Toby of Upper Room Goods

Meet Toby. The Gold Coast local behind Upper Room Goods. We met Toby during his days of slaving over the coffee machine at the cafe next door to our store. Before long we realised his talent for making leather goods and just knew we wanted to create something with him. We are so proud of the Upper Room Goods x Kind Curations collection which you can find here. Read on below to learn a little more about Toby!

What's a typical day like for you?

Ah depends on the day. Around making coffee 4 days a week I like to get up early, brew up a bunch of coffee and read the bible, suss out the surf, go surfing (if not just fantasise about surfing/watch 60's surf clips), more coffee, tinker with my motorcycle or car(s), throw in a little (or a lot) of leather work. Man I'm always doing stuff, I can't be unoccupied. Couple of beers, spend some time with my beautiful wife, finish it off with a whisky and thats a pretty good day.

 

 

 

2. How did you get into making leather goods?

Man I spent so long looking for a good leather belt and wallet and I just couldn't find either, I probably didn't know where to look at the time. One of my mates was getting into leather work and I was fascinated. No one does that in Australia. Luckily for me he owed me a favour and ran me through the process of making a belt (which I still wear every day). Ive always had a thing for making or fixing stuff, so I dropped like 400 bucks on some tools and leather. The rest is history I guess.

3. How would you describe your personal style?

Just whatever everyone else is doing really.. haha nah stuff that
I'm probably just a product of my environment, bit of work, bit of skate and just whatever I'm feeling really.

4. Tell us a little about your creative process?

The creative process is mostly during product design. I start by throwing a few ideas together based on functionality and aesthetic, draw it out and determine dimensions, tweak the aesthetic and dimensions, it takes hours of thought and design before I even start to make something. Once I've made a prototype I either use it myself or sell it cheap to a friend/family so I can keep tabs on how functional it is and if it ages well. Before going into production I'll determine any design faults/shortcomings and redesign those elements. I'm always learning and trying to improve or add to my current techniques.

5. What's the best advice you've ever been given?

A job not done well is a job not worth doing.