About Us
Hello and Welcome to Art Deco Wardrobes. My name is Paul Chamberlain and together with my wife, Elaine, we run the business Art Deco Wardrobes, searching, restoring and selling antique furniture specialising in the Art Deco Era
namely 1920s/30s, here in Devon for just shy of 40 years!
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We met at 17 and have been in the Antique furniture trade ever since. We operate from modern warehouse premises in North Devon, England not too far from the glorious surf beaches to the North of the county, Westward Ho!, Croyde and Bude to name but a few. If you recall the beginning of the film Jaws with the beach party in the sand dunes, it is just like that.
Our commute is just 3 miles along the banks of the River Torridge to work each day with our 2 bearded collies, Sam and Alice. On our days off its down to the same beaches with the dogs or occasionally out with our 3 children on our 30 foot wooden motor boat, Orca, for trips around the bay.
I left school knowing I wanted to follow this path only briefly detouring to go to college to gain a City and Guilds certificate. To be honest though, the real learning happens out in real life and what a life it is. I have handled some incredible furniture over the years and also visited some amazing customers homes and it is lovely seeing one of your pieces that has been carefully restored going into one of these beautiful setting to be enjoyed.
We have gained many friends over the years who started off as customers. These days we have streamlined the business to stay ahead of the game and have gone “all in” as an online business. We regularly ship to the USA, France, Italy, Germany and even Australia. We custom make our shipping crates and pack on site aswell to ensure all of our pieces reach you in perfect condition.
We don’t hide behind a platform of dealers but proudly stand alone, having full control over how our customers are treated, delivering super quick deliveries where we can, and not having to factor in commissions and fees from these sites.
We believe in treating our customers the good old fashioned way, with personal attention, phone calls straight through to us at any time, being flexible and able to accommodate our customers needs. A good example of this is the number of people who purchase items whilst in the middle of a project and they have decorators or builders who over run, but they see a piece they must have, we are always happy to store this until the project is ready for it at no extra cost to you the customer, which in turn takes the stress out of peoples projects knowing that when things over run we are really flexible and it is a pleasure to help.
Here are some behind the scene pictures of what a normal day looks like for us.
As you will see there are many facets to the business but the workshop is the core of it, every single piece passes through and is thoroughly examined and repaired by craftsmen with over 40 years experience working solely on antique furniture. Restoration work which includes sympathetic restoration of exotic veneers, full grain filling, traditional French polishing. Each piece will undergo a methodical process where veneer losses, loose joints, damaged components, damaged hinges, broken locks, missing shelves, drawers runner and liners, mitered joints, handles and in fact everything else are all thoroughly checked and repaired as necessary prior to reaching the French polishing stage and from there the French polishing very slowly, but very satisfyingly develops a lovely deep shine which is how Art Deco Furniture was always intended to be.
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Art Deco Furniture was designed to be exciting, progressive, thought provoking, glamorous, modern and luxurious. The numerous coats of French polish bring out a deep full blown shine which enhances the grain on the veneers so that each piece is brought back to its original desirable condition.
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We pride ourselves on understanding the concerns some new customers to our site may have. Buying on the internet can be daunting to say the least but as our customer reviews reveal, it can be exciting and very rewarding too.
Finally I would like to urge you to pick up that phone, go “Old School” phone us for an informal chat, to discuss yours needs, or delivery options (07508161000). You may not want delivery for several months if you are renovating, we understand and it is no problem at all to store free of charge for you until you are ready.
I hope to speak to you all soon, I thoroughly enjoy my work, we love the whole 1920s/30s vibe and as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz “There’s no place like home” so please feel free to contact us and allow us to be part of your homemaking experience.
Best Wishes
Paul and Elaine
