About me
Made by hand.
Made to be touched.
I'm Darren, a woodworker based in Carlow, Ireland. What started as a passion has grown into Daly Wood Designs — a one-person workshop where every piece is thought through and finished with care.
My kitchens have solid hardwood doors, drawer fronts and frames, built on birch plywood or veneered chipboard carcasses, with no MDF and no vinyl wrap. I also put a lot of thought into your layout and will discuss this with you during the consultation phase.
Designed Before It's Built
I trained and worked as an AutoCAD technician before I made furniture full-time, and it shapes how I work. Every kitchen, wardrobe, vanity and commission starts as a CAD drawing of your room or your piece, with full dimensions.
You see how the doors, drawers and joints sit before any timber is cut, and we change it on the drawing, where it's quick and easy, not in the workshop. By the time I start building, we both know exactly what you're getting.
The Japandi Influence
My work is shaped by Japandi — a design philosophy that blends Japanese and Scandinavian sensibilities. It's about simplicity without coldness, natural materials without roughness, and function that doesn't sacrifice beauty.
Japanese craft tradition teaches restraint — nothing added unless it belongs. Scandinavian design brings warmth and an honest relationship with natural materials. Together they point toward the same thing: objects that feel right to live with.
That's what I'm aiming for with every piece. Not furniture that sits in a room, but furniture that earns its place in one.
Built to be Explored
I want people to reach out and touch the things I make. That might sound like a small thing, but it drives a lot of decisions — how an edge is rounded, how a surface is finished, how a leg meets a tabletop.
Wood is one of the few materials that rewards that kind of attention. Every grain pattern is unrepeatable. The way spalted beech marks itself as it dries, the warmth of solid walnut under your hand — these aren't flaws to work around, they're the point. I choose natural materials because no two pieces will ever be exactly the same.
The Workshop
Everything I make is built in my own workshop in Carlow, which I set up and fitted out myself. It's a working shop, not a showroom, and it's set up for solid timber work from start to finish.
From my YouTube channel: Building a workshop: the first steps
The Build Process
For most of my builds I document the process — from raw timber to finished piece. You can follow along on YouTube and Instagram, where I share the decisions, the techniques, and the occasional mistake that makes each build what it is.
If you're curious about a commission or want to see how something was made, that's the best place to start.