Neil McKinlay, cabinetmaker

9 March, 2016

As far back as I can remember we lived in a house under construction. It’s a tradition I seem to have carried on. I’ve always had access to tools – I could hammer in dead a four-inch nail when I was three. The design side came later. I got really involved in architectural proportions while renovating period homes. I’m not sure if anyone else really notices them, but I do, and it makes a difference to get your proportions on the details right. When I’m designing and making a piece of furniture, I just do what I like and hopefully other people will like it too. Anything with wood, metal and bright colours is always the way I seem to go. I found the best way to learn was to do it, make mistakes and keep on moving. So the university of life has been my schooling for the most part. I was born in Glasgow and lived there for a while, then we lived in a caravan at Loch Lomond. From there we moved to Lochgoilhead, then eventually back to Glasgow for a bit. Once I grew up and had my own family, we decided to move back to Lochgoilhead. I had good memories of growing up in the wilderness and it was always home to me. It was a good decision. We moved in between our sons Taylor and Caleb being born. I commuted to jobs all over and built up a small business. It eventually took its toll, though, and I’d had enough of the routine and stress. Something had to change, so we did a bit of travelling/working.