Our Finely Fitted Office

I'm very pleased to be sitting at my new desk in my newly fitted office.

On one side we have a modern look, mostly in a Farrow and Ball eggshell white. The paint used is a special water based paint, which is now up to new environmentally friendly standards, the oak trim is made from FSC accredited oak, as are the modern sunk in handles, and the materials and boards used to produce this piece. The finish on the oak is an environmentally friendly oil. It's very neat and tidy, and due to the ergonomic design, sits as comfortably in the space as I do.

On the other side of the office we have a more classic look. Produced using sustainable walnut, and finished in the same oil, it's a very impressive piece with fluted columns and substantial mouldings.

It's great to be producing exceptional quality furniture from these sustainable sources and in these great looking and environmentally friendly finishes. Not only does it mean that our customers get high quality furniture, which will of course last them a life time; (therefore the wood doesn't end up at the dump, being burnt or rotting and ruining the environment), but also, the wood being from sustainable sources also means that we're not effectively cutting anything down, especially not rain forests, to produce it.

In the next few weeks in the run up to Christmas we’ll be fitting more interesting furniture in our shop and stocking some other new exciting lines for our customers. One notable supplier will be Dream Farm, a company who produce kitchen wares. For every item I sell, they plant a tree somewhere in the world. They’re also planting most of them in countries where they need them most because of intense deforestation (like China and Africa). Places which have been devastated both by deforestation, and as a consequence of this, land and mud slides, which in turn cause problems with farming and crops.

We’re also stocking some lines by large groups like Joseph Joseph who always have extremely tightly controlled factories, running ethical policies which outshine most other companies.

If you wish to contact us, should it be to view our great shop in Warlingham (414 Limpsfield Road) selling not only our fitted interiors, but our responsibly farmed European oak furniture and our English built cherry furniture, or should you have any design needs for your home, we would be delighted to help. You can find us at the end of the phone 01883 626 629 or on e-mail, sales@warlinghamfurniture.co.uk. We also have a great website, www.warlinghamfurniture.co.uk, should you wish to visit that.
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The Importance of Long Lasting Furniture

I've been thinking about the issue of carbon capture in connection with furniture recently, and it seems to be something that even some environmentally conscious people seem to forget about.

Good quality furniture, built specifically to last is so much more environmentally friendly than anything else, and here are the reasons why.

Materials like chipboard are environmentally friendly in one respect, in that they recycle waste materials into something practical, and used in the right context can be great for the environment. On the other hand, some of the furniture built using these materials isn't built to quality or to last. The same goes for some solid wood furniture which is made from clear cut forests which are then sometimes badly seasoned or machined. These woods, cut from suspect sources ruin the local environment and the atmosphere. Customers then encounter problems and the replacement of these items is inevitable.

And that is where I have an issue with these materials and lower quality furniture, for while chipboard is made from "waste material" and therefore "reclaimed" to some extent, it's also hugely disposable because furniture made from it is often of such low quality, it's thrown away after a few years. The same goes for the solid wood furniture with a high failure rate, and in this case, it's even worse, since the wood gathered for it is straight from the rainforest, and effectively goes straight from a tree onto the junk pile.

Upon disposal of any piece of furniture, the carbon is released from the wood into the atmosphere.

Good quality furniture, built to last, captures carbon for the longest time possible. The wood is seasoned correctly, made into furniture which should last for at least a lifetime, and provided it's cherished and not thrown away, the carbon from that tree remains captured for as long as the wood doesn't rot or get burnt.

So, surely one helping hand in the quest for mankind to capture more carbon is to build high quality furniture from sustainable sources, since rotting or burning trees release more carbon, and not investing in quality, or investing in something which will be thrown away in two years means we all end up with a ruined environment.

If you'd like to see our website, please visit warlinghamfurniture.co.uk, contact us by phone 01883 626 629, you can see us on Facebook (as Warlingham Furniture),  or visit the shop here at 414 Limpsfield Road, we'd always be happy to chat or help you with anything.

Fitted Furnishings from Sustainable Sources

We are proud to announce the latest exciting development in our shop.

Having been furniture makers and designers for the last 35 years, we have been party to designing and building some amazing fitted interiors, soon to be displayed at our shop in Warlingham.

