Pretoria workshop
Hi, I'm Alex.
I design every desk and I'm on the tools for it, in a small workshop in Pretoria — sometimes with a friend helping cut, weld or deliver when a job needs an extra pair of hands. When the site says "we," that's the workshop and everyone in it; Grain & Steel is still just me.
How it started
Why I put the price on the page.
Custom furniture usually starts with a week of back-and-forth before anyone will tell you what it costs. I got tired of that on both sides of the conversation, so I built a configurator that prices a desk the same way I price it on the bench — off the actual board, steel and paint your design uses, at what those cost me at the merchant that week.
There's no showroom markup and no guessing. You see the number change as you design, you get merchant slips for what was bought, and you only pay the rest once the desk is standing in your room.
What matters to me
The things I won't cut corners on.
Pricing transparency
The price you see while you design is built from real merchant costs, not a rounded-up guess. Nothing is added once you've committed.
Honest craftsmanship
Every weld, cut and finish is done by hand, one desk at a time. If something isn't right, I fix it — that's on me, not on you.
Trust, even from a distance
Most customers never see the workshop before their desk arrives. Photos and video are here so you don't have to take it on faith.
Ready to see a price?
The desk builder takes about two minutes and gives you a real number, built from today's material costs.
Build a desk →