New Weathered Oak & Pine Furniture

Four Corners has added two new ranges to its existing collection of gorgeous furniture: Weathered Oak and Weathered Pine.

Crafted from sustainably sourced European Oak and Pine at our own workshops is then weathered to provide a beautifully tactile finish. The Oak then goes through two stages of staining and liming to provide a warm and stunning surface and, the Pine is finished with beautiful grey oil. Both highlight the beauty of the grain. The finishes are available in all our standard furniture styles as well as bespoke pieces.

Family run with over 60 years of experience our furniture, is created in our workshop in the Carpathian Alps in Romania using traditional techniques. We design and craft it for you – No middle men, No MDF, No excuses.

James Adcock explains:

“We are a family run business with over 60 years of experience. As cabinet makers we want to set ourselves apart from the more generic furniture companies found elsewhere. All of our furniture is designed for living and built for life, we are very proud of the quality of the craftsmanship of our team. Having our own workshop means we can be very flexible offering our bespoke service as well as our freestanding furniture ranges. In addition to our new weathered range we also offer furniture with a hand painted finish, or European oak full of knots and character simply finished with Danish Oil or stained to your requirements.”

Four Corners have a wide range of furniture at their two stores in Stratford and Broadway. The Stratford store has moved from Goldicote Business Park, Banbury Road to its new home on Avenue Farm just off the Birmingham Road. Here you will find fabulous gifts for your home together with examples of what their meticulous fitting team can achieve too.

Terry Howard ~ Artist in Residence

At Four Corners Cabinet Makers we are really excited to introduce our artist in residence Terry Howard. Terry was tracked down by James after visiting Terry’s sister for a fitted office site visit. Admiring his work James decided this was straightforward, he had to meet Terry. We luckily discovered that Terry was more than happy to display his art in our showrooms in Stratford upon Avon and Broadway.

Always on the lookout for timeless and beautiful art to compliment our furniture it was great to discover an artist as friendly and heartfelt as our own philosophies.

Terry lives in Birmingham and is an Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. A runner-up in the Daily Mail ‘Not the turner prize’, Terry’s work was displayed in The Mall London. These are just two of Terry’s accolades, to find out more pop in to our showrooms to read his bio.

Having commissioned our first six canvases from Terry we are now proud to be displaying them for sale. So do come and see and don’t forget a tour Stratford showroom you can have a coffee on us to browse our handmade furniture and Terry’s gallery.

Furniture built for life

At Four Corners Cabinet Makers it is important to us that we get it right. And we think we have. Our furniture and traditional crafting methods ensure our handmade furniture has longevity written all over it.

Using rudimentary traditional methods as such mortice and tenon and dovetail joints we ensure your chosen piece of classic oak design will standard up over time. Four Corners uncomplicated designs ensure our furniture is loved for always and becomes a homely friend.

It is effortless to find the piece you are looking for in our extensive range, and that’s before we’ve mentioned our bespoke service. If you are looking for a dining table, a bed, a sideboard or a bookcase we’ve got it all covered and more.
All our oak and pine furniture offers a lively charming character. Unique colour and pattern including knots and medullary rays (white flowering) ensures your furniture is as unique as the European Oak trees they have been hand crafted from.
We can’t compare ourselves to anyone as at Four Corners we are totally unique. Your furniture will be hand-made for you by us. We don’t make it for anyone else!

The advantages of bespoke furniture

By its very nature bespoke furniture is as individual as you are. Whether you are looking for a freestanding piece to fit a particular space or a bigger project such as a kitchen, office or bedroom many hours can be wasted trawling through the usual suspects online or on precious weekends when just the mention of the words kitchen showroom is enough to strike fear into the best of us!Our bespoke kitchens will suit any home and we can cater for your particular style, whatever it is.

Try a different shopping experience – with coffee and even a gingerbread wardrobe or two...

