MEET: Tristan Titeux of Custom Carpentry

Today we talk to Tristan Titeux, founder of Custom Carpentry. Tristan tells us about his passion for sustainability and eco-friendly products. He introduces his new venture 'The Re-Cut Collection', and explains how the idea came about and the thought process behind it all.

Tell us a bit about yourself and the 'Re-cut Collection'

My name is Tristan Titeux, I am an eco fitted furniture pioneer and designer and I own a company called Custom Carpentry, I am the creative director of a team of 4 talented craftsmen since 2003. We mostly work for private clients in London but have also been commissioned on various occasions by Westminster Abbey and TV programmes on ITV and SKY, the last one I did was the best because it was my first Eco fitted furniture piece on ITV's 60 Minute makeover out in January 2012.

I was brought up in Belgium. My dad was an ecologist and inventor, he taught me a lot of what I know today, we lived in a beautiful white house with thick white walls made of chalk and flint stone down in the bottom of a valley. We had one tap that lived in the kitchen, no hot water, no fridge or TV, the toilet was outside and so was the separate heated bathroom. We lived a simple live close to nature, I learned the value of resources, not to let the tap run and waste water when cleaning my teeth, not to put too many logs of wood on our fire, we got alot of our food from our chickens, goats and bees, I learned that everything comes form somewhere, it is finite, precious and not to waste. This closeness to nature has taught me a lot of what I know today about sustainability, this philosophy and understanding of nature is what drives me today.

The re-cut collection was born around April 2011. Last november I decided to follow my dreams and take my fitted furniture business in the direction that I really wanted it to go, I brought out an eco option for my customers, this led me to rethink hard about the waste that was going on with all our offcuts that are produced as a by product of making fitted furniture for people. So I came up with this design called re-cut. I am a hoarder because I hate to throw anything away, I see through everything, where it was made, how it was grown, what good and bad it has taken to get here and I dont' take if for granted that it is there. So Milo was born.

What gave you the idea to set up your eco-furniture business?

What gave me the idea to set up my eco furniture business was my deep underlying care for nature that led me in November 2010, when I went to a day long event called Peace One Day in London, to re assess what I wanted to do in life and what I wanted to achieve. I love designing modern fitted furniture and making people happy through it, but I wanted more, a deeper reason to do this. After hearing various ethical based speakers, they touched a nerve in me and inspired me to ask myself what I truly would do if I had 30 million in the bank, and the answer was that I would design eco homes. So I thought, well I do fitted furniture now so I can create part of an eco home and interior. I have not looked back since.

Having to go to sleep for me is a hindrance to my dream, though it is necessary and eventually I get so tired, my passion drives me hard, I am a perfectionist, sometimes a little too much so, but that is what makes me myself. I wake up in the morning so happy to be alive and want to get on my computer and carry on my mission. This year I have started a few pioneering eco projects using materials never used in fitted furniture before such as straw that uses no glue to bind it, that is my dream to one day have mostly natural materials that don't pollute the earth or us and that you can put on the compost heap or burn in your home fire.

Who is Milo and what is it made of?

Milo, the first piece was named after my 3rd son who is now 7 months old, I named it after him because it was a new birth for me. Milo is made of offcuts left over from making our fitted furniture, pieces that normally would be too small for anything else, as well as being made from wood taken out of peoples homes such as unwanted wardrobes and cupboards. Instead of throwing them away, we re-cut them and make them tables.

The outside is sanded totally smooth and oiled with an Auro eco oil made with plant based materials and the inside is left purposefully rough, this and the way it is layered is designed for people to touch, see, investigate and question materials. I want to bring up the conversation of materials and their provenance and how some might pollute this world, then once we know how they pollute and where they come from then we can work at changing this. Also, I love the idea of rough and smooth together as a design idea, they highlight each other more. Each Milo is different depending on what wood we have and on the mood of the craftsmen that day.

Is 'handmade' a lifestyle choice for you, and if so why?

I love anything that is handmade. When I got to country shows, I love to watch the people who create beautiful things out of wood with their hands, it makes me feel good. I feel it is relaxing and healing if you take the time. I think that handmade things are positive because they offer the satisfaction of creating something with your hands and tools. These days I don't get to build things with my hands, but I am very visual, I was a photographer for 12 years, I get a similar sense of satisfaction from designing things, seeing them made and photographing them.

What inspires you?

What inspires me is wanting to do something about injustice, I want to do something about the way we treat both our world and people. Sustainability comes into this because if we treat things unjustly we get a non sustainable practice. Something that is sustainable is something that can follow a circular cycle and not reach a dead end, just like water that evaporates from the sea, rains from the clouds, into mountains, we drink it, it goes back into the sea and round again forever. I am inspired by practices and things that work in this way, that is what teaches me whether something is good or not or somewhere in between the two. I believe humans are coming dangerously close to their extinction and I feel I want to contribute towards helping us see that and do something about it, that is the main thing that drives me.

How do you market yourself and your business?

I market myself through google and my website and more recently through social media. We live in a time of revolution, we have never been given such a chance to make such amazing change, with the advent of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube) the world power is shifting towards smaller localised businesses, now anyone has a voice, not just the ones with the most money. We have been given our own TV channel (YouTube, Ustream), we have been given our own Shop (WordPress, Facebook) where we can show the world what we have to offer. Yes there is a lot of competition, but you must first concentrate on your local area and that way you will be successful.

Localisation is one fo the keys to sustainability and so is specialisation and micro niches and that is what you, small businesses and individual craftsmen are able to do, to specialise, localise and be the best in your field. With Twitter you can meet people from all around the world and bring the things you learn back to your local community. If you need any help with any of this, feel free to contact me, connect with me on social media and I will help you, type Tristan Titeux in Google and you will find me everywhere.

If you had the time, what other craft would you like to learn?

If I had time, I would love to do some wood carving or stone carving and make some nice modern statues, shapes, forms.

Who are some of your favourite artists/designers/makers?

Claire Danthois is an inspiring designer and artist, she makes a beautiful chair out of old doors called "once a door", I love the idea that her one chair is made of many doors that have each seen different things, maybe they where part of a bathroom, maybe a bedroom, or a kitchen where they have absorbed the smells and seen many dinner parties. I also like Max from reestore.com he turns old baths into sofas, shopping trolleys into chairs and washing machine drums into light coffee tables. As pure art I love what Ptolemy Elrington makes with car hub caps found on the street, it is absolutely amazing how he manages to recreate natural features with plastic car parts. I also love and have a few of Betti's belts made of used bike tires, velo-re.com

What is your main goal for the next 6-12 months?

My goal for the next 6 to 12 months is to get the re-cut collection in the public eye and also to get sponsorship so I can self publish my book called "Eco (fitted furniture) Choices".

What is the best part of what you do?

The best part of what I do is making people happy through my fitted furniture, with beautiful, simple, bespoke design, there is nothing I find more satisfying than seeing a customer happy and over the moon about what we have created for them. That, alongside my passion for eco living is what drives me forward and gives me great satisfaction. I am big on testimonials, I have over 100 published on the internet and currently 5 video testimonials. I love to get external feedback, I thrive on it and will do anything I can to satisfy my customers needs because that in turn feeds me deep inside! 

If you would like to find out more about Tristan, his business and the re-cut collection, have a look at his website. You can also follow Tristan on Twitter and Facebook.

Read about lots of other fabulous, creative people here: http://www.ukhandmade.co.uk/designers