Handmade in Brighton

Artisan designer-makers Handmade in Brighton are award-winning creators of stunning live-edge tables. These bespoke statement pieces are hand-crafted using traditional techniques, beautiful hardwoods and unique resin-embedded items such as large ammonite fossils or antique keys to reflect each client’s story.

Handmade in Brighton is a designer-maker partnership launched in 2015, producing uniquely crafted tables to a beautifully high standard with particular attention paid to the nuances and character of the natural timber being used. Always prototyping new ideas, the creative partnership of Jude Payne (Royal College of Art trained artist-designer) and Jonathan Vigour (dyed-in-the-wool artisan-craftsman) has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, bagging no less than five Best of Houzz awards and appearing in magazines such as Elle Decoration, House & Garden, Vogue, Sunday Times and World of Interiors.

Jude’s take: “We love making tables that really reflect our clients’ own stories - they are totally involved in the design and timber selection, and it’s great to know that we are making a centrepiece of home life that will stay with their family for many years.”

Jonathan’s take: “As an artisan workshop we are committed to a biophilic approach to working with these beautiful timbers, bringing an experience of and connection to the natural world into our 21st century homes - we use hand tools to bring out their natural qualities which produces an artisan surface which is fairly smooth but has undulations and tool marks giving a tactile natural personality to our tables.”

“Our largest table to date was made for Wilderness Reserve, a stunning country estate in Suffolk. It’s a massive 8.9m long made in four sections made of the most amazing American Walnut. Last time we visited, the estates manager told us that fashion designer Alexa Chung had her birthday bash there, which apparently involved a certain amount of dancing on the tables!”