The Oulton family has a long heritage in the antiques business, with decades of experience in truly authentic handcraftsmanship. Everything in the Timothy Oulton Collection is built by hand in our own workshops using time-honoured techniques - hand carving, traditional joinery, unique hand-finishing processes for our leathers. It takes longer, but it's the only way to achieve the intricate detailing that makes our pieces so special.
fine detailing
Hand-tufting
Tim Oulton was always obsessed with Chesterfields. When he was
working in the antiques industry, he would buy any Chesterfield
sofa put in front of him - even the broken ones, using his
knowledge of materials and craftsmanship to restore them to new.
Today, Timothy Oulton's buttoned-up sofas, beds, chairs and
footstools are all tufted by hand using those same traditional
methods.
To create one Westminster Button 3 seater sofa, 131 buttons are
tufted by hand, and 1,041 studs are nailed in…by hand. The leather
is often hand-finished for a second time once upholstered on the
finished piece, to create the perfect vintage look and feel.
We’re not purely a design company per se. It’s more than that, it’s about the craftsmanship, the materials, the story.
Tim Oulton
Hand-finished leathers
Our leathers are inspired by antique pieces collected from round the world. We source the best quality hides and finish them purely by hand, meticulously adding layers of translucent dyes to build up a rich, totally authentic and unique finish.
Some of our leathers are tumbled by hand, others are polished
with lamb's wool, to create the softest, most beautiful hand
feel.
We're proud to have our own tannery in Brazil, where we've
engineered a unique, technically advanced water management system,
which uses 85% less water and 40% less chemicals during the tanning
process, in a drive to create sustainably processed leathers with
zero impact.
From a sketch to the finished piece, the Mars MK3 is a testament
to true craftsmanship. The metal is cut, curved, welded, and then
polished for around 3 hours to achieve the high shine.
Hand-distressed leather covers the seat and back.
Our Genuine English Reclaimed Timber - or GERT as it's
affectionately known - is reclaimed from old houses, distilleries,
and barns…the wood is over 100 years old. The process is an arduous
one, beginning at the demolition site where the wood is collected
and transported to our workshop. It's then graded, sorted, and
de-nailed. Each nail can only be removed by hand, in order to
preserve as much as possible the natural patina that the timber has
developed over time. To get enough usable wood for a table, up to
600 nails must be removed.
We love to show the touch of the craftsman’s hand on our metal finishes, from visible welding marks to rugged hand-distressing, to the intensive hand-polishing of our shiny steel. Spitfire is one of our proprietary metal finishes, and the most labour-intensive to create.
Inspired by the famous fighter plane's multi-riveted
construction and interlocking aluminium panels, Spitfire was
created after our founder Tim Oulton acquired an actual plane wing
at an antiques market. The finishing requires a five-stage process
to create the impression of worn, distressed metal.
Our driftwood and acrylic collection repurposes salvaged
driftwood collected by hand from riverbeds and shores. The wood is
dried, arranged in a mould, and liquid acrylic is poured. Then
comes the process of cutting, sanding, and polishing. The
interaction between the acrylic and the wood - a living material -
is highly sensitive. The finished piece has to be stabilized for a
number of weeks to ensure perfect symbioses.
Glass Techniques
From hand-blown glass, created using methods that are thousands of years old, to precision cut optical glass, extruded glass, and cast glass with unique textures reminiscent of tree bark and frozen water. Discover our vintage-inspired lighting collection, made by hand.
Much of our lighting collection, including our signature Rex
range, is made using K9 optical glass. K9 behaves like crystal but
is lighter in weight, enabling us to create large, showstopping
installations. It also has excellent dispersion qualities,
diffusing the light for a softer, mellower glow.
Another showstopper, the Tiffany pendant, takes a whole week to
create. Each of the 179 glass drops is hand blown and hand polished
by the masters in our glass workshop.
Every single piece in the Timothy Oulton Collection is a labour
of love, crafted by hand using simple tools, time-honoured
techniques, and generous amounts of the most beautiful and
authentic materials.
Find out more
Read about our roots and inspiration, projects by Timothy Oulton Studio, and our hospitality properties.