Furniture Design & Manufacture

Furniture, made by hand. Made to stay.

Bespoke vanities, storage and living units, designed with you and built in our South African workshop by makers we trained ourselves.

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1SSW · Edition 2026

A curved, floating vanity in soft stone grey with two round basins under a back-lit brass mirror
P09 Curved floating vanity Bathroom · Stone top, twin basins

Who we are

We design and build furniture for the rooms people live in every day: bathrooms, kitchens, living rooms. Every piece is drawn for its space, made to measure and fitted by the people who made it.

What we make
Vanities, storage, media units, cabinetry and wall panelling
How we work
Made to measure, from first sketch to final fitting
Who makes it
Local craftspeople trained in our own carpentry programme

01 — Selected work

Our craft

A selection of bespoke vanities, storage and living units.

  • P01 Curved oak vanity

    Bathroom · Oak, stone top

  • P02 Oak vanity, blush basin

    Bathroom · Oak, brass pulls

  • P03 Curved TV unit

    Living · Oak, stone top

  • P04 Slatted oak guest WC

    Bathroom · Panelling & vanity

  • P05 Arched coffee station

    Living · Painted, oak inlay

  • P06 Rattan arch cabinet

    Storage · Painted, rattan, oak

  • P07 Ash double vanity

    Bathroom · Brushed ash

  • P08 Main bathroom joinery

    Storage · Vanity & niche divider

  • P09 Curved floating vanity

    Bathroom · Stone top, twin basins

02 — What we make

Made to measure

Nothing comes off a shelf. Each piece is drawn for the room it will live in, then built and fitted by our team.

  1. 01

    Bathroom vanities

    Floating, freestanding and curved vanities in oak, ash and painted finishes, with stone tops and under-lighting.

  2. 02

    Living & media units

    TV units, sideboards and coffee stations built to the exact length of your wall.

  3. 03

    Storage & cabinetry

    Wardrobes, display cabinets and built-in storage, down to the last shelf and drawer.

  4. 04

    Wall panelling & joinery

    Slatted oak panelling, niches and dividers that tie a room together.

  5. 05

    Design consultation

    Working with homeowners, interior designers and builders on one piece or a whole house.

03 — Our process

One journey

Four steps from your first idea to the day it's fitted.

  1. 1

    Consult

    We visit, measure the space and listen to how you want to use it.

  2. 2

    Design

    You get drawings, finishes and a clear quote before anything is cut.

  3. 3

    Make

    Your piece is built by hand in our workshop, checked at every stage.

  4. 4

    Install

    The same team delivers and fits it, and we stand behind the work after.

A smiling carpenter planing a length of timber at a workbench

04 — Our makers

Skills to work, made visible.

1SSW stands for 1StopSkilledWorkers. We started as a skills programme, teaching carpentry and woodwork to people in vulnerable South African communities. The furniture you see here is made by those graduates.

When you commission a piece, you are paying a skilled craftsperson a fair wage, and helping fund training, job placements and safe after-school care for their children.

  • 01 Dignity
  • 02 Results
  • 03 Family first
  • 04 Partnership

One stop. One journey. One family at a time.

  • Hands marking a cut line on pine with a pencil, surrounded by shavings

    01 Marking out

  • A maker checking a frame with a steel rule

    02 Measuring twice

  • Hands trimming a notch in a timber board beside a mitre saw

    03 Cutting once

“Our goal is not simply to train people. It is to help people build livelihoods, strengthen families and create a future where the next generation has more opportunity than the one before.”

05 — Let's talk

Start a project

Tell us about your space and what you have in mind. We'll get back to you to arrange a visit.

Contact
Nothando Mhlambi
Website
www.1ssw.co.za