Individual pieces of furniture designed and made in Cheshire England
Scroll down below to see a number of bespoke designs, mainly from oak but also some more "rustic" work using reclaimed wood, giving each piece a unique character and built to last.
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Cat and dog beds I made a number of years ago in both solid oak and hand painted pine. I made one size for cats and 2 sizes for dogs. The dog beds above have been dressed to show how they look with fitted pet cushions. This was my step daughters idea. I made her a king size oak bed and she wanted smaller versions so the cats could sleep in the bedroom with her. My cat has slept on her bed for the past 15 years so I think she likes it.
This is a solid oak planter I built for inside my entrance hall. It measures 1 metre x 1 metre and is extremely heavy. The planter was finished with multiple coats of Danish oil. A sub-frame was built approximately 10 inches down to secure an artificial Acer. A bit like the swan swimming gracefully on top of the water, you can't see whats below. I love the gnarled effect of the acer which I had specially commissioned. The number of people who come in thinking it's a real plant! We even put lights on it at Christmas!
A rustic pine bench seat I recently made, 180cm long and 42cm wide so will seat 3 or 4 people. This is a combination of pitch pine legs from some old wood I had at my barn and pine boards salvaged from an old mill. I love bringing new life into old pieces of wood that most people would just get rid of. The pine boards come complete with old nail holes giving it character. Once sanded it has been treated with wood preserver and then exterior wood oil. The colours in the pine are stunning. I'm really pleased with this old rustic bench. It looks great and with the middle leg support the bench is rock solid.
The images below show the same wood before it was cleaned up with the rotten wood cut out. The picture below right shows a second bench seat with the base framework constructed. This has been sanded but no wood preserver or exterior oil applied yet. Once coated the colours will transform. Now to clean up and put together the bench top. Yet more sanding!
The coffee pod holder I designed a couple of years ago has to be one of my favourite pieces I've made. I drink a lot of coffee (too much my wife says) and wanted access to multiple pods without taking up loads of space on the worktop. I'd seen designs in a straight line but the rotating design below works really well. Each face has 2 channels taking 6 pods in each. Thus I can have access to 48 coffee pods in a relatively small space on the worktop. This took quite a lot of work to make as the lip on the coffee pods is only about 2mm, so tight tolerances. As with all designs a bit of trial and error before the finished article.
Having said that when I come down in the morning I still can't resist twirling the holder before my first cup, and then my second cup and so on.
The oak tea light holder below is a simple design but effective. The main body is in a boat shape with oak dowel leg supports. I have left the metal inserts removable so any candle wax can be cleaned by taking each insert out of the main body. At night with the candles lit the boat appears to float, or is that the wine!
Below is an oak coaster set. The coasters are engineered oak and solid oak for the base with oak dowels as the supports.
The oak bench below is a basic design I saw on the internet which has just been slightly modified. This is a chunky bench made from 8" x 2" character kiln dried oak boards. Edges have been micro bevelled and oak mushroom plugs at the fixing points.
The bench is suprisingly comfortable with the angle of the seating position. I have a bench pad seat but to be honest you don't really need it.
Again being from solid oak this is a heavy piece of furniure. I have finished the oak for external use but I have put this in the entrance hall for now.
The barn I live in is full of the mini planters below. These are approximately 10" square and ideal for showing off house plants. We use these for Bonsai plants and climbing Jasmines. Most of the ones I've made are in solid oak but I also made one in painted softwood with oak insert panels. I even have one of these on my desk at work.
