I’m Annie Smart, a carpenter with more than 18 years’ experience in carpentry, framing, and furniture and product design.

Working with wood, and seeing it transformed, makes me happy. I love the textures, the smell, and the fact that wood is a natural product. I particularly enjoy the grain of solid woods such as oak.

Since setting up Smart About Wood in 2008, I’ve worked on a wide range of carpentry jobs in Brighton, Hove and Sussex. I have a large and varied client base, including many female and LGBTQ clients. My clients consistently rate me highly and recommend me through word of mouth.

I really enjoy the variety of my work. One week, I might be building a bespoke wardrobe in a quaint Victorian cottage in Hanover. The next, I might be working on alcove shelving in a palatial Edwardian house in Hove. I specialise in bespoke storage solutions but also build bespoke furniture and work on kitchens, flooring and decking.

Brighton based

After studying Furniture and Product Design at Nottingham Trent University, I worked in the stained glass industry. I then moved to London to study carpentry and complete a carpentry apprenticeship with a major public sector contractor in south-east London. I also volunteered for the charity Habitat for Humanity, and spent three months with them in Sri Lanka, helping to rebuild homes for people affected by the tsunami.

I moved to Brighton in 2007 and love living here. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, learning photography, and framing pictures in my little workshop.

I’m also proud to be part of a Brighton-based network of female decorators, plasterers, tilers, plumbers and other tradespeople who support each other as lone workers and on larger jobs.