Blog

Why less is more – how our spending habits are driving the trend for bespoke furniture

With the rise of campaigns like Oxfam’s Second Hand September and the popularity of Marie Kondo’s decluttering methods, more and more of us are buying less than ever before.

A 2019 study found that people who consumed less, which involves repairing instead of replacing and avoiding impulse purchases, are happier than those who engage in other ‘green’ behaviours.

Our living spaces, like our budgets, are also not getting much bigger, prompting consumers to think hard about the durability and quality of the furniture they are buying.

In a world of automation, we’ve never needed handcraft more

Although technology has made our lives easier in many ways, there are still some things it can’t replace – a treasured family heirloom, a handcrafted piece of furniture and a one-of-a-kind artwork will always spark a joy that mass-produced pieces cannot match. 

The Covid-19 lockdown period also introduced a new wave of people to the joys of making things by hand – the UK’s largest craft retailer, Hobbycraft, saw the numbers of people visiting the ‘ideas’ page on their website triple since lockdown began. We have seen an influx of enquiries about our cabinet courses of all levels too which is extremely exciting for our age-old craft. 

A current student’s story: Fran Bullinger

We hear from current student Fran Bullinger about her experience of studying at the Chippendale School so far.