Tool kit: including the giant inherited mallet

MAKER’S Q & A

Kim Jordan

Kim Jordan is a new maker to Simple Shape. He lives locally to us in South East London and has made two beautiful candle holders for us.

He studied Economics, French and German, then pursued an advertising strategy career before training as an ebéniste. He has been helped along the way with the positivity of friends and family plus the reassurance offered by an inherited mallet. An 18th Century Paris is the dream ticket. Intreagued? Read on, we asked Kim 10 questions…

1 - Could you begin by introducing yourself and your work?

My name is Kim Jordan and I’m a cabinetmaker. I design and make furniture from my workshop in Limehouse, East London. I trained as an “ébéniste” in Paris and I describe my work as “British Design meets French savoir-faire”

2 - Is design in your ‘DNAʼ? What was your route to making?

I’m actually a true blend of my parentsʼ DNA: my dad taught me his handy skills, working from a young age on cars and doing DIY around the house. The artistic vein comes from my mumʼs side - she paints , is a wallpaper historian and was a florist some years ago. For me, my job has to fulfil both my artistic and the practical needs. One without the other is never enough, which is why designing and making furniture is perfect. Having said that, it took me a very circuitous route and quite a few years to come to that realisation. After studying Economics, French and German at University and an 8-year career in advertising strategy, it was a move to Paris that finally gave me the opportunity to turn a hobby into a job. I’d been making things out of wood for quite some years - the first thing I made was a jewellery box for my then girlfriend. We’re married now, so it can’t have been that shoddy. I enrolled at the Ecole Boulle cabinet making school in Paris and then spent the next few years working in various workshops in restoration of priceless antiques and the creation of high-end furniture. When family brought us back to London I decided to set up my own business.

3 - Is there such a thing as ‘an average dayʼ?

I suppose the daily commute on the DLR could be described as “average”, but thankfully my days at the workshop are not. What’s great about bespoke work is there’s very little repetition. Every day you’re looking for new solutions to problems that you’ve not come across before. And working with new techniques, materials and people means that you’re unlikely to ever get bored.

4 - What are you influences? What excites you professionally?

During my training I was fortunate enough to spend a year working in one of Paris’ most renowned furniture restoration workshops. I got to work on priceless antiques and unique pieces from around the world and I loved the stories that lay behind them. You could sense the maker’s hand and the lives of the pieces’ owners. I love imagining what the furniture had witnessed in the three or four hundred years it had survived. Inspiration for my pieces can come from anywhere - when it’s a commission I like there to be a link back to the client. Whether it’s a saltire in a table for a Scottish client or some nautical details in a piece for someone who works in boat-building. But most of the time my ideas come from nature. A console table I recently made was inspired by the exposed roots on the coastal paths of Brittany.

5 - What is on your to-do list of dreams?

Well I’m building my own extension which is exciting, but I’d really like to do up an old chateau or manoir in France. Ever since moving to London I have dreamt of buying an old chateau in the French countryside and spending my time doing it up, restoring the old furniture, running it as a B&B and enjoying the French way of life. I suspect the reality of it is probably rather less dreamy but I will not let that get in the way. I’ve had my eye on this lovely old house in Brittany for a while…

To-do list of dreams: this Brittany doer-upper

6 - What’s the most irreplaceable thing you own?

I have my wife’s grandfather’s mallet. He was a joiner in Yorkshire and the oversized mallet makes me feel like Thor. (see top image)

7 - What one thing couldn’t you do without?

Apart from my tape dispenser (I get through a lot of tape in my work and this thing has saved me buckets of time) I would say it’s my little Stanley palm plane. I use it almost every day and it’s extremely versatile.

8 - How do you switch off and unwind?

Ha! My wife tells me off for spending my downtime fixing things and doing jobs. When Iʼm in the zone, concentrating on a task, thatʼs when I unwind. Gardening is probably the most effective way for me to unwind. Luckily we have a nice little garden here in South East London that my grandmother tended to for over 50 years before we took over the reins. Whilst there are fewer roses now, I do feel like our efforts do her justice.

9 - What is the best piece of advice you were given when you began your business and what would you pass on?

I think the most useful thing anyone has ever told me is that they believe in me - my friend Nina Holmes set up her high-end catering and events business a few years ago and she said that before long Iʼll be too busy with work to worry about whether or not it will succeed. Her confidence and enthusiasm for what I was doing has been extremely helpful. Iʼve been really lucky to have had the support and encouragement of my whole family for this adventure.

10 - If you were handed a golden ticket where would you go?

Paris in the 18th century just to see how they made that furniture! But if time travel were not an option I would like to see Japan. I love the way they are both high-tech AND connected to nature. Itʼs an alternative vision of the future to that of the West. Plus I love Japanese food and their woodworking tools are pretty amazing, such as this saw! (see above image)