Duncan Meerding Design

.... It does not feel like it, but it was close to this time last year that we were setting up a Light Forest installation outside the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for the Beaker Street festival hub. Check out their site for the 2024 program, they do some great stuff. Of the different Trunk lgiths on show in these photos, which is your favourite? The 1.2, 1.6 or 2.0 metre long variant? Each one of these light sentinals have some pretty interesting and unique characteristics.

The Cracked Log Wall sconce, gets the original concept of the Cracked Log Lamp, and turns it into a great accent light, either for upwards directional lighti8ng or downwards, with an intergrated bracket which allows for both. The crack light fissures emanate warm light reminding us of the fiery fate in which the salvaged material was spared. Made in Tasmania from salvaged logs.

Photos by Mauricio Sebik and Jan Dallas

Mini cabinet. 230mm x 300mm x 400mm. This is made from Tasmanian oak and sheoak. Showing you the range of size furniture that we make…big shelving to mini cabinets. Photo by Jan Dallas.

Just installed this mammoth of a shelf with a client and friend. 2400 x 850 mm x 450mm. This shelf will soon house some record vinyl, look forward to seeing it filled.

For those in Southern Tasmania, tomorrow [Thursday June 20] my father and I will be interviewed live at 740am with ABC Hobart local radio.

Special guest Mike helping to get this beautiful shelf completed. Coat of finish really makes the grain sing!

Nearing the end of day two of come along and have a look on Saturday. Open to the public 10am to 5pm 😍

Setup done, ready for first day at Design Show Australia. Special thanks to John and OMC Dan, come check it out 🤩

Using almost all of my sash clamps!! This glue up was slightly hectic. We are making some shelves to house a clients record collection, 2.4 metres high, by 450 mm deep by 850mm wide, made from Tasmanian Eucalypt. Something like this has the illusion of simplicity, but this has definitely thrown some challenges into the mix.

Come to next week. Thursday 13 and Friday 14 June trade only. Saturday 15 June open to public. Rare opportunity to see some of the new variations of the propellor pendant light, like we have pictured here. Photos by .carrasco.m

Joining Tasmanian eucalypt boards. Making shelving for a record collection. Getting a good workout moving these lengths around the workshop. Special thanks to Stuart who helped me get these thickness sanded today.

First launched back in 2019 at the trade exposition at the Milan Design Week, the Propeller Blossom 800 was the first larger variant to be developed since the original Propeller open variant. The 800 mm diameter light shade commands presence and creates a unique centrepiece for a space through the floral inspired Propeller form. We have finished off one of these recently for a client on the mainland and look forward to seeing it installed as a feature piece in their stairwell. In the mean-time, here is Amber doing some of the final touches, allowing for final assembly.

Glad to be able to announce that will be exhibiting at . Come and check out a few of our lights on display, we will be at stand space 112 at the Sydney International Convention Centre from Thursday 13 June to Saturday June 15.

Horizontal Linear Light
‘Floating Branch Linear Downlight’

‘Horizontal Scrub’, Anodopetalum biglandulosum, is a species of timber endemic to Tasmania. The common name comes from the way the tree starts to grow vertically, then, due to its own weight, falls over and grows horizontally in the understory of the forest. The timber used for these lights is salvaged and is very dense with bark that clings to it indefinitely, leaving unique characteristics such as lichen and marks left by moss to become central features of each light.
When in the wild, Horizontal Scrub often grows together in a mesh on the forest floor to create platforms. Whilst bushwalking, it is easy to walk over them, thinking they are the ground, and suddenly find yourself several feet in the air.
As we use only salvaged Horizontal Scrub, the lights we make are limited by the availability of different lengths, but with new tooling we are able to make longer models than the original one metre version.
Before the light is turned on, an observer may think that the luminaire is a pure, solid piece of this beautiful timber hovering in mid-air, but once it is turned on the light bursts from underneath, creating a magical glow in which to work. Hand-Made in Tasmania, Australia.
Photos by and

We’ve been packing up stumps most of the day, here are some photos of one we particularly like. The bug art and fiddle back combined with the overall look of this stump highlights the beauty of a something that is a salvaged material. What is your favourite bit?
This one still available, drop us a line if your interested.

As a small business owner, I am lucky enough to be surrounded by people who support me in different ways, both practically and morally. In truth, it is a rare business owner who operates as an island.
The Duncan Meerding lighting and furniture brand has been running since early 2010, and since the very beginning, my father Mike has been an amazing help with different tasks. He is a semi-retired electrical engineer, timber worker and fixer of things in general.
Here he is with one of the lily lamps. These lamps feature a range of quite technical hand making processes. Mike has wired up almost all of these over the last 14 years, coaxing the small wires through the internals of the hand carved stem and tuning bits for the final assemble.
Mike has been super helpful with these and a myriad of other things, be it fixing broken tools, helping with the sharpening of chisels and planes, or wiring up some of these fiddly bits. He was integral to rapid prototyping some of the lights which went to Milan in 2019.
Finding the right words to express my thanks for this is harder than I thought. Needless to say… eternal gratitude to a very helpful Dad.
PS Happy Birthday Dad xx

Although I can’t see this too well, I thought I’d gloat about living in Tasmania anyway. Apparently this looks pretty awesome…taken from the top of my driveway last night. We had a little neighbourhood party to celebrate the Aurora visible over Hobart. Open invitation for commenting a description for Vision Impaired people like myself. And if you feel really inspired to, drop me an email of your favourite Aurora photo so I can blow it up on my big screen.

One from the (recent) archives. Cracked Branch Light (2020). This one was a special speculation piece we did. What part of this piece is your favourite? I personally can not quite put my finger on it, something about the specific piece of wood we used, the form and the lichen growing on it would be up there. Photos by .

Whimsical and timeless. These lily lamps were wired up today. They look amazing in the workshop…Imagine how nice they’d be in your home!

One of these is going to a special customer. The other one is still available (and in a different shade timber to usual). Get in contact if you’re looking for a very special and unique gift for yourself or a friend.

Get up close with the details of the Trunk Light, on display as a finalist in the as part of the . Open today and Monday. Photo by Corie wright.

Come and check out this 1.2 metre high Trunk Light, which is on display in the Finalists exhibition of the . The exhibition is on display as part of the from 4 to 6 May. Congratulations to all the finalists and the winners. image courtesy of competition organiser

Friday night lights. We may not have a showroom, but we can hang lights for display amongst the tools for interested parties. Great to meet some new clients tonight and show them the workshop and these brushed and polished copper/timber propellors.

I made this. I made Eli finish sanding it…LOL

Lily lamp base and stems. Timber work nearing completion. I’ve been enjoying using some interesting carving and shaping tools while making these.

Went to Mt Field the other day, and amongst some colourful things I also checked out some cool tall trees, some 70 metres and above. Nature has a way of resetting us, relaxing and humbling us

The moment that the grain really sings! Eli putting the finishing coats on this dovetail project.

Lily lamp stem carving. Making a few of these, after a long time family friend commissioned one for their daughter’s 40th birthday. I enjoy hand tool work, the almost cathartic process starting with raw material and shaping it into the rounded form. Here is a stem partway through the carving process…With some of the various tools used throughout…this process is all the more special thinking about the friend who commissioned it and the friend it is going to.