Welcome to my world.

As I type, a cobalt blue sky hangs lazily over Burnside of Ballintomb, on what is a perfect early autumn day.

The dogs lie at my feet enjoying the warmth of the morning sunlight, as it streams through the open office door, and in the garden bees buzz lazily in the shrubbery.

Welcome to my world.

The house and buildings at Burnside of Ballintomb sit on top of low hill above the river Spey, and have changed hardly at all over the last century.

Originally a working farm, my family purchased the property in 1988, converting the dilapidated buildings into a furniture making workshop, timber store, and furniture showroom.

The work was hard, as we laboured to reverse thirty years of neglect and lack of maintenance, but slowly we got there.

As a fourth generation furniture maker and wood carver, it is with great pride that I continue my family's tradition, hand making and carving the finest pieces of furniture, from solid Scottish hardwoods.

Machine tools are used only for rip sawing, cross cutting and planing, there after the local oak, ash, elm, sycamore or cherry, is worked by hand, using traditional hand tools.

Most of the furniture crafted upon this forest enveloped hill top is by commission, and pieces produced in our quiet rural backwater, now grace homes and offices across the U.K., continental Europe, and the U.S.A.

Our aim has always been to produce work to the very highest standard, and to turn our backs on the inferior short cuts of the 21st Century.

Over the coming months, I hope to offer visitors to this blog a view into our world, and to encourage an interest and appreciation of furniture made to the very highest standards, in the traditional way.

Should visitors to this blog wish to make enquiry regarding a commission, then I can be contacted by telephoning: 01340 810 495, or 07760208351, or alternatively e-mail me at:Sballintomb@aol.com

I look forward to your calls, comments, and contributions!

Best regards to all,

Julian Schmechel.