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Walnut is the most decorative of the four timbers we price as standard, and the one clients choose when they want the timber itself to be the thing you notice. It runs from chocolate to a purple-brown, with dark streaking and a great deal of movement in the grain. It has range: cut into a heavy refectory base it looks grand, and cut into a plain modern form it looks thoroughly contemporary. The form decides which.
Every piece in the catalogue is priced in walnut, exactly as it is in oak, cherry and mahogany. Oak is the baseline; walnut is one of the dearer timbers, partly on raw cost and partly because it is less forgiving to work and finish. Every catalogue piece shows its price in each timber, so you can see the difference before you choose.
What walnut suits
Walnut earns its keep on pieces that are seen as one large flat elevation, where there is room for the figure to do something — a sideboard, a dresser base, a coffee table top, the fall of a bureau. It is also the timber people reach for when a room is otherwise quiet and one piece is meant to carry it.
Where it is less obviously right is on a piece that is already busy. A heavily carved or moulded form in walnut can end up with the figure and the detail competing. That is usually the argument for mahogany or cherry instead, and it is a conversation worth having before anything is cut.
Chairs can be walnut too. Every chair pattern is made in all four timbers, and only the Windsor frames are ash, because a steam-bent bow wants a timber that bends. A set of walnut chairs round a walnut table is entirely possible, and so is an oak set finished to sit alongside it.
How walnut ages
Walnut goes the opposite way to the others. Oak, cherry and mahogany all darken; walnut tends to lighten. The contrast between the dark streaks and the background softens as it goes, so a very dark walnut piece mellows towards a warmer mid-brown over years rather than months. If you are matching walnut to something you already own, that is the single most useful fact to hold on to — a new piece will start darker than the old one and walk towards it.
Burr walnut
Burr is the growth on the outside of a tree, and it cuts into a swirling, dense figure with no directional grain at all. Burr walnut is used as a decorative surface rather than as structure, because burrs are small and structurally weak — a burr walnut coffee table top, a cross-banded front, a panel. It is selected from the stack for a particular job and priced on application, because what is available depends on what has come in.
What we make in walnut
Anything in the catalogue, to your own dimensions. The pieces it is asked for most often are dining tables, sideboards and servers, chests of drawers, occasional furniture and pedestal desks. Beds, wardrobes and dressing tables are all made in it too.
Everything is drawn before it is made, and drawn in elevation and section, with full-size setting-out where a moulding or a carved panel warrants it, so the proportions are settled on paper rather than discovered at the bench.
See it before you decide
Screens are useless for this. Walnut photographs flat and loses exactly the streaking that makes it worth choosing. A sanded walnut swatch is £10, posted free and refunded against your order, and the four timbers together are £30. Hold them against your floor and your walls, in your own light, at the time of day you actually use the room.
Is walnut more expensive than oak?
Yes. Oak is the baseline, and walnut is appreciably dearer, partly on raw cost and partly because it is less forgiving to work and to finish. Every catalogue piece is priced in all four timbers so you can compare. The specials, such as burr walnut, are priced on application.
Can I have walnut chairs to go with a walnut table?
Yes. Every chair pattern is made in oak, cherry, mahogany and walnut. The one exception is the Windsor, whose frame is ash because the bow is steam-bent.
Will a new walnut piece match my existing walnut furniture?
It will be close, and it gets closer. Walnut lightens as it ages, so a new piece starts darker than an old one and moves towards it. Send us a photograph and, if you can, a drawer or a small component we can colour match to, and we will work to that.
What is the difference between walnut and burr walnut?
Walnut is the timber. Burr is the growth on the outside of a tree, which cuts into a dense swirling figure with no directional grain. Burr walnut is used for surfaces and panels rather than structure, because it is small and structurally weak.
How long does a walnut piece take?
The same as any other timber — normally twelve weeks, and up to sixteen when the workshop is busy. A genuine one-off usually adds around four weeks. Your date is confirmed when you order.