A quick guide to G Plan Librenza furniture

urbn nest on what makes G Plan Librenza furniture so brilliant and why it's the range mid century lovers NEED to know about.

What is G Plan Librenza furniture?

G Plan Librenza is a mid-century British furniture range produced by E. Gomme in the late 1950s. E-Gomme is the company behind the famous G Plan Brand, and this range slightly predates the introduction of that brand, although most people still refer to it as G Plan Librenza. You can read more about G Plan furniture here.

A stunning, refurbished example of the G Plan Librenza range recently sold by urbn nest

Why haven't I heard of G Plan Librenza furniture?

You might not have heard of G Plan Librenza. It's not as well known as later G Plan ranges like Fresco. That's often because pieces on the market haven't been refurbished like ours are, and are often sun bleached or stained darker which hides their natural beauty. What lies underneath is always stunning.

G Plan Librenza design features

G Plan Librenza furniture is best known for its tola wood veneer, black ebonised frames, brass handles, and compact storage designs. The use of tola wood veneer was very popular towards the late 1950s and early 1960s, usually coupled with black ebonised frames and brass handles/caps. This was G Plan's version, a few years before teak became the mainstay. G Plan finished Librenza pieces off with solid mahogany drawers and trims to the edges for a high quality look.

The G Plan Librenza range perfectly captures the vibe of the late 1950s in the design world - lightweight, atomic styling, and bold tonal contrasts, with the added glamour of exotic woods and brass features. These pieces would have felt really futuristic at the time.

While the original designs are nearing 70 years old, the restored pieces look a lot younger, showing how they were ahead of their time with real design quality.

A G Plan Librenza set of drawers sold at our pitch at the Leeds Vintage Home Show event

You may come across (or own) pieces of G Plan Librenza furniture which look a little different in tone to this. The original finishes use often yellow and fade over time due to light exposure. Some finishes used also used darker stains rather than the natural golden red colours of the woods.

When refinished - as we do with all our G Plan Librenza pieces - we always bring out the natural wood tones, which exposes the stunning tonal contrasts between the tropical woods and the black frames, and brings out the best of the vibrant tola wood grain. We believe this is how they should look.

If you've got G Plan Librenza furniture which doesn't look as good as this, get in touch to see if we can work our magic!

What furniture was made in the G Plan Librenza range?

As usual for G Plan, a large range of different pieces made up the G Plan Librenza range, including dining sets, room dividers, coffee tables, sideboards, drawers, and bedroom furniture such as wardrobes, tallboys, dressing tables, headboards and bedside cabinets.

We’d recommend the High Wycombe furniture archive if you want to see details of the furniture G Plan sold as part of their Librenza range, as well as other G Plan and Ercol ranges. It's a great resource for sellers, restorers and customers.

We've stocked several of these over the years - they're always popular! It's worth keeping an eye out on our online shop and social media to see what Librenza pieces we have in.

The extending dining table from the G Plan Librenza range

What makes G Plan Librenza furniture so popular?

Our restored G Plan Librenza furniture always flies out. They are made extremely well, and look and feel high quality. There's a real glamour about them, with the exotic woods, golden tones and brass features. It really sets them apart other later mid century pieces. It's easy to see why so many of you are huge fans of the aesthetic.

Their pieces were often more compact than later G Plan furniture too, making them ideal for smaller spaces. Perfect for modern living.

Despite how attractive and practical the G Plan Librenza pieces are, urbn nest always sells them for reasonable prices. We want everyone to be able to access good design.

This G Plan Librenza dressing table and stool was fully refurbished and cost the customer less than £370 to click and collect

Does urbn nest buy G Plan Librenza furniture?

At urbn nest we buy all sorts of mid century furniture, including G Plan Librenza pieces. Please feel free to complete our online form here to tell us what you’re looking to rehome.

Where can I buy G Plan Librenza furniture?

urbn nest stocks several G Plan Librenza pieces each year, mainly through our online shop. Tap here to see our existing stock of G Plan furniture. 

Detail showing stunning Tola wood grain on this G Plan Librenza dining table

Where can I see more mid century furniture similar to G Plan Librenza?

urbn nest specialises in mid century furniture. Tap here to see our current range of pieces in our online shop. 

We also sell a lot of furniture direct to customers before they hit the website, via our whatsapp community. Tap here to join.