New Bespoke Furniture Maker Website for Midwinter Furniture

Midwinter Furniture is Brian Midwinter's workshop at Pulham Market Hall, near Diss in Norfolk. Brian qualified in furniture making with City & Guilds in 1994, spent more than 25 years restoring and making furniture, and opened his own workshop in 2018. Every piece he makes is designed with its owners and made for one room. Now Midwinter Furniture has a rebuilt website that lets the furniture do the talking.

Here is what we built, with screenshots from the live site, and why each part is there.

Lead with the furniture

A furniture maker's best argument is the furniture. So the home page opens on two finished pieces at full height: a walnut and resin dining table and bookcases built round a sitting room. The headline, "Bespoke furniture, handmade in Pulham Market", and Start your piece sit underneath, with Brian's experience in one line.

The design starts from the Midwinter logo. Its capitals are set in Cinzel, the typeface that matches them, on warm charcoal and stone with a gold button. The colours stay out of the way, so oak, walnut and painted timber keep their true colour in every photo.

Two finished pieces before a single word.

A gallery that shows the pieces properly

People commissioning a wardrobe or a table want to see rooms like theirs. The home page gallery gives each piece a large photo, and the full gallery holds 34 commissions that can be filtered by room: dining, bedrooms, living rooms, halls and boot rooms, and kitchens, offices and bathrooms. Choose any piece to see it larger.

Large photos, so the work does the selling.

34 commissions, with a filter for each room.

The timber and the room, for every piece

Under the gallery, six pieces from the workshop are listed with their timber and the room they were made for, from painted alcove units with lit shelves to a solid oak table that seats eight. Point at one and its photo appears beside the list.

What it is, what it's made of and where it lives.

A page for each room

Dining rooms, bedrooms and dressing rooms, living rooms, and halls, stairs and boot rooms each have their own page with the pieces Brian has made for them. The dining page lists the decisions he talks through with every customer: how many it seats, the timber and the board for the top, the edge, any resin or glass inserts, the base and the finish.

Every detail is your choice, and the page says which ones.

How a commission works

Commissioning furniture is new to most people, so the site explains it in five steps: a conversation about the room, initial sketches, a detailed CAD design, swatches and samples of timber and finish, then making, delivery and installation. Nobody has to wonder what happens after they get in touch.

Brian's story

The about page tells it plainly: day release from Norfolk Training Services with a cabinet maker in Ditchingham, his City & Guilds in 1994, years at Three Bells Furniture, and his own workshop at Pulham Market since 2018. It also lists the timbers he works with, from oak, ash, cherry and walnut to birch ply.

One maker, from first sketch to fitting.

An enquiry that starts the conversation

The contact form asks which room the piece is for and what you'd like made, and invites photos and rough sizes, so Brian can reply with something useful. On a phone, Call Brian and Start your piece stay at the bottom of every screen.

A few lines is plenty.

Behind the scenes, every page has its own title and description, and the site tells Google that this is a bespoke furniture maker near Diss and what he makes. Rankings take time, and we won't promise a position.

What makers can take from this

If you make things to order, Midwinter Furniture shows what a good website needs:

• Open with your best finished piece, at full size.
• Let people browse the work by room or by type.
• Say what each piece is made of and where it lives.
• Explain how a commission works, step by step.
• Tell your story, with the dates and the training.

Read the Midwinter Furniture case study for the full project, or visit the Midwinter Furniture website and start your piece.

Want a website like this for your business?

Webfreezee designs and builds your website for free. You see the real site, ask for changes and decide whether to go live. It's £20 a month once it's live, with hosting, the Portal and real human support included.

See what you get for £20 a month, or start your free website.