Fifteen years of bringing native timber back to life

Native Grain Co. started with a simple frustration: beautiful, solid rimu and swamp kauri furniture, the kind that used to cost thousands from Auckland showrooms, was ending up discarded or forgotten simply because a finish had dulled or a hinge had worn out.

A lot of what we restore is found the old-fashioned way: going to open homes, estate clearances, and downsizing sales all over Auckland. Solid native timber falls out of fashion every few years, and when it does, it's often the first thing to go, sold off cheap, given away, or passed over entirely in favour of whatever's trending in the flat-pack stores. We turn up, spot the rimu and kauri hiding under the dust and the dated fabric, and buy it before it ends up on the kerb or in landfill.

For over fifteen years we've sourced these pieces, stripped them back, repaired every joint, and refinished them by hand until they look and feel brand new. The timber itself was never the problem, native rimu and swamp kauri only get more beautiful with age. It just needed someone willing to put the work in.

Today we pass every restored piece on at a fraction of its original retail value: no showroom overhead, no middleman, just the work and the timber speaking for itself.

That same respect for native timber is why every piece we sell today plants a new one. Rimu, kauri, and their relatives take centuries to grow, so restoring old furniture keeps that timber in use for decades longer, and for every piece sold we plant one native tree through our native tree planting initiative, in a species you choose.