The Oakamoor Collection

Oakamoor is plain on purpose. There is very little decoration on any piece in the range, because the decoration is the timber. Everything else is there to give the wood room to be looked at.

That sounds simple, and it is not. Plain furniture has nowhere to hide. The proportions have to be right, the boards have to be chosen and matched properly, and the joints have to be clean, because there is no moulding running past to distract the eye.

Note on spelling: the range is Oakamoor. Some of our photograph filenames read “Oakamore”. That is a typo in the filename, not a second range.

The details that define it

Strong, substantial legs with a small bevel to the inside edge. The legs carry real section. The single bevel worked along the inside arris takes the heaviness off without adding ornament, and it is the detail people notice second, after the timber.

A simple historic frieze framing the space between the legs. The frieze is the rail that runs between the leg tops. On Oakamoor it is deep and quiet, and it frames the void under the table rather than decorating it.

Generous width in the front frame pieces. The stiles and rails on the front of a carcass piece are made wider than they strictly need to be. That is deliberate: it gives you continuous surfaces of oak to look at, and shows the patternation of the grain instead of chopping it into narrow strips.

A traditional edge profile to the top with a simple moulding below. One worked edge on the top, one small moulding underneath it, and nothing else.

Solid brass swan neck handles. The swan neck is the curved brass drop handle that hangs from two backplates. On Oakamoor it is the only real ornament on a drawer front.

What the range covers

The Oakamoor pieces are:

Related type pages: dining tables, drawleaf tables, dresser bases, sideboards and servers, chairs and Windsor chairs.

Timbers

Oakamoor is priced, like every catalogue piece, in the four standard timbers: oak, cherry, mahogany and walnut.

In practice most Oakamoor goes out in oak, and the range was drawn for it. If you want more movement in the grain, character oak carries an additional ten per cent on tables. Pippy oak is available for tops in light, medium and heavy grades. Oak selected for medullary ray, and clean timber with no knots at all, are both priced on application.

Cherry, mahogany and walnut are all available and all look quite different in this range, because with so little moulding the timber choice is the design choice. More on our timbers, and it is worth ordering samples before you commit.

Make it yours

The usual changes clients ask for:

• Size. Length, width and height to your room and your chairs. Table tops are made to the millimetre.
• Leaves. Fixed top, or draw-leaves at one or both ends.
• Top thickness. A heavier top changes the character of the whole table.
• Leg section. Heavier or lighter than standard, with or without the bevel.
• Drawer count and layout on the dresser base.
• Handles. Solid brass swan neck, brass knobs or turned wooden knobs.
• Finish. Polished, painted, limed, sand-blasted, rub-through paint or natural. Colour matching to a sample is available on application.

If you want an Oakamoor table with a detail borrowed from another range, or a piece the range does not yet include, that is a straightforward commission. Read how commissioning works.

Questions about Oakamoor