Freestanding and built in
Bespoke Furniture for Every Room
We design and make dressers, bookcases, media cabinets, study furniture and window seats for your home, in the same workshop near Horsham where our kitchens are made.
- Made to Measure
- Made Near Horsham
- Fitted by Our Team
- Managed Sources
Bespoke Furniture Made by Fine Cabinet Makers
Sylvan Design makes bespoke furniture by hand at its workshop near Horsham, West Sussex. The fine cabinet makers and designers who make our kitchens also make furniture for the rest of the house: dressers and sideboards for the dining room, bookcases and cupboards for alcoves, cabinets for a television and its equipment, desks and shelving for a study, and window seats with storage below.
Every piece starts with the room it will live in. We look at the proportions of the space, the height of the ceiling, the line of the skirting and the position of the windows, and we ask what the piece needs to hold. Each piece brings together fine materials, traditional craftsmanship and an entirely bespoke approach, so it is sized and detailed for its own room.
Freestanding or Built In
One of the first decisions is whether a piece should stand on its own or be built into the room. A freestanding dresser, sideboard or bookcase is made as a complete piece of furniture, finished on every visible side, and it can move with you if you ever leave the house. A built in piece is fixed to the wall and fitted to the floor and ceiling, so it uses every centimetre of an alcove or recess and looks as though it has always been part of the room.
Both are made in the same way in our workshop. Built in furniture tends to suit alcoves, chimney breasts and awkward corners, while freestanding pieces suit open walls and furniture you may want to take with you one day. In a bedroom, for example, a chest of drawers or a dressing table might stand on its own, with made to measure wardrobes built in around it. We talk through the choice for each room at the consultation.
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Furniture for Each Room of the House
Tap a room on the plan to see the furniture we make for it.
Choose a room
Ground floor
Hall
Hall benches with drawers beneath, console tables and slim cupboards for coats and shoes, made to the width of the hall.
Ground floor
Sitting Room
Bookcases and cupboards for the alcoves beside the chimney breast, and a cabinet for the television and its equipment.
Ground floor
Dining Room
Dressers, sideboards and drinks cabinets, with glazed doors where you would like glass and china on show.
Ground floor
Kitchen
Dressers and display cabinets, such as the glazed dressers we made for the kitchens at Downend and Old Hospital House.
Ground floor
Study
A desk made to your height, with bookcases, drawers for files and doors that close the work away at the end of the day.
First floor
Landing
Low bookcases and linen cupboards, shaped where needed to the slope of the ceiling.
First floor
Playroom
A window seat with deep drawers, shelving for books and games, and cupboards that keep toys tidy.
First floor
Bedroom
Chests of drawers, dressing tables, bedside cabinets and window seats, made alongside fitted wardrobes.
Dressers, Sideboards and Display Cabinets
A dresser is often the piece that gives a room its character. We have made glazed dressers as part of our kitchens, including the glazed dresser at Downend, made alongside larder cupboards in a kitchen painted in Farrow & Ball Downpipe and Pavilion Grey, and the glazed dresser at Old Hospital House, in a kitchen of Farrow & Ball Shaded White cabinetry with antique brass hardware.
The same thinking applies in a dining room or a hall. A sideboard can be made to the length of the wall, with drawers for cutlery and table linen and cupboards for serving dishes. A display cabinet with glazed doors protects glass and china from dust while leaving it on show, and a drinks cabinet can be fitted out with racks for bottles and shelves for glasses.
Bookcases and Window Seats
Period houses often have alcoves either side of a chimney breast, and they are a natural place for furniture made to measure. A common arrangement is a cupboard below, with its top set to line up with the window sill or the dado rail, and open shelves above for books and pictures. The shelves can be spaced to suit the books you own, from paperbacks to large art books, and the cupboards below keep games, papers and other everyday things out of sight.
A window seat makes a deep window or a bay into a place to sit, with drawers or lift up lids below for blankets, cushions or toys. On a landing or under the eaves, low bookcases and cupboards can be shaped to the slope of the ceiling, so space that is usually lost becomes useful. Where the work extends to panelling a whole wall or room, it becomes bespoke joinery, and the two are often designed together.
Media Cabinets and Study Furniture
A television, speakers and the equipment that goes with them need a home that keeps them tidy. We design media cabinets around the equipment you have, with space behind for cables, openings for ventilation and doors that close over the parts you would rather not see. Where the television hangs on the wall, the cabinets and shelves below and around it can be drawn as one design, so the wall looks considered rather than crowded.
