Robert Stephenson founded Sedilia in 1998, as a bespoke furniture-design and -making business that cut through the popular pre-fab trends of the time to focus on purity and quality. With over 20 years experience working on commissions for some of the best interior designers out there, Sedilia continue to celebrate the elegance of the essential by blending timeless design and innovation with edge, ease, balance and proportion.

Sedilia launched their own collection of furniture in 2019, which includes the ‘curvaceous croissant of indulgence’ – the Roll Top Chair, and the Sennen Sectional, which is designed to be a striking centrepiece. All of Sedilia’s designs take comfort as seriously as style, and combine a traditional approach with modern making methods to ensure long lasting results.

@sedilia_london

This small furniture design company was set up in 2008. Finch’s team of specialist crafts and trades people work closely with architects, interior designers and builders to create the perfect kitchen, wardrobe or freestanding furniture piece for their client’s space. The unique requirements of each project are taken into consideration, and matched with the design and skills required to deliver a bespoke result. A concern for environmental impact runs alongside Finch’s work, so carbon footprint, sustainability and waste are always taken into account too.

@finchlondon

The Nottingham-based Mac Collins is an emerging British artist and designer, who recently won the 2021 London Design Festival Emerging Design Medal. Since graduating in Three-Dimensional Design from Northumbria University, Newcastle, in 2018, Mac has worked on a number of furniture pieces and objects, which draw on his Jamaican heritage for their inspiration. With an aesthetic and a narrative that reverberates, Mac’s creations are often cited as artefacts for their cultural relevance and considered quality.

@maccollins__

The AU was founded by UK-based interior stylist, Anna Unwin, as a curated resource of beautiful, one-off interior objects, lighting, textiles and furniture. The collection includes antique, mid-century and vintage items, each chosen due to their distinct design or idiosyncrasy. Some pieces are rare, some totally unique, and most are handcrafted using age-old skills that have passed through generations. All are sustainably sourced, balancing ethical and environmental considerations with Anna’s refined aesthetic.

As an interior stylist, Anna has worked for Aucoot Design Directory favourites Bauwerk Colour and House of Grey.

@anna.unwin

Having honed his distinct style through his studies at Central Saint Martins and the Royal Collage of Art, Lewis Kemmenoe now designs furniture and functional objects from his West London-based studio. Lewis’ work imbues a sense of playfulness, which often combines simple geometric shapes in complex ways to create elegant and refined home furnishings. Pattern and grain are celebrated through the considered use of a range of woods, and contrasts are created with colour, concrete and formica to give Lewis’ work a modern, utilitarian edge.

@lewiskemmenoe

Greg Cox is a furniture maker based in East London. Having trained as an artist to gain an MA in Fine Art with a sculpture specialism, Greg went on to combine his creative intuition with his work history in set building to design and make bespoke fitted furniture, wardrobes and kitchens. Greg works through a three-phase process; design, production and installation. And, all of his work is produced in his Leyton workshop, minimising disruption on site. He finishes each project with high-end Blum hardware and integrated door-activated LED lighting.

@madebygregcox

Led by Creative Director, Angus Buchanan, and Managing Director, Charlotte Buchanan, Buchanan Studio creates distinct, considered spaces for both the commercial and residential sectors. Angus’ extensive work history with luxury global brands combines with Charlotte’s experience in corporate partnership branding to imbue all the studio’s work with an unrivalled sense of artistry and focus. Buchanan Studio is built around three key pillars – creativity, imagination and originality – and brings authentic enthusiasm and conceptual innovation to each undertaking. In 2001, the studio stepped into the product market, with the launch of their much-admired Studio Chair. More product is in the pipeline.

@buchanan.studio

Founded in 2003 by industrial designer, Jack Trench, the eponymous company has maintained its original ethos of delivering bespoke kitchens and furniture with an emphasis on timeless design and attention to detail. Joined by Edd Thurston in 2008, who played a crucial role in steering the growth and design direction of Jack Trench, and became co-director in 2014. The growing team of cabinet-makers, fitters, designers and studio staff are based in its Tottenham Hale factory and studio, with a Clerkenwell showroom where they welcome visits by appointment, allowing customers to get a close look at the quality of design and build. Using highly detailed CAD software, more commonly used for mechanical engineering, allows the team to design to a particular level of technical detail. As Corian-accredited fabricators, they are able to develop the use of this countertop material in numerous joinery applications.

Jack Trench projects have gained extensive coverage in top design publications, notably World of Interiors, House & Garden, Elle Decoration and Architectural Digest.

