Knowledge Passed Through The Workshop
Distinctive Country Furniture was founded in Somerset by Brian Purnell following a career in furniture restoration. Time spent studying, repairing and preserving historic furniture and interiors gave Brian an informed understanding of proportion, construction and architectural detail.
That knowledge developed into a workshop making furniture and architectural joinery for period buildings and traditionally designed interiors. The aim was not simply to reproduce an old design, but to understand why it worked and make something that felt at home in its setting.
Today, Brian’s son Rob Purnell leads the workshop. The business has developed, but the underlying approach remains the same: begin with the building, draw carefully and make with a clear understanding of the period.
Historically Informed Design
Made For The Building
Historic interiors are a working reference rather than a decorative theme. Their proportions, mouldings, construction and relationship to the room help us decide how new work should be designed.
We draw on Tudor, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Georgian, Gothic Revival and Arts & Crafts traditions where they are appropriate, without forcing one period language onto every building. Surviving details, architectural drawings and the way a room will be used all contribute to the design.
Whether the commission is a panelled library, a fitted study or a single piece of furniture, the work should contribute to the architecture of the room and feel settled within it.
Made In Somerset
Knowledge Held In The Workshop
Each commission is developed and made in our Somerset workshop. Design, setting out and making remain closely connected, so questions can be resolved on the drawing board, at the bench or around a full-size template.
Traditional hand skills and modern machinery are used where each is most appropriate. Accuracy matters, but so does the judgement needed to read the grain, refine a moulding and understand how separate parts will come together in the building.
Working in this way allows knowledge to pass between generations and disciplines, while keeping responsibility for the finished result within one workshop.
Specialist Finishing
The Final Layer Of Character
The finish determines how the timber reads in the room and how it will develop through use.
Our in-house finishing work includes staining, patination, polishing, waxing and painted finishes. Samples are developed to suit the timber, the surrounding interior and the degree of age or variation the project calls for.
The aim is a surface that belongs with the architecture: considered at installation, practical in daily use and able to age naturally rather than appear separate from its surroundings.
Looking Forward
While our work is rooted in the past, our focus has always been on creating pieces that will become part of a home’s future.
The workshop continues to develop through new commissions, shared knowledge and the careful study of historic work. What we make is intended to be lived with, to age well and to become part of the building rather than sit apart from it.
To start a conversation, use the button below or email project@dcflimited.co.uk.