About Käsner Custom Wood Craft
At Käsner Custom Wood Craft, we take pride in creating bespoke, wood creations that elevate your living spaces. With our skilled craftsmanship and attention to detail, we combine traditional woodworking techniques with innovative designs to produce custom-made furniture, home decor, and decorative elements. Each project is meticulously crafted to meet your unique vision and requirements, ensuring that every finished piece reflects your personal style and preferences - Käsner Custom Wood Craft is here to bring your vision to life.
We don’t do “fast furniture” - Our ambition is to create furniture and home décor that embraces the idea of ‘nature connected design’, is both functional and beautiful, and allows clients to access some of the proven benefits of biophilic design.
Our preference is to use solid hardwood whenever possible as this aligns with our ambition to tread lightly on the environment and our ‘zero waste to landfill’ goals. We also love using recycled timber and materials where these add to the design and enjoy the added layer of intrigue and nostalgia these add.
People often cite the durability of timber (or the lack thereof) as an issue however there are many examples of ancient timber structures still with us today - the Horyuji Temple built in 607AD and the Nanchan Temple (782CE) are but two examples. Correctly designed and crafted hardwood items can (and do) last a lifetime and can be updated or reimagined along the way. When designing pieces, we account for natural wood movement and avoid using fasteners (screws, bolts and such) in favour of traditional joinery techniques.
Studies have shown that being surrounded by wood in our homes, work & play spaces have a positive effect on our health. A report commissioned by Planet Ark found that exposure to wood products and interiors created similar health benefits to those created by spending time in nature. Interested? Follow the link on our home page “make it wood by Planet Ark” for more detail.
Why go custom?
Like much in life, there are pros and cons when it comes to commissioning custom pieces and the decision ultimately boils down to an individual’s priorities. It’s not for everyone and that’s cool – if you’re ‘on the fence’ then consider the following pros:
1. Quality: Makers such as I, take immense pride in the quality of our work. Every piece we make is a tangible reflection on our abilities laid bare for all to see (I think I may be overly invested here). This fastidious approach simply isn’t that easy to replicate in a “mass production environment”. We do this because we’re passionate about working with wood and building beautiful, functional items and not because we’re chasing some corporate KPI.
2. The ‘devil is in the detail’: Custom makers have the luxury of spending time on details that can elevate pieces to the next level. We hand select timbers that best suit the application and design, and that best suit your unique preferences. Decisions about the design (shape, size, colour, etc.) are based upon your personal requirements - we’re not constrained to making items with mass appeal that have been ‘value engineered’ to a state of fragility.
3. Designed to last: We know a couple things about joinery and build things that can (and do) last a lifetime. As a personal example, my children eat their meals at a dining table that originates from their great-grandmother’s kitchen. This is not to say that you’re stuck with the same piece forever, a further benefit of real wood furniture is that it can be updated / re-imagined has your tastes evolve.
4. We’re local: we’re approachable, down to earth individuals, part of your communities and not some faceless corporation
About me (Geoff Käsner)
My love of woodwork started at an early age as my ‘old man’ was a prolific woodworker and made much of the furniture in my childhood home. Evenings after school and weekends were spent in the workshop getting covered in saw dust as the stand in for an outfeed table or an extra set of hands, etc. My father loved using Imbuia and to this day, the smell of it takes me back to those happy days.
I’ve continued my wood working journey since those times and eventually made the decision to turn my passion into a career. Prior to this, I spent 20 years working for a multinational engineering company. Having initially joined the company as a mechanical engineer, at the time of my resignation I held the position of Senior Director responsible for two of the company's divisions across 26 countries. It was a challenging career, and one filled with many fantastic experiences and growth opportunities. I had the opportunity to travel to many parts of Europe and Eastern Africa, meet some really cool people and be part of some amazing projects.
In 2022 we left Noordhoek (Cape Town, South Africa) to start anew in Australia and have settled in Adelaide. Our hope in leaving South Africa was (and remains) to create a better future for our sons, free of the encumbrances of our country’s complex past (though I do so miss the African bush). In August of 2022 I was able to set-up the workshop in Seaford (SA) and Käsner Custom Wood Craft has been operating from there since.