Kent furniture maker, Lauren Wood, has always loved making things.
Coming from a family of creatives, it was no surprise that Lauren found herself gravitating towards making things, whether from Lego as a child, or with wood now, as a successful furniture designer and maker. She has always had a love for creating and seeing other people use and enjoy the things she makes. So much so, it has also led to a career in passing on her passion and knowledge to the next generation of makers.
After completing a degree in Furniture Design and Making at Ryecote Wood in Oxford, Lauren went on to gain a teaching qualification. She enjoyed a 10 year career as a design and technology teacher, inspiring the next generation of young woodworkers.
In 2022, Lauren applied to take part in Channel Four’s latest TV craft show, Handmade: Britain’s Best Woodworker, where she was crowned winner. Since then she has also gone to present the Travelling Auctioneers on BBC One.
Lauren lives in the Kent countryside with her wife and two children, who enjoy sharing her passion for woodwork.
I am most passionate about woodworking being an inclusive hobby, job or past time for as many people as possible"
I want all women and children to feel like woodwork is an option for a career, as well as something to do in their free time. I am also really passionate about woodwork being handmade and using joinery where possible as opposed to screws and nails. I really love creating a joint that, when fixed together, it’s beautiful and strong, and the wood's doing all the work. I just feel like that for me is the beauty of woodwork.
There’s lots of different things that inspire me and my woodwork, mainly the function of the product and nature. I love organic shapes and I feel like everything in nature functions in a way that is the most suitable for it to thrive and I like to transfer that into my woodwork where possible. I think this is probably why I like to do steam bending and laminating, because bending wood and creating wooden curves is not typically the easiest or strongest way to build something, but when you get it right it looks so good.
For me, the form and the function of the item are equally important"
I don’t want to make something that functions well, but looks ugly, but I also don’t want to make something that looks beautiful, but doesn’t really work. I really feel like they’re both like a seesaw, they both need to be balanced for you to get the best out of something.
I absolutely love making chairs, like singular seats or lounge chairs"
There’s something about a chair for me that is complex enough to really test your mind when you’re making it. You’ve to get the angle right, you’ve got to get the strength in the joints right - after all people stand on chairs as well as sit on them, people climb on them, pull them around like they’re an absolute test of defiance and strength - so chairs I find are a really good challenge. I also think they’re beautiful. When you’ve made a chair, your user is sitting in it. But they might be touching the legs, enjoying the angle of the back and the comfort, and I find that something that has such a high intense user experience is so much more satisfying than say something like a small side coffee table, which don’t get me wrong, I love making all freestanding furniture, but the user experience with a coffee table, in my opinion, is going to be far less than the user experience with a chair. A chair envelops you.
My favourite tools to use are hand tools, because I love working the wood by hand"
Using a spokeshave, a block plane or Shinto rasp, it’s all in your control. You don’t get kickback, you don’t get the risk of the tool setting changing or going too deep with a router. I do love using hand power tools as well and machinery, because it’s a really great way of making things accurately and quickly. But for me, my real love for woodwork is about making it by hand, feeling the work, working the wood, looking at the grain and knowing which way to push the plane. I love that.
I do also really enjoy power carving and it’s something I had never done until I was on Britain’s Best Woodworker. We used Arbortech Tools on the show and I made a great big penguin. I absolutely loved it! It was unreal. It was like working the wood by hand, but so much quicker. I do enjoy power carving as well. You just have to be conscious of how you’re using the tool and the grain of the wood, making sure you’re in control of it.
Hand tools help my woodworking to be in full control and I don’t have to worry about settings or worry about kickback, you get to just really enjoy being in the moment and being involved in what you’re doing"
I feel like it’s a very mindful thing and the more mindful you can be about what you’re doing, the more you can be present and the more you enjoy it.
Being a female woodworker is definitely not what it used to be. I remember way back in 2004 when I was just starting out in the woodworking trade, I would be on site and I was the only woman"
Every man on the site would stop and watch me do the most mundane of basic tasks. It was an unusual experience, but I am so pleased to say that it is not like that anymore. I do get a lot of questions from people about why I am interested in woodwork and what drew me to it, but probably it's the same things that draw men towards woodwork. I loved Lego as a kid. I loved building and crafting, creating and being practical. And I think if you asked a guy the same question, they would probably be similar. I think people are getting used to that now and they understand that just because we’re a different gender, it doesn't mean we don’t like doing the same things.
