is veneered, a slither of fine quality wood covering a lower quality inner. Go too hard with the sandpaper and you’ll find this out very quickly and there’s no easy solution once you do.
The mid-century saw definitive and revolutionary periods of iconic interior design that influence us today. What era most inspires and excites you?
I’d say that it’s important that we look back further to where the influences for that mid-century aesthetic came from. I’ve always loved the work that came out of the Bauhaus, dating all the way back to 1919. If you spend a few minutes looking at the furniture designs that came out of that school you’ll be amazed not just by how modern they look for the time, but also how many of them have stood the test of time and are still made in some form to this very day.
What decade has the best vintage homeware finds?
That’s a tough one! I love simple and well thought out designs which are often labelled as mid-century, but then again who doesn’t love a bit of the flamboyance of the 70s? However, I’d still go for the late 50s and the 60s - great products and a timeless look that is proven by the fact we’re still talking about it over 70 years later.
Most treasured one-of-a-kind piece you’ve discovered?
I once found a 1950s Danish sideboard literally in a skip and I took it home for free with the owner's blessing. It was pretty scratched up and finished in a really dated dark brown high gloss lacquer, but it had a nice form and lovely curved wooden handles. I stripped it back completely to find gorgeous pale wood with amazing grain patterns that had been hidden for all those years. I oiled it sympathetically, contrast coloured the handles to give it a modern twist and shortened the legs slightly to give it a more sleek stance...that one had to come home with me and I can’t imagine parting with it any time soon.
Are there particular styles you look out for and snap up when you see them?
I’m a sucker for a well worn, vintage leather chair with a bent wood frame and leather that’s aged in a way that only years of use can. There’s some incredible looking ones from the 1920’s through to the present day, it’s often hard to tell just how old they are as the early designs were so far ahead of their time and are timeless even today. They make a great statement piece for any home and a good investment in many cases too.
Top tips for buying vintage furniture…
Look beyond cosmetic condition as it’s usually a quick and relatively simple job to refinish vintage items given the right tools and a bit of time. A new coat of oil or lacquer after a careful sanding will get rid of years of coffee cup stains and scratches.
Don’t assume that vintage has to mean old, vintage is defined as something of a given time that is generally of good quality. Go to town on some modern vintage too, in the end it’s about celebrating and exploring good design that you can put your stamp on and saving used items from being wasted which is better for our planet.
I’d say that it’s important that we look back further to where the influences for that mid-century aesthetic came from. I’ve always loved the work that came out of the Bauhaus, dating all the way back to 1919. If you spend a few minutes looking at the furniture designs that came out of that school you’ll be amazed not just by how modern they look for the time, but also how many of them have stood the test of time and are still made in some form to this very day.
What decade has the best vintage homeware finds?
That’s a tough one! I love simple and well thought out designs which are often labelled as mid-century, but then again who doesn’t love a bit of the flamboyance of the 70s? However, I’d still go for the late 50s and the 60s - great products and a timeless look that is proven by the fact we’re still talking about it over 70 years later.
Most treasured one-of-a-kind piece you’ve discovered?
I once found a 1950s Danish sideboard literally in a skip and I took it home for free with the owner's blessing. It was pretty scratched up and finished in a really dated dark brown high gloss lacquer, but it had a nice form and lovely curved wooden handles. I stripped it back completely to find gorgeous pale wood with amazing grain patterns that had been hidden for all those years. I oiled it sympathetically, contrast coloured the handles to give it a modern twist and shortened the legs slightly to give it a more sleek stance...that one had to come home with me and I can’t imagine parting with it any time soon.
Are there particular styles you look out for and snap up when you see them?
I’m a sucker for a well worn, vintage leather chair with a bent wood frame and leather that’s aged in a way that only years of use can. There’s some incredible looking ones from the 1920’s through to the present day, it’s often hard to tell just how old they are as the early designs were so far ahead of their time and are timeless even today. They make a great statement piece for any home and a good investment in many cases too.
Top tips for buying vintage furniture…
Look beyond cosmetic condition as it’s usually a quick and relatively simple job to refinish vintage items given the right tools and a bit of time. A new coat of oil or lacquer after a careful sanding will get rid of years of coffee cup stains and scratches.
Don’t assume that vintage has to mean old, vintage is defined as something of a given time that is generally of good quality. Go to town on some modern vintage too, in the end it’s about celebrating and exploring good design that you can put your stamp on and saving used items from being wasted which is better for our planet.