I’m Craig Williams. From my workshop in Bankfoot, near Perth, I weave new cane, rush and cord seats, French polish, repair and restore furniture, and make new pieces to order.
Rated 5.0 from 10 reviews on Yell. “He recovered and restored a loved piece of family history.”
Not sure if it can be saved? Send a photo of the whole piece and one of the damage. That’s plenty to start with.
Cane, bergère, rush and cord are all woven by hand, a strand at a time. It is slow, fiddly, deeply satisfying work, and the chair you’ve sat on for years gets to stay in the family.
The classic six-way pattern on bedroom, dining and nursery chairs, woven through the holes drilled round the seat.
Deep armchairs and suites with caned backs, sides and seats. Big panels, a great many holes, and very much worth saving.
Twisted rush worked from the corners into the middle, so four triangles meet in the centre. Country ladder-backs, stools and Orkney-style chairs.
Paper and Danish cord seats on mid-century chairs, rewoven tight and even.
Further afield in Scotland? Chair seating is specialist work and there aren’t many of us about, so send a photo and ask.
Cane is woven by hand, one strand at a time, through the holes already in the frame. Here’s the whole job in four pictures.
It comes in broken. The cane back on this inlaid chair had split right through.
The old cane comes out. Every strand is cut away and the holes round the frame are cleared.
New cane goes in by hand. Strand by strand, through the same holes: across, along, then the diagonals.
It goes home. The same chair with its new hand-woven back.
A twin pedestal D-end dining table, on dust sheets in its own dining room and then finished. Drag the handle to compare.
Water rings, lifting veneer, a leg knocked loose in a house move, a finish gone dull and patchy. All types of repair and restoration, on antique and modern furniture alike.
The aim is always the same: keep as much of the original as possible, and make the repair disappear into it.
More on repair and restoration or see more before and afters.
Shellac, a cotton rubber and a great many thin coats, until the grain looks deep enough to dive into. Modern finishes too, where they suit how a piece is used.
Perthshire is full of bonny old tables that just need their shine back.
Farmhouse tables, benches, beds, fitted shelving and wee boxes, made to order and made to fit.
“The removal company dropped my antique Grandfather’s oak extension dining table and smashed the joint on one leg... He recovered and restored a loved piece of family history.”
“My Uncle Charles’ nursery chair was in a sad state. Scruffy, loose inlay and a seat that needed re-caning big-time... would recommend this master craftsman to anyone.”
“I also have a cherished birds-eye maple dressing table that he repaired and managed to turn into an even lovelier side table.”
The workshop is in Bankfoot, between Perth and Dunkeld, so Stanley, Scone, Blairgowrie, Pitlochry and Crieff are all close by. Areas we cover.
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