@jack_trench_ltd

Founded in 1989 by Loughborough University design graduates, Philip DeVries and Paul O’Leary, deVOL has grown to become a renowned design-led manufacturer of bespoke kitchens, interiors and bathrooms. The headquarters at Cotes Mill, a 16^th century water mill in Leicestershire, is where every piece is designed and made, with woodworkers, ceramicists and metalworkers all based at the historic site. Known for the quality of their craftsmanship, impeccable design and compelling imagery, deVOL are a benchmark of British kitchen design. With two London showrooms – St John’s Square and Tysoe Street – and their first US showroom on Bond Street, Manhattan opening in 2019, the deVOL brand is developing far beyond kitchens to become a fully-fledged design house.

@devolkitchens

@devolceramics

@devolmetalstudio

Bibbings & Hensby is the workshop established by London-based furniture makers, Jack Bibbings and Matthew Hensby. Making contemporary wooden furniture with a focus on functional craftsmanship, the pair build on vernacular traditions with their designs.

Using hand tools and solid wood construction, Bibbings & Hensby combine traditional craft with modern design, making work that feels grounded and relevant. The use of hand tools ensures a connection to the craft and instils an individuality and soul into each item. Sustainability is a fundamental objective; the company is continually assessing each element of their process with this in mind, from using locally sourced timber to natural glues and finishes.

@bibbingsandhensby

Danish design brand, NORR11, craft pieces from natural and textural materials such as oak, ash, leather and rattan in a neutral colour palette to create their sophisticated and sculptural designs.

The Copenhagen-based design team draw inspiration from nature and Asian aesthetics, both of which heavily influence the brand’s furniture and lighting design. A commitment to sustainability means materials are responsibly sourced and a zero-waste policy is strived for in production. The pieces are built to last; the company’s goal is for them to be passed down through generations, becoming the design classics of tomorrow. Functionality, comfort and longevity are at the core of NOR11’s design sensibility, bringing personality and timelessness to modern interiors. 

@norr11

Tom Raffield founded his eponymous company in 2008, just after completing his degree in 3D Sustainability & Design. Having discovered the traditional, age-old technique of steam bending wood over his studies, he was determined and eager to put it to use, creating intricate curves and pleasing twists that mimic the organic shapes found in nature – Tom’s primary source of inspiration.

Today, Tom Raffield Ltd’s team of designers and craftsmen hand make lighting, furniture, accessories and spaces, all from the company’s Cornwall base. The remastering of this ancient craft for modern times leads to low levels of wastage, and negates the need for toxic glues. And, a deep understanding of both material and process means that the studio’s attitude to creativity is both broad and exciting.

Sustainability provides a further, central tenet for Tom Raffield Ltd, as their ethos sees it as integral to good design. Pieces are built to last and to be used through generations, and the efficiency of the steam-bending process means less waste is produced and less energy is used. The company recently became members of the WWF 2030 Circle to support the Trillion Trees programme.

@tomraffield

WoodEdit was founded by husband and wife team, Paul and Maria Le Mesurier, to create timeless, hand-crafted wooden furniture for the home that’s built to last. Based in the bucolic South Downs in West Sussex, each piece is hand-made to order by Paul in his workshop. Creative Direction is headed up by Maria, who designs and styles the furniture, allowing the pleasing simplicity of the items to shine through. WoodEdit have built their business around a deep-rooted respect for nature, simplicity and authenticity. Each piece can be crafted from carefully considered selection of responsibly sourced wood types – ash, walnut or oak – and can be created to a bespoke size to suit any home.

@woodedituk

With over 30 years of experience sourcing and selling antiques, Goldsmiths alumnus Christopher Howe went on to launch his own handmade furniture and lighting brand, Made by HOWE, which coincided with the opening of his second showroom on London’s Pimlico Road in 1995. With creations based on his favourite historical designs, customers can commission pieces ranging from sofas, fireplaces, tables and chairs; tailoring size, fabric and details to suit their taste. Each piece is made in Britain, with meticulous attention paid to the choice of timber and the traditional methods used to make each item. So much so, that HOWE London has furnished works for some of Britain’s most trusted institutions, including Hampton Court Palace, Strawberry Hill House, The National Gallery and Sir John Soane’s Museum.

In 2004, Howe became the first person to have a single owner sale, Christopher Howe: The First Twenty Years, at Christie’s in South Kensington. This sale included items of furniture from the 18th-20th century, plus a selection of bespoke pieces from the HOWE London collection.

@howelondon

Simon and Monica Cass make up the design partnership behind par-avion co. Their experience in furniture making and architecture create the foundations for their designs, and their practice is based around an ethos that holds good quality and affordability at its heart. Their pieces are timeless in style, and built to outlive fashions and fads – they are creations to keep for lifetimes.

par-avion co. combine traditional crafts with contemporary design and utilise a host of skills, including furniture making, wood turning, basket making, seat weaving, wood carving and pottery. Their dedication to preserving the environment ensures that all the materials they use are natural and renewable, with their makers in each region selected for both their quality of work and their environmental impact.

