Blending music with furniture

Inspired by a love of music, Gorman Furniture goes far beyond creating statement pieces, with passions for functionality and design coming together.

Jarrod Gorman and his wife Catherine Bradshaw are the faces behind Torquay’s Gorman Furniture.

With a creative eye, the duo have been able to pursue their interest in creating handmade furniture connected to music.

Gorman Furniture’s story officially began three years ago, but Jarrod’s passion for woodwork was ignited much earlier.

“Going back 10 or 12 years ago, I started making electric guitars from scratch, so I sort of got into wood working through that,” he said.

“For my oldest daughter’s birthday, for her 18th, I made her a record cabinet and that’s where the idea came from.”

Jarrod said from there, it had been a natural progression to where the business was today, offering a range of furniture that incorporates music in some way.

The whole family shares the passion, with Jarrod playing in bands when he was younger and his daughter who plays guitar currently.

While some of their pieces relate to music directly, housing equipment and records, others have a more subtle touch.

Bar carts and record cabinets are just some of the pieces on offer, made of hardwood timber with fabric from speakers and control knobs off amps adding to the designs.

“Even with the bar carts, that doesn’t have any connection with music, but they’ve still got that little link with having the speaker fabric on it,” Jarrod said.

There are a range of different fabrics that can be used for the cabinets, each pairing well with the different types of timber.

Their Chorus record and liquor cabinet is a favourite with their customers, housing a record player on one side and the other equipped to hold bottles.

Customers are able to put their own spin on the furniture, with all products custom built and everything handmade and designed by Jarrod.

“The one good thing about handmade furniture is that anything is possible,” he said.

“As long as it’s doable, we can make it work to suit the person’s space or whatever timber species they’re looking for.”

The record cabinets are one of Jarrod’s favourite pieces to make, incorporating elements similar to ’60s and ’70s style furniture.

“I just enjoy making those sorts of cabinets and especially with the custom pieces and people that come with an idea that it has to do a few things and we start from sketching it up and making changes along the way.”

To allow customers to get the exact piece of furniture they’re looking for, all items are made to order so people can choose the features they want and need.

“Everyone just needs something different, it’s very hard to make something that’s going to suit everyone’s needs,” Jarrod said.

“We like to make it so that the customer feels like they’ve got their own one-off special piece of furniture, not just bought online through the store.”

One of Jarrod’s highlights during his past three years in business has been seeing people react to their products and being really interested in what they’re making.

The family owned and operated business offers a niche range of products, something that Jarrod believes makes them stand out, and the idea of these pieces being in people’s lives and homes for a long time isn’t lost on him.

“Everything’s built very solid, and we want things to be able to be passed down through generations.

“Hopefully that happens and people’s grandkids end up inheriting them and hopefully they keep going within the family.”

Along with quality pieces, Gorman Furniture is designed to be functional with the hope people use it, interact with it and enjoy it.

“Whether it’s bar carts that you might have your friends around using it to make cocktails, or you and your partner might be sitting around on Sunday afternoon, putting records on in the cabinet, we’re focused on people doing fun stuff with our furniture.”

It’s a mix between designing and the cabinets construction that Jarrod enjoys the most.

“Getting it all together and when it starts to take shape and it goes from just flat panels of timber to actually looking like what’s in your head.”

Previously a truck driver, Jarrod and his family relocated to the Surf Coast to have access to better support for their daughter, who has cerebral palsy.

Gorman Furniture has allowed Jarrod to be at home more and spend time with his daughter and family.

For more information and to check out Gorman Furniture’s products, head to gormanfurniture.com.au