Historic Joinery, Antique Restoration & Bespoke Furniture
Where the old and the new live and breathe together.
Hello, I’m Owen, from Owen Blackwood Craftsmanship. We are a family-run business based in Chester.
We specialise in historic joinery, antique restoration and bespoke joinery for heritage homes and modern living spaces.
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We make, restore and design interiors that match the character of your home, your taste, and the way you live now – using only the finest timbers and natural materials, chosen for their beauty, strength and longevity.
Every piece is designed for modern living and made to bring joy for years to come.
We understand how to preserve what’s easily lost.
We work with people who have special, often historic homes. Places full of old details that need bringing back to life, where careless or clumsy handling could easily spoil their character.
Our projects includes the restoration of a historic building on the Titanic family’s estate – alongside other heritage properties where every beam and scuff tells a story.
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It might be floors, panelling or joinery that’s been there for centuries, but we restore it in a way that preserves the age and enhances it. We carve, colour and age everything by hand, making what’s new sit naturally alongside what’s been there for generations.
We can also create something quite special that’s going to last.
Something unusual, practical and bespoke, designed to make everyday living a little less ordinary.
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It could be a solid oak and antique brass kitchen brushed with white pigment to bring out the grain, and built around how you cook. An extended Art Deco table for family dinners for ten. Or a beautiful box made as a wedding gift.
Something crafted to last a lifetime.
From grand commissions to personal keepsakes, we take pride in creating things that bring pleasure, meaning and a quiet sense of wonder.
Services
Historic Joinery
Historic joinery is about understanding how things were built to last. We work with the same principles craftsmen have used for centuries. Joints that move with the building. Proportions that feel right to the eye. Materials that stand the test of time.
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From staircases and doors to floors and gates, we design and make pieces using the same historic methods and ratios that have guided makers since the Greeks first studied what makes something beautiful.
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Give us one size and we’ll work out every other from it – the perfect tread for a stair, the curve that fits the hand – so whatever we build feels right in your home, fits naturally, and carries the quiet elegance of something truly timeless.​
Antique Restoration
We work with antiques and old surfaces that have lived through hundreds of years. Waxed, walked on, tired or bashed. Over time, footsteps and hands have built a unique, sensitive surface that can’t be recreated. When that’s sanded away, the age and beauty go with it.
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We restore your antiques and architectural features – floors, panelling, doors, staircases and interiors – understanding how those surfaces are built, how they move and how they age, and what’s needed to preserve them and bring back their original beauty.
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Each piece is a conversation with the past. Who made it, who used it? What stories does it carry?
That’s what makes every project so fascinating; you never quite know what you’ll uncover until you begin.
Bespoke Furniture
We design and make interiors and one-of-a-kind furniture – pieces created around how you live, work, host and rest.
From a handcrafted home library, dressing room or boot room, to a rocking chair commissioned for grandparents with the family name carved into the back, or a round kitchen that becomes the heart of the family home.
Every detail – the timber, the joinery, the finish – is shaped with precision, care and pride.
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People often say they’ve never seen anything quite like it.
That’s what we love most: creating interiors that lift your space, spark conversation, and still draw admiration years later.​
About Owen Blackwood Craftsmanship
I’ve been around wood for as long as I can remember. My dad was a carpenter, and I grew up helping him build houses, learning how things fit together and what it means to make something properly. By my teens, I was already restoring furniture, and I've worked with wood ever since.
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I trained in Scotland in furniture design and making in Glasgow, where Charles Rennie Mackintosh made his name. Later, I worked with some of the country's best restorers on pieces for private collections and museums, including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair in London, and HMS Victory, Lord Nelson’s flagship.
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These years taught me patience, precision and respect for materials.
​Five years ago, I started Owen Blackwood Craftsmanship with my wife, Eleanor. She brings her artistic flair, and our daughters often lend a hand when things get busy.
I do the work myself, by hand, and bring in trusted specialists when a project calls for it.
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Whether we’re restoring a historic staircase, designing bespoke joinery or creating a new piece of furniture, our approach is the same: make it well, make it last, and make it feel right.
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We believe in service, the kind built on care and craftsmanship. Every piece leaves our hands ready to be lived with and loved, while finding a place in your story.
"Owen is an outstanding craftsman and a real pleasure to work with. He takes great pride in what he does, and it shows in the quality and finish of his work. Everything was done with care, attention to detail, and a clear passion for his craft. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him."
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— Mr & Mrs J in Wirral