What I do

With over 40 years of experience in conservation, restoration, and traditional craftsmanship, I provide specialist services for private clients, insurers, museums, churches, and heritage organisations across Ilkley, Harrogate, Wetherby, Leeds, Bradford & Yorkshire.

These services include:

Furniture Restoration

I offer sympathetic, expert restoration for antique, vintage and modern furniture, addressing both structural and aesthetic issues.
Typical work includes:

  • Loose or broken joints

  • Missing veneers or components

  • Drawer and runner wear

  • Structural stabilisation

  • Replacement of losses using period‑appropriate timbers and veneers

With an extensive stock of old surface timbers, I ensure all repairs blend seamlessly with the original material.

Oak gateleg dining table c.1750 was showing a dull, worn top with areas of bare wood, restored by removing the wax, sealing the surface with shellac, and rebuilding the period wax finish with a traditional beeswax and carnauba wax formula.

Traditional Finishing

I help clients choose finishes that suit the piece, the interior, and the level of durability required.
Surface repairs include:

  • Scratches and dents

  • Water and light damage

  • Delaminating or failing finishes

  • Colour and sheen matching

Every finish is tailored to the client’s wishes for texture, tone, and long‑term performance.

Restored oak‑panelled wall showing its texture and colour.

Picture Frame Restoration

A sensitively restored frame enhances and protects the artwork it surrounds. My work includes:

  • Cleaning gilding without disturbing original surfaces

  • Structural repairs

  • Stabilising gilded and gesso surfaces

  • Carved and composition ornament repairs

  • Water and oil gilding

  • Colour‑matching new repairs to blend invisibly

I restore frames with respect for their age, craftsmanship, and artistic significance.

Close‑up of a French Rococo picture frame showing replaced and re‑carved losses, with areas of delaminating gilding carefully consolidated.

Traditional Upholstery Repairs

I provide upholstery repairs that are comfortable, durable, and appropriate to the style and period of the piece.
Regular work includes:

  • Recovering seating

  • Repairing broken webbing

  • Steam cleaning

  • Minor structural upholstery repairs

For advanced or specialist textile conservation, I collaborate with trusted upholsterers and textile conservators.

A restored set of harlequin mahogany chairs, their loose joints made good and the seats traditionally reupholstered using period‑appropriate materials

heritage Joinery Restoration

I help reduce long‑term deterioration in period and listed buildings by addressing the underlying causes of joinery failure.
Services include:

  • Cutting out rotten timber and splicing in new

  • Repairing or replacing failed components

  • Identifying and treating woodworm and other infestations

  • Conservation‑led joinery repairs for windows, doors, panelling, and architectural elements

All work respects the building’s history, materials, and significance.

Close‑up showing a bespoke replacement weatherboard and a splice repair carried out to the door frame.

Insurance Work

When furniture is damaged by relocation, fire, or flood, I provide specialist conservation treatments, including:

  • Emergency stabilisation

  • Water damage mitigation

  • Smoke and heat damage reduction

  • Structural and surface restoration

I offer insurers and private clients a meticulous, trusted service that returns valued pieces to their pre‑incident condition.

A fire‑damaged mantel clock submitted as part of an insurance claim.

Metalwork Repairs

I ensure metalwork repairs are durable, smooth in operation, and sympathetic to the original design and finish.
Typical work includes:

  • Lock repairs and key fettling

  • Hinge and caster repairs or replacements

  • Handle replacements (individual or full sets)

For complex or bespoke metalwork, I collaborate with specialist blacksmiths and foundries.

Ormolu andirons carefully cleaned to reveal the original gilded finish.

Furniture Making

For clients seeking bespoke pieces, I create furniture informed by historical knowledge and period construction.
Past commissions include:

  • An 18th‑century muniments cabinet

  • 17th‑century kitchen furniture

  • A 19th‑century altar table

Each piece is crafted with respect for period detail, proportion, and long‑term durability.

My Values

conservation Ethics

  • Preservation of original material wherever possible

  • Understanding historical, aesthetic, and communal significance

  • Minimal and reversible interventions

  • Detailed documentation of condition and treatment

  • Ethical practice, balancing restoration with conservation

Researched the appropriate period profile and replaced the missing crossbanded inner moulding accordingly.

Sustainability

  • Use of sustainably sourced woods and materials

  • Reuse of old timber, metalwork, and components

  • A fully electric van charged with 100% renewable electricity

  • Minimal use of chemicals and responsible disposal

Woodworker's chisel on a wooden workbench surrounded by curled wood shavings.