I really push my Instagram with woodwork, not only because I’m a female and I want other women to do it, but also to inspire children. It's so easy for the younger generation to get caught up playing computer games and sitting on their phones and just scrolling through social media. They’re not actually experiencing things and finding out what they like. They’re being told by analytical cookies what they like looking at and I really want people to do something that makes them happy and to enjoy doing something that you don’t do in every day life. There’s so many other women as well on social media promoting woodwork and I just think it’s great.
I would say do it; don’t be afraid"
Don’t think you’re not welcome. Don’t be scared of the machines or the tools. If you’re creative, a problem solver and you like being practical, then woodwork is a great job or hobby for you.
Regarding tools, I would say go to trade shows and pick up the tools, see how they fit and how they work with you. You are going to be holding some tools for a long time so you do want them to be comfortable and you do want them to be a weight that you are happy with. It’s a case of finding a brand that works with you. I would say, when it comes to power tools, find a brand and stick with it so you can use your batteries across your range. Of course there are some products out there that are really expensive, and there’s some that are much more affordable. For me, the hand tools you have will last a lifetime and your battery tools can last a long time if you buy a good product that fits in your budget and you look after it.
The other thing I would suggest is joining forums as so many people want to share their knowledge of woodwork, and there are so many platforms out there. Get out there and ask questions. Also don’t be afraid about making mistakes, that is the best way to learn.
When I was a teacher I felt like my subject was so important to my students because it was a creative outlet. Not everybody is creative, but it’s so good to have a break sometimes from reading, writing and spelling"
I see so many jobs that woodworking qualifications would help you in. If you wanted to design and make prosthetics, go into graphics or packaging design or want to make furniture, then do a design technology GCSE and A-level. There’s so many different fields. If you’re interested in creating things and working with the future then you will not regret having a design technology qualification.
Also when I was a teacher, I just loved engaging with students hearing their thoughts and visions and understanding how they look at things and disassemble them and want to create them. I think young minds are so incredible and the more you engage with a young mind, the more will grow. Also as a teacher, you need to be inspiring, be interesting and engaging. Knowing your subject content is not enough, you have to make it interesting for other people to want to learn.
As a mum of two young children it’s a struggle to find time to do anything! But I’m not someone who sits down a lot or and watches loads of TV, but that is probably because my spare time is spent in my workshop, or my garden"
I think everything is a balancing act when you’ve got young children anyway, because you want to spend as much time as you can with your children, and you want to encourage them to get involved with things you enjoy. The best way I find time to do my woodwork is at weekends and I’ll get them involved. I let them use my tools, teaching them how to use them safely, but they love it. They absolutely love putting on the PPE, wearing the goggles the ear defenders and coming in the workshop and just having a go. It’s so great, it means I get to do woodworking whilst spending time with my children and they tell me stuff that they want to build as well. It’s honestly the best time for me. It’s the most enjoyable time I have with them.
My children always say “mumma builds stuff” and they know that my medium of choice is wood and I love it. They think I chose our surname - but that was just a lucky coincidence!
I think they love it that I’m a busy builder although whenever they bring me one of their toys which is broken, and of course it’s a plastic toy, I fix it but I fix it with wood because that’s how my brain works"
I’m hoping it’s something that will be sentimental to them when they’re older. I do like to make them lots of things for them to have in their rooms and just for them to know that it is a handmade gift, something that’s taken time, thought, care and effort, which is worth so much more than a trip to the shops. I love doing that for them.
I love treating them and spoiling them with my time and my skills and sharing that with them, it’s absolutely great. I do not let being a mum or being a busy person stop me from doing woodwork because it is such a great outlet and so rewarding when you get to sit down at the end of the day, either on what you’ve made, or looking at what you’ve made and enjoy it.
Discover more of Lauren's work on her Instagram page - search @woodsmything. And read more from our Meet the Maker series on our Woodworking Wisdom blog page.
