Funky Wood Productions

Bespoke wooden art and home accessories, using local, reclaimed wood, inspired by a Japanese wood burning technique

I’ve always been fascinated with fire – from making my first s’mores over a tealight (yes, a tealight) at Girl Guides, to being allowed to stay up past my bedtime at family gatherings, as drinks and stories were shared around the fire pit. I spent many a summer night watching the red and yellow ribbons interweave as they broke down the firewood stacked high, my family’s laughter in the background. As I got older this translated into an open fireplace being an absolute requirement for any property we moved to (much to my partner’s exasperation) and a love of all things barbecue.

One evening, entrenched in a YouTube rabbit hole, I came across a Japanese wood burning technique known as Shou Sugi Ban and knew it was something special. Like many, the pandemic had given me a lot of time to reconsider what I really wanted to do with my life and so, three months later, I plucked up the courage to quit my full-time job and jumped headfirst into Funky Wood Productions.

At Funky Wood Productions, we make wooden home décor and accessories inspired by the Shou Sugi Ban method. True Shou Sugi Ban (or Yakisugi) originated in 18th century Japan and was used as a method of protecting cedar wood to be used for exterior cladding on buildings. By creating a flue out of three pieces of wood, bound together to form a triangle and lighting it at the bottom so a ‘chimney effect’ would take place, the flames would spread the lengths of the boards internally. Once sufficiently charred (usually in less than five minutes at a temperature of just under 400C) an amazing charred or ‘alligator skin’ effect was achieved and would increase the wood’s resistance to weather, insects, and mould. Incredible!

In the West, Shou Sugi Ban has been popularised for its decorative look if the charred surface of the wood is brushed away, the distinctive wood grain pattern beneath is revealed and it’s this method we use at Funky Wood Productions. Using only local, reclaimed wood we aim to make life a little FUNKY and provide unique accessories for your home. Coupled with our take on Shou Sugi Ban, all our items truly are one of a kind the colour, markings and texture of the wood will vary from piece to piece and so each is entirely original - you’ll find a variety of features in your product these may be from their previous life or simply the natural grain and pattern in the wood. They are “perfectly, imperfect” and we think that’s pretty FUNKY!

Alex