Thakeham Furniture

General information

Thakeham Furniture is a small, family business, established by Tim and Belinda Chavasse in 1987. Tim and Belinda met at college, whilst studying to become antique furniture restorers - Tim coming from Agricultural College, and brought up with antiques, and Belinda with a degree in Art History. Our colleague Anthony Tester, a highly skilled restorer, has been with us from the start.

The business, started at Thakeham in Sussex, has evolved from gaining experience working on furniture for dealers and collectors, to trading ourselves: firstly from premises in Pulborough, along with antique fairs. Then, 10 years ago, to our present shop in Petworth, West Sussex. Our son Robert and daughter Harriet have grown up helping at antique fairs, or manning the shop when we are able to escape for holidays. Robert studied Fine Art and is now working in London, and Harriet studied Graphic Design and is now a very valuable member of our team; she has helped develop our large, user-friendly website, skills that have pushed our business into the 21st century.

We have large showrooms covering several rooms over two floors, close to the car park in Petworth. We stock a comprehensive range of mostly English antique furniture from the 18th and 19th centuries. We have both mahogany and oak and country furniture, and also an eclectic mix of rosewood, walnut and yew wood pieces. One of our specialities is upholstered furniture – armchairs and sofas are fully re-upholstered in top quality fabrics, traditional, but with a modern twist!

We are open six days a week. We are all pleased to welcome you and happy for you to look round our workshops, which we have on the premises. All pieces are thoroughly checked over, cleaned and waxed before coming into the showroom; if drawer runners are worn or handles are loose, these are repaired, and any signs of woodworm are treated. We are members of LAPADA [the London and Provincial Antique Dealers’ Association], which allows you the confidence of buying under their strict codes of practise.

Our emphasis is on originality; most of our stock is ‘useful’ furniture of clean, simple design with good patination and colour. We have our own wax polishing method that that preserves the pieces in top condition, and are also keen to keep our pricing competitive.

We offer a personal delivery service in our company van.