@par_avion_co

Sebastian Cox is a furniture designer, maker and environmentalist based in South London. Founded in 2010, his design studio holds an acute dedication to sustainability at its heart, elevating carbon counting, forward thinking and zero waste as the principal components in all they do.

Sebastian Cox harvests and mills his own British timber, respectfully updating traditional techniques with innovation and technology to create beautiful heirloom furniture, lighting and home accessories. The studio has a clear mission: to store 100 tonnes of CO2 in the wooden objects they make each year; and to double the area of woodland and wild land in the UK by 2040 through the careful management of their woodland resources in Kent.

Sebastian’s appreciation for woodland began from an early age; he grew up surrounded by it and his parents restored timber-framed buildings for a living. With his upbringing as a foundation, he went on to study Furniture Design and Craftsmanship, followed by a Masters Degree in Design, at Lincoln University. It’s here that he developed an instinct for abundant and overlooked materials.

Sebastian has been labelled as one of the most influential designers in London by the London Evening Standard and listed amongst Forbes’ 30 under 30 to watch. His work has received a Design Guild Mark alongside other accolades from design publications including Elle Decoration, Homes & Gardens and EKKB.

@sebastiancoxltd

Founded by Alfred Newall, the London and Sussex-based cabinet makers The London Workshop specialise in designing and making historically inspired furniture using traditional joinery methods, with particular attention paid to proportion, functionality and longevity.

After training at the Building Crafts College, Newell took up a post at hallowed kitchen makers Plain English for two years, where he finessed his alchemic talent for transforming blocks of wood into beautiful pieces of furniture. He then set up his own practice in 2010 and continues to design bespoke, freestanding and fitted furniture for both private and commercial clients, using sustainably sourced materials. Last year saw him launch his first collection with The New Craftsmen – a selection of colourful tables in signature bobbin style, each one hand-turned on a traditional wood lathe. Other, simple items – such as bath racks, chopping boards and library steps – are stocked at Labour and Wait and LASSCO. Newall, a Brother of The Art Workers’ Guild, credits most of his inspiration to the Arts and Craft movement, and aims to replicate the simple, vernacular style with his own designs.

@alfrednewall

Founded by James Alder and Thom Brisco, this London-based architecture practice works across the UK, designing spaces to live and work, as well as exhibition spaces and furniture. Alder Brisco has had its projects featured in Dezeen, Architects’ Journal and the RIBA Journal.

Their innovative ‘attic of warm wooden curiosities’ for Studio Represent was shortlisted for the Architects’ Journal’s Small Projects Award, and Alder Brisco’s four cast benches – a collaborative work at Rectory Lane Cemetery in Hertfordshire – have been shortlisted for RIBA Journal’s 2021 MacEwen Award, which celebrates ‘architecture for the common good’.

Alder Brisco was recently included in the fourth edition of New Architects – an influential series of publications that features the best British practices that have been established in the last 10 years, which work across architecture, urban design, public space and related specialisms.

Image credits: Studio Represent by Agnese Sanvito (1-4); Studio Nencini by Nick Dearden (4-6 & cover)

@alderbriscoarc

London-based workshop Woodsmith build and install beautiful bespoke kitchens and fitted furniture using sustainably sourced materials and high quality fixtures and fittings. Established by Duncan Crockford, the company are committed to the responsible use and management of wood resources, and support the World Land Trust by planting a tree for every completed project.

Woodsmith designs are pleasingly functional, responsive to the spaces they occupy and the usage needs of the client. Each is totally bespoke, making the best use of space whilst never compromising on good design.

A considered collection of materials is employed to realise the Woodsmith standard. For example, the Gospel Oak project (designed and lived in by Neave Brown) combined birch plywood with bespoke beechwood handles and frames, as well as reeded glass for the drinks cabinet, a concrete-look Caesarstone quartz worktop, and Fenix NTM laminate for the lower cupboard doors. (Images one to three below)

@_woodsmith_workshop

Founded in 2001 by designer and academic Ilse Crawford, Studioilse is a multi-disciplinary London-based design studio that places human emotion front and centre of everything it does, be it furniture and product design, or interior-scaping for private and commercial clients.

Crawford’s illustrious design credentials include the editorship of Elle Decoration – a title she founded in 1989 – and a stint as Vice President of Donna Karan Home. She set up her own firm to create spaces for clients that include Soho House, Electric Cinema and Aesop, as well as product collaborations with IKEA and Bolon. Crawford is also the founder of the Man and Wellbeing department at the Design Academy Eindhoven in Holland, and has written several books: Sensual Home (1997), Home is Where the Heart is? (2005) and more recently A Frame for Life (2014) – all exploring the idea of interior design rooted in one’s experience of a space, rather than simply what looks good in a room together.