Dressing table in English walnut with burr walnut top inlaid with cluster maple, mother of pearl and pear wood, with ripple sycamore cross-banding and ebony stringing.

Octagonal legs, turned ebony drawer pulls, and glorious figured walnut.

Detail of the central jewellery drawer, lined with calfskin, and the inlaid nautilus motifs on the top.

Rocking chair in English yew. Loosely based on the famous rockers made by the late Sam Maloof in California, making this was as much about sculpture as furniture making.

Yew is not an easy wood to work with: the boards are full of defects and the wood "tears out" at the slightest opportunity, but with perseverance you can get a fine lustrous finish.

Side table in elm with wenge pegs and sabots ("wooden shoes"), and elm end-grain cross banding. One of a set, made to stand at each end of a sofa, which can be brought together to create a single larger table.

The boards used for the top, with their wild grain, were off-cuts rejected in the making of a more sober project; the end-grain slices used for the cross banding likewise came from the end trimmed off a large 2 inch thick board : recycling in action!

Lectern in European walnut and sycamore: made for a lawyer who likes to think on his feet.

Elliptical section rails in ripple sycamore pick up the swooping curves of the body.

Oak dining table, 9'6" x 3'7", made for both everyday and more formal use and to match the clean classical environment of a Georgian town house.

Detail of the pedestal leg. The aim is to achieve the right balance of muscular support and simple elegance.

Pair of glass-topped side tables in black walnut: firmly grounded on their flared legs, but light, almost delicate, with multiple curves yielding changes in line and proportion as you walk around the piece.

A pair of side tables in oak and English cherry with a line of ebony separating the two. Design siblings of the walnut and glass tables, but different timber, and slight changes in line, make for a more robust-looking piece.

The glorious cherry boards came from storm-felled trees in North Devon which have been air-drying for 15 years.

Low glass-topped table, 3'6" square, in black walnut, to go with the two walnut side tables. The same design, but different proportions and a more massive scale.

Texture and colour: the dovetail pins on all these tables are made to stand proud by about 3mm and chamfered to provide tactile interest and catch the light. Ebony lines the rebate holding the glass, creating a subtle contrast with the walnut.

Desk in oak and elm. A contemporary take on a traditional design.

The sides of the pedestals, with their square oak frames, echo the square lattice construction of the oak bookshelves lining the opposite wall of the study. The elm panels are bookmatched to create further symmetry. Faceted ebony pegs secure the main rails where they are tenoned into the legs.

The top drawer on each side is lined with blue calf and divided with English cherry partitions to protect small items and keep them in place. Pens are held in a separate tray that slides back to give access to the compartments below.

Oak chair to go with the oak and elm desk. The flared legs sit happily with those of the desk.

Substantial oak kitchen/dining table for a large family. At 10ft long and more than 3ft wide, it can seat up to 12. Striking lines, but not at the expense of function.

Complex jointing in the sub-frame. As soon as the table was delivered the junior members of the family set up camp underneath the arches.

Low table in Wild English Cherry with Ebony detailing, made for a space in a large drawing room. The octagonal legs, with their slightly Moorish tops, were designed to catch the gothic flavour of some of the other furniture in the room.

Some of the Cherry has a wonderful rippled figure in it.

I used Ebony to line the rebate for the glass and for the inset dovetail keys. It takes a fine finish and contrasts smartly with the Cherry.

Chair in English walnut, made as a confirmation present for a teenager and designed to be a companion for life

English walnut is a fabulous timber but never easy to get hold of. This was made from part of a three inch thick board with glorious colour and figure.

Cabinet in American cherry with sycamore drawer linings, cedar of Lebanon drawer bottoms and handles in wenge

Through dovetails on the plinth – pins standing proud and bevelled to soften the corners and catch the light

Eight seater dining table in elm. This was commissioned to go with a set of antique elm dining chairs: the shape of the feet echos the curve of the crest rail on the chairs.

Detail of the leg and panelled stretcher, which is tenoned through the foot and wedged with ebony. I like to think that seated diners might massage their stockinged feet on the softened contours of the panels but the stretcher is, in any case, more than robust enough to handle any rough treatment from shoes.

Mirror with flanking display cabinets in oak; handles and door catches in bog oak. A good example of the way commissioned furniture can be designed to meet very particular requirements, this was designed to hang over a mantelpiece and house the client's collection of antique Alice in Wonderland figurines.

Carver chair in oak, based on a design by Chris Faulkner. Making jointed chairs like this takes you away from the comforting certainties of rectilinear furniture

Any chair has to balance competing demands of lightness, elegance and strength, particularly where the seat joins the back. Timber selection and accurate jointing are critical.

Chairs are perhaps the closest that furniture makers get to sculpture

Glass-topped table in English cherry and walnut, designed to stand in a window bay to display plants. The sweeping outer edges of the legs are half round at the top, a much flatter curve at the waist, and narrow to a steep parabola at the foot, varying the thickness of the line of reflected light.

Each set of legs was sawn consecutively from a thick board, showing the progress of the rings through the tree.

A pair of lattice back oak chairs inspired by the English Cotswold School. The fabric was designed and hand-printed by Rapture & Wright.

The chairs with the table made to go with them.

Pedestal tables are strongly constructed to deal with the stress at the top and bottom of the legs when someone leans on the edge. The challenge is to make it elegant as well as robust.

The tenons are secured with apple wood pegs which are faceted to catch the light: an Arts & Crafts technique which is both functional and decorative.

Bedside cabinet - one of a pair, for a room furnished largely with antiques - made from American Black Walnut, with Ebony handles, Sycamore drawer sides and Cedar of Lebanon drawer bottoms.

The clean lines and faces of the chest break into new shapes and colours when you open the drawers.

Box in apple wood, made as a wedding present. The top two dovetail pins on each side stand out slightly to provide purchase for a finger when lifting the lid.

I used more sycamore to line the box: it makes a fine light interior surface and also provides a lip for the tray to sit on.

Table in black walnut, with cherry wood drawer linings, cedar of Lebanon drawer bottoms, sycamore cross-banding and ebony drawer pulls. Light on its feet yet solidly stable.

Drawer pulls echo the profile of the table top