Four Corners is a family run Cabinet Makers. With 2 stores in Stratford upon Avon and Broadway we have been handcrafting furniture for many years. All of our furniture has bags of character and is as individual as the trees it has been crafted from. We have ranges of Quaker Oak, Hand Painted and Pine furniture as well as fitted kitchens, fitted wardrobes, fitted living furniture and fitted offices all traditionally crafted by ourselves and, as there is no middle man, our prices represent surprisingly good value despite the fact there’s no melamine or MDF just good old honest to goodness wood!

Many of our customers who use our freestanding bespoke furniture service have a clear idea of what they’d like and yet have been unable to find a Cabinet Maker who can turn their ideas into a reality. Others want to pick our brains and use our expertise. Please do talk to us, we are happy to quote for custom built items that may be completely different to our standard pieces or, a tweak to the size of our usual designs.

Bespoke Fitted Furniture

Whatever room your project is for we like to think Four Corners can help. Our designers will visit you in your own home and spend time finding out exactly what you are looking for. We’ll take some detailed measurements and design your furniture for you. If it’s a kitchen you’ll get a detailed plan, CAD mock-ups and a costing. Other rooms we’ll give you a design and a price. 

Once you’ve tweaked the design to your exact needs we’ll then go ahead and craft it for you.

As our motto is: Designed for Living – Built for Life you can be reassured we really do make it to last a lifetime. There are no shortcuts: proper dovetail joints on the drawers, mortice and tenon joints on the framework and, all wood, no chipboard, no MDF.

We employ highly skilled fitters who work for us, we find this gives you continuity and as our fitters work with our furniture week in week out we can honestly say they’re brilliant at what they do! Take a look at the testimonials on our website if you need reassurance.......

We do charge a small fee for our bespoke fitted service. Please contact us for a quote –we’re happy to say though when you go ahead with your bespoke fitted room we’ll deduct the cost from your furniture. (Terms & conditions do apply).

Come and visit the Four Corners stores in Stratford upon Avon and Broadway for a chat with our knowledgeable team and find out what on earth a gingerbread wardrobe really looks like!

Gifts for your home

Accessories for your home are the real finishing touch to great furniture. The cherry on the icing on the cake as it were! Here at Four Corners not only are we known for our bespoke kitchens and fitted bedrooms we are also always on the lookout for stylish home giftware. Whether it is for your own home or, a gift for a friend come and take a look at our ranges of pots, bowls, clocks, vases, baskets and other home accessories at surprisingly sensible prices.

Just like our Quaker Oak & Hand Painted ranges of furniture all our gifts are chosen to complement your home. Many have an artisan, hand crafted look to them reflecting our style of gorgeous furniture. We find people from all over the country bringing a piece of the Cotswolds home with them when they visit our Broadway store whether they live in the city, a country cottage, town house or igloo. Now this same great reasonably priced giftware is available at our new Stratford showroom ensuring there is no need for you to find (and pay for) a parking space when you need that all important present.

We have something for every room from bright egg timers and jugs for the kitchen, stunning bowls and lanterns for the lounge, pictures and lamps for the bedroom and soon tepees for the little ones bedroom. All are designed to make a house feel more like a home.

We are also thrilled to announce Four Corners is a stockist of the world renowned Studio William cutlery. Designed by William Welch all pieces are crafted from quality 18/10 stainless steel and have a flawless, timeless finish and design to them that will make any dinner party special. They are on display in the V & A museum and grace the tables at No 10 so why not yours too?

Coming soon to both Four Corners Stratford upon Avon and Broadway stores are our new exciting range of giftware: Bold and bright Mediterranean inspired tagines, espresso cups, tapas bowls and oil bottles. These will add colour and contrast to your home and give you a definite flavour of Mediterranean living with their vibrant designs. Add a hint of the exotic to your living space.

FourCorners are a family run business situated in the beautiful Cotswoldsand in Stratford upon Avon. We have many years experience in hand crafting solid wood kitchens and furniture, with an emphasis on character, design and craft. However quirky your space is, we can accommodate it with quality pieces.

Our unique furniture is attractive and durable and we want it to last you a lifetime. Our oak is handcrafted with interesting grain and bags of character making each piece unique – even if it’s a stock item!

