The Chippendale International School of Furniture is shortly to run a one-week Chippendale Experience course. Anselm Fraser, the School’s Principal, says it would make an ideal Christmas present.

Over the years, we have trained hundreds of people from all over the world to realise their dream of becoming professional furniture designers and makers.

But not everyone has the time to commit to our immersive 30-week courses. That’s why we also run one-week “taster” courses – with the next course taking place in January 2015. For further information click here.

These courses are designed to give students a feel for working in wood, hopefully fire their enthusiasm, and give them some basic skills and greater confidence. (If you’re quick, it might make a great Christmas present!)

Chad Simmons, one of our American students, is a property developer from Kansas, and loves to work with wood in his spare time.

He’s been to the Chippendale School several times on one-week courses, and most recently wanted to learn intricate woodcarving. One of his current projects is to carve his family’s coat of arms.

He believes in a Chippendale motto that “if you have the patience to do the simple things perfectly, you can do the difficult things with ease.”

Why I return to the Chippendale School each year?

“In one week at Chippendale I learn more than I could in months on my own. And I do things far beyond what I thought was possible for me. This knowledge adds up to an empowering new reality. The Chippendale Experience helps me believe in the possibilities of me as a woodcarver.

“However, I am very busy in my professional world and my chances to carve wood come in short timeframes on weekends. My week at the Chippendale is an opportunity to spend five days immersed in a woodworking environment with talented people, every tool I could imagine and no pressure whatsoever. It’s a great escape!”

How this empowers Young people.

“Approximately one-third of U.S. college graduates are unemployed. It is not easy therefore to get a job when millions of others are similarly unemployed. To me, as an entrepreneur, the better choice is self-employment.

“A nine-month curriculum that teaches professional-level woodworking and business start-up techniques is, in comparison to colleges, an excellent investment of time, energy and money. It provides graduates with a self-employment option any time in almost any location for a lifetime.

“That is something of great value and a permanent security.

“Add to that, I love Scotland, the people in the area and, particularly, the people in the School…and the smell of wood!”