furniture making Archives - Chippendale School of Furniture

Magnificent seven to exhibit in London

For the first time, seven talented designers from the renowned Chippendale International School of Furniture will be exhibiting at the New Designers Exhibition in London in July.

The newly-qualified designers are from the UK, USA and South Korea, and will be exhibiting handmade and uniquely designed pieces of furniture.

The Chippendale school is recognised as a worldwide centre of excellence, and the seven graduates will be showcasing their talent to an international audience of interior designers and buyers, the last stop on an exhibition tour that begins in Edinburgh in June.

The seven students are: Jon Downing (28) from Surrey; Zachary Schnitzer (25) from New York; Fergus Hart (18) from Edinburgh; Jin Sung Choi (27) from South Korea; Campbell Deeming (38) from Aberdeenshire; Jack Jensen (20) from Milton Keynes; and Spencer Renna (26) from New York.

All seven will be on Stand FP68 from 5^th to 8^th July. The New Designers Exhibition, now in its 32^nd year, is being held at the Business Design Centre, Upper Street, London N1 0QH.

Chippendale student chose furniture making course to escape the office

A blog by Matthew Meyerhoff, a student at the Chippendale International School of Furniture

Matthew's throne against a Scottish spring sky

Born in Scotland, then brought up in Canada before moving to Dubai, Matthew Meyerhoff previously worked as a simulator pilot in Dubai for Serco. The work may sound exciting but it involved sitting down at a computer all day.

Matthew says that he chose to learn furniture making and woodworking because he doesn’t want to work in an office again:

“I’ve always been interested in building things, so I started looking for somewhere to learn the tricks of the trade. The other furniture making courses that I considered were 3 years long and I felt that was too slow to be enough of a challenge. The main attractions of The Chippendale School of Furniture to me were being able to do an intensive 30 week course and the large amount of practical bench time.

“I’ve found the furniture school amazing and have really enjoyed the work so far. A colossal amount of information is fired at us every day, but, if you happen to miss something, you can always go to the tutors for help.

“No-one here is taking the woodworking course lightly, everyone‘s here for a reason. The students are an eclectic bunch and, because of that, we have access to over twenty different styles, tastes, and opinions. You can feel the buzz when you come into the workshop in the morning; it’s a hive of activity.

“The external visits are great. Gosford House was above and beyond anything. At the Burrell Collection, we went down into the basement where we saw some phenomenal pieces of furniture. I’d have liked to spend all day down there!

Matthew's veneered corner table with an inverted arch.

“I’ve finished both term’s woodwork projects on time (thankfully!). The first one was a throne made of sweet chestnut. My second piece was a veneered corner table with an inverted arch as the body.

“I’m still developing my plans for the future. I’d like to have my own business as a furniture maker, and, because I enjoy building, may buy up and renovate old properties. I‘m looking forward to those challenges!”

Join Chippendale School’s buzzing international woodworking community

The Chippendale International School of Furniture only takes 20 students onto our intensive furniture courses each year. As our name suggests, the Furniture School has always been ‘international’ in nature and several students from the US and Canada join the course every year, so, rest assured, you’ll be in excellent company!

Students also come from Spain, Belgium, Russia and the Far East, as well as a good number from across the UK, making for a cosmopolitan community.

Student’s backgrounds are equally interesting and diverse: from fashion design, art, architecture, music and architecture, to property, the armed services, IT, telecoms and banking. Some students already have experience of wood working but many have none. It doesn’t matter. The uniting theme is that everyone has a love of wood.

The result is a buzzing woodworking school community where everyone has a lot of fun, despite some hard work.

Check out some of the profiles of our furniture students below to see what they thought of our furniture design course and how it has helped them shape their career.

Emily Greenberg from California
Emily joined the furniture School from California; after graduating from the Chippendale International School of Furniture, she went on to the Edinburgh College of Art.

“I decided to study at Chippendale because I was looking for a well-rounded, serious education in furniture design and making and that is exactly what I got at Chippendale.

“My education at Chippendale gave me sophisticated pieces of furniture I could proudly display in my portfolio to ensure my acceptance to Edinburgh College of Art.

“When I complete my studies my dream is to start my own design company, designing children’s furniture.

“Studying woodworking in the Scottish countryside was an incredible experience.”

Anaïs Dancet from Belgium
After completing an interior architecture degree, Anaïs wanted to be able to both design and produce furniture.

“The course covered everything that I wanted to learn. It’s really intense. You have to be committed; I mentally prepared for boot camp woodwork.”

Anaïs made an intricate architect’s cabinet and a hand carved chair while at the Chippendale School. After graduating she set up her own business www.anaisdancet.com in the Chippendale Incubation Centre and wants to deliver commissioned work.

You can see more profiles of recent students here.

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Learn furniture making skills and create your own business

Award winning Anselm Fraser Furniture, which runs alongside the Chippendale International School of Furniture, completed a bespoke kitchen installation for a client just in time for Christmas. The furniture design and furniture restoration business has created and installed more than 80 bespoke kitchens over the years.

Beautiful olive ash kitchen tops to finish the installation.

However, this installation was different from some commissions, reflecting the recessionary environment and tighter budgets that all craftsmen are having to work with.

Anselm Fraser, the Furniture School Principal, says:

“Developing ‘bespoke’ kitchens allows us to be flexible and respond to changes in market conditions. In this case, the budget did not allow for a completely customised kitchen, so we had to be a bit more creative, developing only some components of the kitchen.

“We created beautiful olive ash worktops. These were fitted on top of a good quality, off-the-shelf manufactured kitchen which was then hand painted. The end result was still impressive and our client is very happy.

“Other ways to enhance a kitchen redesign include having a bespoke Welsh dresser or kitchen table made.”

Students at the Furniture School benefit from working with professional craftsmen, and learn the commercial acumen and expertise required to succeed in the business world; this includes responding flexibly to changes in market conditions.

Learning business skills form an integral part of the intensive woodworking course. Consequently, many students go on to set up their own furniture making, woodworking or furniture restoration businesses. Read about some recent students’ new furniture making businesses and see our graduate directory for more stories.

Some newly graduated students stay on in the Chippendale Incubation Centre where they can run their fledgling furniture and woodworking businesses in a subsidised workshop with the support of the Furniture School woodworking community, its tutors and networks.

Students learn business skills on the furniture course.

So, if you dream of setting up your own furniture making or woodworking business, you should consider joining the next furniture course at the UK’s leading Furniture School.