Welcome to Luke David Designs

Design and furniture are my passion. As a boy, I remember lying in bed and gazing up at a wooden lining. Grain and knots became patterns and shapes. Designs took form. Timber and tools also shaped my childhood, since my father was a builder. Growing up in the bush north of Melbourne likewise taught an appreciation for the natural world.

Leaving school to become a carpenter, I worked for many years on domestic building sites. Although I loved my trade, I found the amount of wastage disturbing. This is especially true in home renovations where discarded materials, ‘diamonds’ in my eyes, were consigned to landfill.

I became an avid recycler and forager. As my enthusiasm for salvaging the unwanted grew, I noted how the building industry was becoming dull and generic. Houses and furniture were mostly built without love and originality. Time and cost-cutting had replaced soul and beauty.

My journey into furniture making began the day my hot water system died. As I examined the broken-down cylinder, the seemingly ordinary suddenly opened up so many extraordinary ideas and design possibilities. This was my eureka moment - unusual shapes and forms fused with a love for recycling and the crafting of furniture.

Today I still look for unusual lines, shapes and patterns, as I did as a boy, though in the course of building beautiful, functional furniture. I strive to imbue each piece with the respect I have for a particular material and the appreciation I have for its history.

It is my hope that each unique piece showcases remarkable objects and timber lovingly reworked and given new life.