What's behind your shelves?

There's no denying that shelves are useful for both storage and display but the humble shelf can be so much more than functional. 

Adding a wallpaper lining behind your shelving is a cheap and simple way to give a punch of colour or pattern to a room. 

Samples or a single roll of wallpaper can often be used to line the back of bookshelves or wall hanging units. Often, paper will slide behind shelves so can be easily removed and reapplied. If you quickly get tired of one colour or print you can simply swap it for another! Perfect if you're renting a property and want to make a statement without permanently papering the walls.

Customising custom made shelving

As an even cheaper alternative to wallpaper I used wrapping paper. 

We have a black finished shelving unit on the wall in our living room that Antony made over 5 years ago and I wanted to brighten it up and make it more cheerful. I love Orla Kiely wallpaper patterns but, as we hope to be moving house soon, I didn't want to wallpaper a whole wall or make a change that we couldn't take with us to a new house. It occurred to me that the shelves were the perfect place to add some Orla Kiely!

I bought 2 sheets of wrapping paper, measured them and cut them to shape (another great thing about shelves is that they're straight)! Then I simply slid them behind alternate shelves. Any bits of the paper that weren't secure I just added a tiny piece of blu-tack behind the paper to hold it in place. 

I love the result. I have Orla Kiely shelves for £3.90 and in a fraction of the time it would have taken to wallpaper!

Antony makes shelving units (like the one above) to any size, style or finish. If you would like a quote for some shelving please feel free to email us ajbinteriors@hotmail.com for more information.

long weekend

We are closed for the next 4 days due to a long weekend away.
We will have limited access to emails between 10th and 13th of May 2013.

We will reply to any questions and deal with orders received over the weekend as soon as we return.

Thank you

top shelf

Image of AJB Interiors handmade oak shelving unit

Our wall mounted shelving units add functional storage and display space to any room in your home.

Shelving doesn't need to be structured and boring. Below are a few ideas of how to introduce shelving in to a room.

Create your own library
A large amount of shelving in one room becomes the ideal storage for books, CDs and DVDs.
Line a wall in your home office or living room with neatly displayed books. Have fun with the colourful spines to create an attractive display.

Image from www.housetohome.co.uk

Give favourite books pride of place
Use a smaller shelving unit to store some of your most-read books. You'll have easy access to those few books you just can't put down!

Make the most of small rooms
Choose bespoke shelving that fits the purpose exactly. Wall mounted shelving creates storage and display space in small rooms and frees up valuable floor space. Have bespoke shelving made to a size that fits your belongings perfectly.

Make the most of difficult spaces
Utilise the unusual spaces and alcoves in your home by having shelving custom made to fit the space exactly. Underneath the stairs or down the side of a chimney breast can easily become an attractive storage space.

Image from www.housetohome.co.uk

Create a storage feature wall
Using your shelves to create a focal point is a great way to bring colour in to a room. Choose various patterns and similar colours of paper or paint for behind individual shelves. Co-ordinate display items with the colours of the backing.
This creates highly decorative storage.                                                

Christmas Deliveries

The festive season is fast approaching. It is our favourite but busiest time of the year.

If you would like to place an order for an item of furniture to be in your home ready for Christmas please order before the 1st of December. 

Although we will still happily take orders after this date we can not guarantee that furniture ordered after the 30th of November will be with you before Christmas.

thank you

holiday dates

making an oak table top

Click image to enlarge.

The smell of freshly oiled oak

Many people, us included, love the smell of freshly oiled oak. 

During our time in the shop we had some customers that admitted to popping in just to smell the newly oiled oak furniture but, love it or hate it, it is certainly distinctive. 

Unless otherwise requested, our oak furniture is finished with oil to offer protection to the piece while retaining the natural character of the wood. This natural oiled finish and the oak itself can create an odour. The majority of wood finishes have an odour whether it be paints, lacquers, waxes or oil. 

The smell of any finish will lessen in time but if you really dislike the smell you could try putting the oiled furniture outside or into a well ventilated room after unpacking it, on most occasions this will help the smell to diminish. Remember to open any drawers or cupboard doors. If this does not reduce the smell and you still find it quite prominent you could use a damp but well wrung out lint free cloth to wipe down the surface. 

To maintain an oiled finish you should give your furniture the occasional coat of oil but use a light coat if you dislike the smell and again, leave the furniture outside to dry or in a well ventilated room.

Oak drop leaf dining table

This beautiful, made-to-order oiled oak dining table is making its way to a customer as I type!

The table displays all the individual characteristics and charm of any handmade oak furniture.

The knots, grain and colour variations make each table completely unique.

Our furniture is always delivered ready assembled which not only adds to the durability of the piece but also means that as soon as your table arrives you can serve dinner!

One year on...

This time last year there were some exciting changes happening here at AJB Interiors. 

We had outgrown our small workshop below the Skipton shop and had decided a move down the road to Bingley to a new, larger workshop was the way forward for our little business. 

We have had a wonderful year. Our customers have supported us through the changes and we have found new customers from up and down the country. 

In the new workshop we can concentrate on the production and design of our furniture while Mark, owner of the Skipton shop, is still stocking pieces of our handmade furniture and taking orders for bespoke items.

Direct orders for our made-to-order furniture have been rolling in from our website and ebay shop with some of our new customers sending lovely emails, leaving great reviews and recommending us to family or friends. This is what keeps small businesses like us going and we couldn't be more grateful for the custom and support we have received over the last 12 months.

This makes us equally excited about the year ahead.

We aim to take what we have learnt from this year and continue into the next delivering an increasing quality of service to our customers, old and new. We hope to carry on pushing AJB Interiors forward, to explore exciting new opportunities and to design and create some great new pieces.

Thank you to everyone for their continued custom and support. 

dear customer...

Thank you! 

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone that has taken the time to leave us feedback, online reviews or sent letters or emails to let us know that they are pleased with our furniture.

We're really proud of the reputation that we have developed over the past 15 years and the feedback we receive from our customers is really important to us. 

The furniture we sell through our ebay shop enables us to get some lovely comments from customers.

A selection of recent feedback left for us through ebay -

“Great quality handmade little table, just what I needed, thanks.” 22-Aug-12 

“Can't say enough thanks - excellent service tip top cheers :)” 17-Aug-12 

“Fantastic Item - made to measure, really pleased ********** Thank You” 16-Aug-12 

“Arrived very quickly, a lot quicker than we expected. Wonderful handmade items!” 15-Aug-12 

“A beautifully made table, carefully pack and dispatched very quickly. Thank you.” 15-Aug-12 

“Great service and quality. Thanks” 12-Aug-12 

“Perfect, thanks” 24-Jul-12 

“A reliable and trustworthy seller, Thanks Antony” 30-Jun-12 

“Very pleased with the tables. Arrived a week before the suggested delivery” 28-Jun-12 

“Fine classic design, well executed and nicely finished A+*****” 28-Jun-12