Kirralee & Co is a woodworking studio that has been operating since 2014. Founded by Kirralee Robinson, an art student turned stay-at-home-parent, Kirralee holds a desire to create sustainable homewares. Kirralee & Co runs from an off-the-grid workshop in south-east Queensland and use only second hand and waste materials.

Jordana, Kirralee and Ash, AKA Kirralee and her Co

As recognition of the changing seasons the business is experiencing, Kirralee would like to share a reflection.

It is with great joy that I write this as I sense a growth and a new chapter for Kirralee & Co. I would like to share some history of the business and reasons as to why we are not yet running in a business-as-usual kind of way. Obviously, since 2020, life has been different for a lot of us. Priorities, finances, and logistics have changed significantly in this time. However, market cancellations and financial viability aside, I have been detecting a pivot in this business for some time but could not provide tactile information until now.

In 2014, when I first began woodworking, I recall forming an instant bond with timber and its processes. I entered the life of making with much joy and a curiosity grew with each new technique or skill I learnt. This is what kept me returning to the studio for the 6 years we were open usual hours. I am incredibly thankful for this experience as I believe it has been foundational, and a significant starting point for the next chapter.

Here are some specific reasons I am thankful for this time: Through running this business, I learnt how to confidently use power tools and experienced the empowerment this gives. I was also able to share some of these skills with others through hosting workshops.

Woodworking gave me the opportunity to be creative every day; I would often wake up with a design in mind, walk on up to the workshop and put it to the test. I made lifelong friendships through markets and learnt that I’m not a bad businesswoman. We hired an apprentice and I learnt that I’m not bad at teaching either. We won a design award which paid for a camera, and I taught myself how to take a good photograph.

We travelled interstate for markets and drove through some beautiful parts of the country, creating fond moments for our family.

I learnt that collaborating is powerful and not just in the moment of creation. I successfully ran a business while sticking to my goal of never paying for advertising. Ever. (We were still lucky enough to be featured in several exquisite, national magazines.)

I learnt the gift that quick problem-solving skills really are. I learnt how to set and keep high standards in what I make. I learnt how to forage reclaimed materials and to build relationships with people with offcuts to spare. I also began to learn about Australian timber; where it grows, its uses, its varying strengths, and chemical properties.

The excitement I began with has not faded. Each time I work with timber today I am reminded of the materials’ beauty, versatility, and its need to be cherished. This passion for working so closely with existing materials has led me to undertake study in Art Conservation, beginning 2023. Through this course I will be equipped with a much deeper set of skills to help with the preservation of objects, something I have discovered I am quite passionate about. While I cannot predict the future exactly and what the course will lead to, I can see links forming between the work I have done, and the work on the horizon.

In 2022 my study journey began with a chemistry bridging intensive followed by a graduate certificate in Visual Arts, both of which were valuable and enriching (a post for another day).

This year I begin a Masters in Cultural Materials Conservation which will take 2-3 years to complete. While I am a university student, I will not be running a 24hr online store as I seek to focus on the task at hand. I would like to begin the pivot of Kirralee & Co with turning our Instagram page into a place that supports sustainability, people working on new ideas for a better future and those working to preserve important objects from the past.