The Lockdown Collection

Created during the 2020 lockdown, this collection began with an opportunity to salvage furniture and materials from a local school destined for demolition. With our usual sources temporarily closed, we rescued everything we could — from solid beech gym flooring to old bookcases and laboratory furniture — with the intention of giving the materials an entirely new life.

Designed around the materials

Rather than disguising their history, we wanted the design to celebrate it.

The cabinet doors were made from reclaimed Junckers beech gym flooring, retaining the markings, variations in colour and patina developed through years of use. The carcasses were constructed from other timber salvaged from the school, including dismantled bookcases and laboratory furniture.

Taking inspiration from some of our favourite mid-century educational furniture, including pieces by Esavian, we introduced details such as exposed dovetail joints, bevelled edges and simple inset handles. The result is a contemporary piece that retains a quiet connection to the materials’ original setting.

Reclaimed by design

Almost every element of the collection was made from reclaimed material, with only essential hardware such as hinges and metal fittings sourced new.

The timber was carefully sanded and refinished with a hard-wearing oil, while retaining the marks, knocks and imperfections accumulated over decades of use. Rather than something to remove, these traces of the past are an integral part of each piece — ensuring no two are ever quite the same.

The Lockdown Collection represents an approach that remains central to Mustard Vintage: seeing the potential in what already exists and using thoughtful design and craftsmanship to give old materials a new purpose.