Kitengela Glass is an employee-owned Kenyan glass studio making hand-blown glass from recycled, solar-annealed material, producing chandeliers, garden fencing, art, furniture and beads, with worldwide shipping.
Best for Hand blown recycled glass and chandeliers
At Monta Designs sells office desks, chairs, workstations and conference tables, including executive and manager's desks, leather and fabric chairs and beech wood workstations, from 07 Mpaka Road next to Eye Style. Most products are priced on request rather than listed.
BrookWood Furniture, based in Nairobi's Industrial Area since 2010, makes custom bedroom, living room, dining and office furniture using sustainably sourced hardwoods and eco-friendly finishes. The company states it has served more than 500 clients and offers free delivery within Nairobi.
Classic Decor, established in 2000 and showroomed on the 1st floor of Apic Centre, Muthithi Road, Westlands, sells bespoke curtains, sheers and handcrafted furniture made by artisans in Kenya for homes, lodges and hotels across East Africa.
Best for Bespoke curtains and handcrafted furniture
Decor Interiors, operating from Nairobi workshops since 2010, makes chairs, sofas, tables, lamps, stools and planters from plant-based sisal fibre sourced from agave grown in rural Kenya. The company sources sisal from over one hundred women across three communities and states it has completed more than four hundred fit-outs since 2010.
Dotwood Designs, at #74 Enterprise Road in Nairobi's Industrial Area, makes bespoke furniture, kitchens, wardrobes and office furniture using in-house CNC router wood cutting, and operates the Nueva Concept furniture brand. It has completed joinery for developments including Purple Haze Apartments (216 units), Mivida Garden City and Sankara Hotel.
Ecowood Creations, a Nairobi timber merchant and woodworking studio, crafts cutting boards, pizza boards, furniture and raw timber from rescued hardwood species including mahogany and mvule. Cutting boards are priced from KSh3,999 to KSh9,999, and the business delivers across Kenya.
House of Treasures Emporium, at No 70 Dagoretti Road opposite The Hub in Karen, Nairobi, stocks furniture, home decor, mirrors, lighting, bed linen, carpets, glassware, artificial flowers, fabric and Africana artefacts, and also houses the Tin Roof Cafe and a beauty salon.
Impala Furniture and Fittings sells living room, bedroom, dining and kitchen furniture including solid wood beds such as the Denver Solid Wood Arched Panel Bed and iron shelving, from a display shop in Ngong Town and a main workshop. Prices range from about KSh14,000 for shelves to KSh105,000 for beds.
Best for Solid wood beds and living room furniture
Kifaru Creations, at Vishva Business Park ICD in Nairobi, provides custom woodworking and interior design including cabinets, wardrobes and furniture, working with wood, MDF and particle board using panel saws, CNC routers and edge banding machines.
Maison Sawa, founded in Nairobi, sells hand-woven baskets, dining pieces, lighting and hand-carved masks made 100% by hand in Kenya, with signature pieces priced from $6 for a brass napkin ring to $85 for the Tembo Basket Orange. It ships worldwide and accepts PayPal and Tabby split-pay.
Studio Propolis, founded in Nairobi in 2005 by architects Naeem Biviji and Bethan Rayner, designs and builds furniture and custom joinery from locally available materials, spending its first 15 years based in Kenya before adding a base in North-West England. A small selection of pieces is sold through its online shop alongside custom commissions.
Tira Studio makes handmade, made-to-order solid mango wood furniture including beds, dining tables and storage units from workshops on Ngong Road, Redhill Road and Mugoiri Road in Maragua, and states it has specialized in bespoke wooden furniture for the last 7 years. It also runs sub-brands Greencuts, Bedzzz Co and Afterlife for offcuts and refurbished pieces.
Workshop Nairobi, at Racecourse on Ngong Road, sells mid-century modern furniture including coffee and dining tables, sofas, armchairs and lighting, made from hardwoods dried and shaped in-house with Kitenge and mud cloth fabric accents. Prices range from KSh3,500 for a chopping board to KSh38,000 for a console table, open Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm.
Jua Range sells furniture, art, lighting and candles made with timber, live-edge wood and Kenyan fragrance ingredients, led by designer and creative director Chris Canaan. It has three Mombasa stores - Bamburi, Nyali and the Promenade Mall - and a live-edge table console is priced at KSH34,900.
Boatbuilders in Lamu construct dhows from reclaimed plastic and flip-flops, work that produced the Flipflopi Ndogo, billed as the world's first sailing dhow built entirely from recycled plastic. The same workshop's artisans carve furniture from the salvaged material, including a Swahili-style throne made for King Charles, and sell finished pieces through their Flipflopi Designs line.
Best for Recycled-plastic dhows and Swahili-style carved furniture