Design & Consultancy
It can be daunting process to commission bespoke furniture, but we do our best to guide you through it all, keep it interesting and help you whenever we can. Every project is a collaboration between us and I welcome clients being involved in the creative process. After looking through the website, the next step is for you to contact us and arrange a visit the workshop if possible. There you can see examples of our furniture and you can determine whether my work includes some of the design elements you have in mind.
It will be useful if you can bring some sort of sketch, or rough idea of what you have in mind. I can advise you on possible design ideas and show you timber samples and different types of finishes and fittings.
After that, I could visit you at home, or wherever the project is to be based, to take accurate measurements and discuss the design possibilities further. At this point we will be able to judge whether the original ideas are going to work and other design possibilities will become apparent.
Give me a week or so and I will mail you an Estimate, or possibly visit you again if it's a bit complicated. You can then decide whether you want to proceed with the commission, or you might have a few questions. Once the estimate is agreed, I then go on to produce full design drawings with a fixed price and visit you again to explain it all. Sometimes this leads to a few design changes, or everything might be just right.
For more details about payments, etc., please have a look at the Prices page
For more details about the design and commissioning process, please read through the rest of this page. If you have any questions, please go to the Contact Us page.
Design principles
We recently visited a house in Symonds Yat where I had made a kitchen in 1988 for one of the previous owners. The kitchen had been extensively remodelled and moved into an extension by the latest owner, but they had decided to reincorporate part of the original kitchen into the extension and even recycled a leaded glass wall cabinet as a display cabinet in their lounge. Hopefully the kitchen will live on for another 20 years!
Click the picture on the right to see the full Before and After pictures
We like to work closely with clients to make sure that the furniture is designed and made to look beautiful, be practical, meet their need and blend in with their home. We are very pleased that some of our clients ask us back over the years, gradually filling their homes with fine furniture.
Everything is designed for a timeless, traditional yet contemporary look that should not date. Everything is hand made with a very high build quality, to last at least 20 years. With a little care & attention it will last far longer, hopefully be the last kitchen/bedroom/table, etc. you will ever need and may even become a future antique!
Service
In 2009 we visited a house where we had made a fitted wardrobe in 1984. The bedroom ceiling had been replaced so we had to make a new cornice at the top of the wardrobe. While we were there, we retouched the finish where it had been a damaged and splashed by the building work and adjusted a couple of the doors, so that the wardrobe was as good as new.
We will always be available to help if your furniture suffers any damage, or if you want to modify or move it at
any time in the future.
Appliances, from budget to the best, can all be supplied. Electrical and plumbing services, etc., can also be supplied by associates, if necessary, so that I can co-ordinate their services to keep the fitting work running smoothly without interruption. Alternatively, you can provide these services yourself.
Timber takes a while to adjust to new surroundings, so we provide a free “after sales service” for local clients, whereby we visit a few months after installation to check that everything is still fitting perfectly.
Influences
Probably our greatest influence is the simplicity of the “Arts & Crafts” style of furniture associated with William Morris and Rennie Macintosh. We do'nt like to copy, but we are inspired by that movement in that we try to create clean, honest, functional designs made to a very high level of craftsmanship.
Our style is traditional as well as contemporary and we are also inspired by the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods, as well as the best modern design ideas.
Lighting
Good lighting can have a dramatic effect on any room. Halogen ceiling lights and cabinet lighting can create interesting shadows that add atmosphere and mood, as well as giving extra light where it is needed.
We can advise you the positioning of the lighting and when to use dimmers for good effect .
New LED lights in various colours and sizes offer even more creative possibilities.