Lethenty Cabinetmakers

16/10/2026

18/09/2026

We are a furniture making business that makes real things.

In a real workshop. With real people.

Using real machines and real timber.

I love our wee workshop. Every morning when I arrive, the place is just buzzing with activity.

After working together for more than twenty five years, there's such a strong sense of teamwork and shared endeavour.

For so many people, work can seem quite meaningless and yet here we are - all working together, making objects of integrity.

What a team! What a blessing!

11/09/2026

The Cabinetmakers of Lethenty took a little time out from their furniture making duties recently to visit the Ash Rise exhibition at Drum Castle.
This exhibition is the Scottish Furniture Makers Association's response to the tragedy of Ash Dieback disease and a celebration of Ash as a timber.

Ash is such a versatile wood - it's tough and springy properties mean it's been extensively used in so many everyday objects - your garden tool handles are Ash, cart wheels, paddles, Moris Traveller cars and even the Dehavilland Mosquito - a WW2 fighter plane - were all made with Ash. It's such a beautiful timber too - particularly the older trees found on Scottish farms and estates. As these veteran Ash trees mature, they develop deep rich colours and swirling grain patterns known as Olive Ash.

One of the aims of the exhibition is to encourage landowners to better understand the implications of Ash Dieback. As many as 70% of Scotland's Ash trees will die over the next decade. Just like with Dutch Elm disease, the beautiful timber within can be milled, dried and put to good use but only if the trees are felled early enough. More information, including a full length feature film featuring our friend Tom Addy is available here - https://www.scottishfurnituremakers.org.uk/exhibitions/ash-rise/

The first picture shows us admiring Tom Cooper's fabulous Emergence cabinet - a beautifully crafted piece of furniture with real presence!

The other pictures show a simple bench we built for the Drum Castle Gardens three years ago using the last few pieces of a windblown Oak from the castle grounds. The shaped back panel was milled from a massive curved limb. We counted the rings very carefully. This tree began it's life in 1789 - the year of the French Revolution!
In Memory of Ann Middleton.

04/09/2026

Remember the four post bed we shared last week? Here are four more pictures from the same project.
Pauline & Robin initially asked us to make the kitchen for their new home near Forres. This was way back in 2008.
The house was designed by highly regarded architect Lachlan Stewart of ANTA Architecture and was built around a massive Oak frame.
Our job was design and build a kitchen that sat well with the solid integrity of this beautiful home and suited the lifestyle of our stylish and creative clients.
This was one of our favourite projects from the early days. It was a pleasure working for such a lovely couple.

28/08/2026

A project from the Lethenty archives this week.

Back in the early years of Lethenty Cabinetmakers (2008) we had the great good fortune to meet with Robin & Pauline, a lovely elderly couple living in a beautiful house near Aberdeen. They had made the decision to leave their home of the past fifty years to move to a new build house near Forres. They initially asked us to design and build them a new Oak kitchen but the commission rapidly expanded to include furniture for several different rooms. I remember we made them bathroom cabinets, utility storage cupboards, a screened porch, bookcases and a fabulous four post bed with a curved roof. What I most remember though, is Pauline and Robin themselves - such a lovely couple with open minds and open hearts. Pauline was a creative force of nature - a talented wood engraver, calligrapher and artist. She learned her craft at the Slade School of Art in the 1950s. I remember we worked together on a carved inscription on the headboard of their bed - "Come Sweet Slumber, enshroud me in thy Purple Cloak." Pauline drew out the lettering and I carved it out of a piece of Aberdeenshire Oak. Don't look too closely - I'm not an expert letter carver but all the same, this was such a joyous collaboration.

The last picture shows one of Pauline's original woodblocks - it's fascinating to see how she has engraved the reverse of the image in such fine detail.

21/08/2026

Here are a couple of photographs of our Eaglais side table.
This was made using some beautiful rich grained premium Black Walnut.
Supplied by our friends at Paterson Timber in Glasgow.
The last picture shows Graeme imprisoned in a cage of walnut legs and sash cramps.

Design by Graeme Winram.
Made with precision by Phil Pratt.
Beautiful lacquer finish by Steve Gordon.

14/08/2026

We quite often include a laser engraved message on our furniture and kitchens but some larger jobs are best carved out by hand.

This old school carved inscription was fitted above the doorway of the oldest house in town.
Beautiful stained glass work by Gordon Watt of Morning Glass Design. ⠀

As I was carving this lettering, a visitor to our workshop asked me, "but what does it actually mean?"
My secular interpretation was that if you don't live your life with goodness in your heart then all your efforts will be for nothing.

07/08/2026

Intimate elegance – The Wh**ky Library

This commission was one of the most satisfying projects we’ve worked on in recent years.
Our client came to us looking to create a sophisticated personal space in which to enjoy three of life’s great pleasures – music, reading and wh**ky.
We were asked to create a warm and comfortable room – cozy and relaxing but also stylish and elegant and here is the completed interior.

If you are interested in commissioning your own luxury interior space, please get in touch - we'd love to hear your plans.

DM to learn more about our luxury interiors.

Photography by Niall Hastie.