Come and visit us for a good old mooch; ask questions of our friendly and knowledgeable staff – who knows you may uncover a unique gift or, that must have piece of furniture to help make your home truly stunning.

Solid Oak vs Oak Veneer

When you are considering whether to choose solid oak or oak veneer for your furniture pieces or kitchen, there are a number of factors to take into account.

The main difference between solid oak and oak veneer is that solid oak is made of solid parts of wood, guaranteeing a consistency. Oak veneer, on the other hand, features wood slices that may be glued onto cheaper wood or fibreboard.

The process of making veneered wood involves slicing the timber to a thickness of between 2 and 3mm and then gluing it to panels in order to produce furniture or flooring. Veneered wood can also be peeled, rather than sliced.

Veneers are useful for large panels that are reasonably priced and for furniture which does not have a particular emphasis on style or design. Veneered wood can also be made to appear distressed and aged.

Solid oak is made entirely of solid wood (doing what it says on the tin, as it were). It gives an overall appearance of quality and style, with the grain of the wood visible throughout the furniture it is used to make. Solid oak has a great deal of character and weight to it.

Solid oak furniture tends to be very stylish and well designed and also highly durable because of the quality of the wood.

FourCorners Trading is a family business that handcrafts solid wood kitchens and furniture, with the emphasis being on the craft itself and strong design. They use traditional techniques to craft their furniture and create furniture that will last a lifetime in the home.

Four Corners have two showrooms, including a large one in Stratford on Avon and customers can come along and see the quality furniture for themselves.

The company offer home visits for designing kitchens and other rooms and they have their own professional fitting team.

Four Corners create their solid oak furniture in a workshop in Romania, surrounded by plentiful forests and where felling is licensed. They choose trees for their individuality and these are carted away by horses.

Their craftsmen will use the wood with interesting grains and knots to produce truly unique furniture from solid oak that oak veneer would not achieve.

Four Corners offer a bespoke service to customers and love the challenge of designing a special cabinet or bookcase to fit an awkward space or an uneven wall.

Image Courtesy: chilternmills.co.uk

Designing your perfect kitchen

A new kitchen can make a home truly special; this room is the heart of the house after all. Not only can it add value to your property, but your family and friends will love to spend time here.

Before you begin, consider what your needs are, how much space you have and what style of kitchen would suit your home (and your budget) the best. You might choose to remodel your existing old kitchen, making decorative changes and giving your kitchen a new vitality.

Handmade kitchens give your home a truly unique touch. Designers will discuss your needs and budget with you and also take into account the style of the house. They hand make bespoke kitchens and cabinets from high quality materials and can usually cater for any shape and size, from urban lofts or flats to period properties.

Many designers use computer aided drawings to cover every aspect of the design space and these are useful for showing customers how the handmade kitchen will look. Any amendments can be made based on this drawing.

The advantage of a handmade kitchen is that you get exactly what you want and don’t need to compromise, as you would on a ready made kitchen.

You will also have a kitchen that is different from anyone else’s.

Designers and suppliers of bespoke, handmade kitchens will offer a wide choice of quality materials for your cabinets and worktops, ranging from solid woods to painted finishes.

A handmade kitchen will fit in with other features of your home seamlessly.

There are now many companies offering bespoke kitchens, meaning that the choice is wider and kitchens are competitively priced.

Your bespoke kitchen will be fitted by professionals who are trained to a high standard.

Handmade kitchens are tailored to your own needs and specifications, but there will always be many variations available, in colour choices, materials used and the finish.

These individual kitchens allow you to design a room that reflects your own personal lifestyle and the pace at which you live it. If you have a fast paced city life, you might opt for an ultra modern and sleek kitchen that is accessible and easy to get around quickly. Or you might prefer more of a country cottage feel to your kitchen, with classic wooden cabinets and ornate handles.

Whatever your choice, a bespoke kitchen will meet your needs. 

Image Courtesy: fengshui.about.com