Four Hands Furniture

We got an inside look at the Four Hands furniture showroom at AmericasMart, courtesy of Kathi Cunningham. Four Hands, an eco friendly furniture manufacturer operating out of India and China, specializes in high quality lifestyle furniture similar to what you might find in Bloomingdales and Crate & Barrel.

History of Four Hands Furniture

Four Hands furniture started out as Brett Hatton graduated from university and decided to take a year traveling abroad with his girlfriend. Deciding to follow a route along the silk road, Brett met many interesting people and was inspired by many of the cultures he experienced. One day, when visiting with a Pakistani family, the two happened upon a barn that was filled with various antiques, doors, and heirloom furniture. His current aspiration, photography, led him to inquire about the furniture. He continued along his journey, and experienced much of the middle-east and India while taking pictures. These experiences would ultimately lead to the foundation of Four Hands furniture.

Returning to London, Brett wasted no time in creating a photography studio to showcase his work over the last year. Unfortunately, it was not as commercially successful as he would have hoped. Drawing inspiration from the Pakistani family he met years prior, he decided to create Four Hands Furniture. He asked the family if he could purchase the furniture in their barn and take it back to England with them. They agreed, and Brett and his wife refinished each piece of furniture with their own four hands, giving the company its unique name.

Four Hands Furniture Today

Today, Four Hands furniture still specializes in lifestyle furniture. Less concerned with matching sets and design genres, lifestyle furniture is unique, timeless, and avant garde. While you may find a Tuscan wine cabinet with a worn appearance in one vignette, it may be beautifully blended with other unique elements, including antique Indian cabinets and aluminum handicrafts. This signature style keeps Four Hands furniture in demand across America.

The free-flowing form created by Four Hands furniture has an interesting effect. Each piece of furniture feels rich in story and heritage, which has more truth than you might suspect.

Four Hands: Furniture with a Story

The use of mango wood is one of the defining attributes of Four Hands furniture that make it stand apart in the showroom. Mango, the most commonly grown tropical fruit in the world, enjoys over 50% of its total production in the country of India. This tree grows to massive sizes, with trunk girths approaching 13ft! What you may not know, is that the mango cultivar in India stops producing fruit once it has fully matured. This oddity creates a unique opportunity for Four Hands furniture.

Mango trees across India are cut down and burned in the field every 10 to 20 years when they cease to produce fruit. This phenomenal waste of hardwood gave Four Hands furniture an opportunity to transform a squandered natural resource into a long-lasting, unique, and interesting furniture.

The sweet smell of fresh cut mango wood, rosewood, and elm are all fringe benefits of creating Four Hands furniture. The Kathi told Furniture Decorating that the founder still frequents the factories that create the amazing furniture in the Four Hands showroom.

Beyond the handsome natural wood furniture, Four Hands furniture also offers many pieces of accent furniture and home accessories made from recycled aluminium. Taking only a tenth of the energy required to forge new aluminum, these decorative accents continue Four Hands furniture's commitment to eco-friendly furniture.

Learn more about Four Hands furniture in our new Furniture Decorating Videos section!