A study needs furniture that works hard and stays orderly. A desk can be made to the height that suits you, with drawers for papers and a cupboard for the printer, and a wall of bookcases can be built around it. If the room is also used as a snug or a spare bedroom, the working area can close away behind a pair of doors at the end of the day.
Painted in Heritage Colours or Left in Natural Timber
Painted finishes are the signature of our work, and our furniture can be painted in the same named heritage colours we use for our kitchens. Our projects have used Farrow & Ball, Mylands, Paint & Paper Library and Dulux Heritage colours, and a piece can be matched to your kitchen, to the woodwork of the room, or painted in a deeper shade so that it stands out. Every piece is fully finished in our workshop and arrives at your home ready to use.
Timber can also be left on show. We have used oak for a wine room and for a dovetailed knife drawer, and American black walnut for the interiors of a kitchen, and the same materials can be used for the inside of a cabinet, the top of a sideboard or a whole piece. Our guide to painted kitchen colours shows the colour pairings from our projects, which are a useful starting point for furniture too.
How We Make a Piece of Furniture
We start with a consultation, where we look at the room, take initial measurements and talk about how the piece will be used. We then prepare drawings that show its proportions, doors, drawers, mouldings and hardware, and we guide you through the choice of timber, paint and handles before anything is made.
Each piece is then handmade in our workshop to your exact specification, combining traditional techniques with modern precision, and our own team delivers and installs it. Built in pieces are scribed on site, which means their edges are cut to follow the exact line of your walls, floor and ceiling, so they sit tight even in an older house where nothing is quite straight. If the furniture is part of a wider renovation, we coordinate our work with your builder and the other trades.
At a Glance
What to Expect
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Made in Our Workshop
Every piece is handmade by our own cabinet makers at Plummers Plain, near Horsham.
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Drawn for Your Room
Proportions, mouldings and storage are designed around the room and the things you will keep in it.
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Heritage Paint Colours
Choose from the named heritage colours we use for our kitchens, matched to your kitchen or to the room.
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Freestanding or Built In
Pieces that can move house with you, or furniture fitted tight to the walls, floor and ceiling.
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Traditional Techniques
We combine traditional cabinet making with modern precision, so each piece is made to last.
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Installed by Our Team
We deliver and install every piece ourselves, and plan our visit around your builder and other trades.
Fantastic craftsmanship and incredible attention to detail. I felt in control throughout the time we worked with Sylvan because they kept us fully informed every step of the way.
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Sylvan Design makes bespoke furniture in its own workshop at Stonehouse Farm, Plummers Plain, near Horsham in West Sussex. Our fine cabinet makers and designers design, make and install dressers, sideboards, bookcases, alcove cupboards, media cabinets, study furniture and window seats. Most of our furniture goes to homes in and around Horsham, Dorking, Cranleigh, Guildford, Oxted and Reigate, and we also work throughout Surrey, Sussex, Kent and London.
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Yes. A dresser, sideboard or bookcase can be painted in the same named heritage colour as your kitchen cabinetry, or in a complementary colour, and it can share the door style, mouldings and handles so that the pieces sit together. All finishing is completed in our workshop before the furniture is installed, so the colour and finish are consistent from one piece to the next.
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We make both. Freestanding pieces such as dressers, sideboards, bookcases and chests of drawers are finished on every visible side and can move with you if you leave the house. Built in pieces are fitted to the walls, floor and ceiling of one particular room. At the consultation we talk through which approach suits each room and each piece.
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The cost depends on the size of the piece, the materials, the paint and hardware, and how much fitting it needs. We give you a narrow price range at the consultation stage and confirm the final price when the design is complete and the timber, paint and hardware have been chosen. A deposit then reserves your manufacturing slot so that the design work can begin.
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Yes. Older houses rarely have square walls or level floors, so built in furniture is scribed on site, with its edges cut to follow the line of the wall, floor or ceiling. Freestanding pieces can be levelled on their feet or plinth. We measure the room carefully before anything is made, and the drawings take account of any slopes, beams or uneven corners.
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Yes. We offer a complete service directly from our workshop, so every piece is designed, made, delivered and installed by our own team. If your furniture is part of a wider project, we agree the timing with you at the scheduling stage and coordinate with your builder, decorator and the other trades working in the house.
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Talk to Us About a Piece of Furniture
If you have a room in mind for a dresser, a bookcase or a window seat, please call us on 01403 892554 or email [email protected]. Sylvan Design is based in Horsham and makes bespoke furniture for homes across Surrey, Sussex, Kent and London, and we would be glad to visit, see the space and talk through what we could make for it.
We work most often in Horsham· Dorking· Cranleigh· Guildford· Oxted· Reigate