In a few weeks' time we should have our office fitted, showing all our customer how we can build the most beautiful fitted libraries and studies. Previously having fitted a study in the British Embassy in Podgorica, we're happy that we can build an office fit for, well, ambassadors.

A few weeks' after that, we will have a fitted bedroom suite put in the bedroom area of our shop. This will be carefully designed and created by ourselves and our expert team.

Shortly after that, at the front of our shop we will be displaying a modern media wall.

These are all currently on the design board and in the making.

Probably the thing which makes me most proud is the fact that all of these goods are produced locally from sustainable materials, and therefore are all exceptionally environmentally friendly.

Of course, this goes for all of our excellent shop displaying beautiful European built responsibly farmed modern oak furniture, English built sustainable, traditional cherry wood furniture, environmentally friendly accessories and fair trade goods.

If you would like to talk to us about your ideas for bespoke interiors, take a look at warlinghamfurniture.co.uk please contact us on 01883 626 629, or e-mail us at sales@warlinghamfurniture.co.uk, and we would be delighted to help.

Welcome to Warlingham Furniture

Hello and welcome to the Warlingham Furniture blog.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to offer you exactly what you need. Exceptional quality furniture and accessories which are not going to burn a hole in your pocket or make you feel guilty.

How so, you ask?

Locally Built, Made to Measure, Using Sustainable Woods:

We stock a very beautiful range of solid wood furniture here in the shop. The English factory who supplies us uses exclusively sourced woods which are all from sustainable sources.

Because it's locally built furniture, every piece is made to measure, hand made and using traditional methods, even down to the beautiful distressed finishes which are created by planing the wood flat instead of sanding. This makes the furniture so rich and the wood so much more real. We also also run a line of standard sizes and designs in this extensive range.

Our made to measure furniture is also built largely at the same location, but we, as professional furniture makers ourselves, can also offer our personal services to build the most unique pieces available anywhere, we also have the know how which comes as real furniture makers and not just salesmen.

Of course, the obvious environmental advantage of buying locally is that it doesn't have to travel around the world burning fossil fuels on its journey to your door.


Responsible Oak, Reasonable Prices:


A large portion of our shop shows our beautifully built modern oak furniture. It wont make you feel guilty because the woods used in its construction are responsibly farmed. They're also not shipped across the globe because these ranges are made in Europe.


Environmentally Friendly and Fair Trade to Boot:

If we cannot source things locally, like basketware, other homewares and glassware, we try to source environmentally friendly products, and if we can, also get them fair trade.


Our felt toys and accessories, by En Gry & Sif for example are fair trade. They're designed in Denmark and made in Nepal.


Our basketware and a lot of our homewares are built using sustainable materials such as bamboo, rattan and willow. We get these wares from the same company who supply our beautiful lighting. They work to an ethical policy which covers a multitude of areas such as working conditions, child labour and the sustainability of their products.


We also stock glassware from LSA, a European company, who make the most beautiful mouth blown hand made glass. Again, being from Europe, it doesn't have to travel far and is reasonably priced.


Our tableware is currently sourced from a company who buy their goods from a factory who supply large department stores in the UK. The factory is audited constantly to make sure they live up to fair trade and ethical standards. The company we buy from is now in the process of getting a fair trade mark for their goods, and I await the good news from them that they can put the mark on their boxes.


The clocks we have in the shop are from Comitti, clocks of London who sell their time pieces in Harrods, London, and who have their workshops in the UK. These are absolutely classic designs, and look amazing in any setting. Made to the very best standards.


Our mirrors and mirror frames are locally sourced, some made by ourselves, some made by our London supplier. Most of the framing is made using responsibly sourced woods, and again, being locally built, doesn't have to travel across the earth to reach your door.


Developing.


We are constantly developing our business and are always on the look out for other things we know you will like.

Our policy here is to keep questioning our suppliers about their ethical and environmentally friendly policies and hope we can offer you the best service and also great prices for excellent furniture and accessories.

Keep up to date with my blog with the link from our website, www.warlinghamfurniture.co.uk and take a look at our Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Warlingham-Furniture/193103160721965, or keep up to date with our Tweets @warlinghamfurn

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