Thakeham Furniture is a small, family business, established by Tim and Belinda Chavasse in 1987. Tim and Belinda met at college, whilst studying to become antique furniture restorers - Tim coming from Agricultural College, and brought up with antiques, and Belinda with a degree in Art History. Our colleague Anthony Tester, a highly skilled restorer, has been with us from the start. Our daughter Harriet studied Graphic Design and is now a very valuable member of our team; she has helped develop our large, user-friendly website, skills that have pushed our business into the 21st century.
The business, started at Thakeham in Sussex, has evolved from gaining experience working on furniture for dealers and collectors, to trading ourselves: from various showrooms around Sussex, alongside antiques fairs, and finally to our new showroom in Dial Post, West Sussex.
We stock a comprehensive range of mostly English antique furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries. Georgian furniture is our speciality, but we also deal in Regency, Victorian and Edwardian pieces. We have both mahogany and oak and country furniture, and also an eclectic mix of rosewood, walnut and yew wood pieces. One of our specialities is upholstered furniture – armchairs and sofas are fully re-upholstered in top quality fabrics, traditional, but with a modern twist!
We are open four days a week (and a further two days by appointment, please see the contact us page for more info). We are all pleased to welcome you and happy for you to look round our workshops, which we have on the premises. All pieces are thoroughly checked over, cleaned and waxed before coming into the showroom; if drawer runners are worn or handles are loose, these are repaired, and any signs of woodworm are treated. We are members of LAPADA [the London and Provincial Antique Dealers’ Association], which allows you the confidence of buying under their strict codes of practice.
Our emphasis is on originality; most of our stock is 'useful' Georgian furniture of clean, simple design with good patination and colour. We have our own wax polishing method that that preserves the pieces in top condition, and are also keen to keep our pricing competitive.
