Tooth & Nail: Decking Out Your Space With Reclaimed Materials

Starting your own business is a costly venture. You can spend thousands of dollars on things like branding, stationery, a website, office supplies etc. And the list goes on! If you happen to be opening up a bricks and mortar shopfront, you’ve also got to think about the fit out. One really clever and creative way of keeping your costs to a minimum is by sourcing recycled or reclaimed materials for the space. (Plus, it looks pretty damn cool!) Our buddies over at Tooth & Nail have recently done exactly that. Kudos to you guys because the shop looks incredible!

We sat down with part owner Connor Keighran to get some DIY tips and tricks. He sheds some light on the inspiration behind the fit out and why the reclaimed route was perfect for the shop.

Congrats on opening up your shop! What are you most proud of so far?

So far I’d say we are most proud of how many people want to support us and tell us how beautiful the space looks. It’s been totally overwhelming.

Why did you decide to source recycled and reclaimed materials?

Besides the fact that it saved us a lot of cash by using scrap timber and recycled furniture, we like the look of reclaimed materials, things like old timber compared to new timber. We kind of wanted it looking like a shed or a workshop… I guess it worked!

Where did you find your materials?

Mostly on the street, bits and pieces we had collected over the last few years. My old man had collected loads of nice timber from Maitland up near Newcastle. Some of it being so old that it’s not even from the last century!

What is one of your favourite finds?

Probably our antique comb dispenser, although we didn’t find it ourselves. Our good friend and customer Tom Thorburn found it up near Byron bay in a small town antique shop and brought it back on his motorbike for us. We love it!

What was the biggest difficulty during the fit out process?