•Nicholas Dyson•
 
 
•Background and approach

I have been professionally designing and making furniture to commission for more than twenty-five years.

I believe furniture should be distinctive without being willful. If you choose to contemplate it, it should give you pleasure; it should seem right but not entirely expected. It should not force itself upon your attention, either in its design or its craft. But what does or does not force itself upon you depends partly on who you are and where the furniture is put.

It needs to relate to the tastes of the person who commissions it, to the physical setting within which it is placed, and also to traditions of furniture design that help form our expectations. That those relationships may not be at all obvious or the ones first expected is an important part of the reasons for commissioning furniture. So the actual appearance of a piece of furniture that fulfills those conditions will vary enormously. 

After a career in academic publishing I went to Dorset to train as a furniture designer-maker and subsequently set up my first workshop there. I later established and ran a larger workshop in Oxfordshire where, with the help of normally about six craftspeople, I produced a wide range of furniture for private clients, architects, designers, commercial companies and institutions. Work ranged from small individual domestic pieces to nine metre long boardroom tables and sets of furniture for college study bedrooms. 

Since moving back to Dorset I have concentrated more on individual furniture pieces, where the opportunities for expressive design and close involvement with the commissioner are often greatest, but I retain the capacity and willingness to undertake larger projects for professional and commercial clients. • Home • Portfolio • Background and approach • The commissioning process • Client comments • Services for professional and commercial clients • Client list • Contact • Blog: news, items for sale, links