TRANSFORMING the unwanted and unused into quirky household valuables is the name of the game for Whitehaven's Dust N Bones Creations.
Alan Roger has been re-purposing and crafting home decor since 2019, creating everything from lamps to garden bars, but the business was birthed from a love of music and cigar box guitars.
"We seen a band on our honeymoon in Memphis and the guitarist was using a cigar box guitar, my wife bought me one as a surprise and I was looking at that guitar one day and I just tried to make my own.
"And when lockdown happened, one of my mates asked if I could make a garden bar, and the business just took off from there really" he said.
With minimal carpentry experience behind him, Alan is certainly an artist in his own rustic right, managing to turn undesirable into treasure and bespoke furniture adding personalised character to homes across the country from his spot in the Sneakyeat Industrial Estate.
"There's a blues duo called When Rivers Meet and they asked me during lockdown if I'd make a cigar box guitar and now the guitarist uses it - it's been on two of there EP's and now there's even a lyric that says Dust N Bones in one of their songs, I thought that was quite cool", he said.
Whilst cigar box guitars are available elsewhere, Alan prides the business on a personalised uniqueness.
"You can go on Ebay and buy one, but with me, I like to try and personalise them for people, for the guitars, I'll write people's names up the neck or favourite lyrics and tailored towards whoever's buying it," he said.
What Alan does however, he does for his family, his son Axel and wife Joni.
"I would like it to grow as a business, but in my head, you work to live, you don't live to work, having the business opens up the door for more family time as well as a comfortable life.
"I don't know what my next big thing is going to be, but there's always something going on in the back of the mind," he said.
To find out more about Alan's many one of a kind creations, visit the DustNBones Facebook page.
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