Do you provide free quotes?

Yes, if you want we can give you an estimate or a quote if we have enough detail, just email us at info@empatika.uk some rough dimensions and a sketch and ideally some pictures of the area you have in mind and you will get a quote very quickly by email. If you are happy with the estimate then we can come and visit you when it suits you and talk in detail.

How reliable are your carpenters?

We are very reliable, stick to start times and days agreed, we do what we say we will do, we turn up on time every day in order not disrupt your schedule. And we are there throughout the job, not disappearing for one day to do something else.

Do you provide drawings?

Yes once we receive your deposit, we provide you with a hand drawn from scratch 3D computer scale drawing precise to the millimetre for you to check how it looks and to see if you are happy with the dimensions. If you like you can make any changes until the drawing is perfect.

How do I know you will do a good job?

Before I buy anything I read reviews so I suggest you do the same, we have over 100 independent testimonials on the internet. Please have a look at our testimonial page to see what our clients say about us

You call or email us, we asses your needs and give you an estimate or quote, then we arrange a time to come round and visit you, ask you more questions in detail to find out exactly what you would like, listen very carefully to your ideas and offer design ideas and solutions to best use your space and needs. We go away, email you a final quote. Once you decide to go ahead, we take a small deposit, then send you the drawings, once you have agreed the drawing we can book your place in the diary and we agree a start date. We then turn up with the materials and tools and build your units, then once built we paint them or oil them. Then once we are totally finished and you are delighted, only then do you pay us the balance, lastly if you feel testimonials have helped you choose us, please help us keep them fresh and leave us a testimonial here: https://plus.google.com/101927655300158702077/about?hl=en&review=1

Are you going to make a big mess in our house?

We understand that your home is precious and we do everything we can to make sure we leave it in the state we found it. All our materials are cut to size by a specialist cutting company before being delivered to your home, so minimal cutting is required onsite, even then we cover and protect the floors, cover your furniture with plastic sheets, use dust extractors connected directly to power tools, we even use a fine dust and chemical extractor for really sensitive areas, this is well over the top but we like to do the very best we can and offer the best service, and when the work is all finished we take all our rubbish away and give your place a clean.

What materials and finishes do you offer?

Our units are built of quality Medite FSC certified MDF wood then painted, or made of wood veneer we can oil or use matt water based clear varnish, and also melamine coated wood as typically found in kitchen units. We are also pioneering research in alternative healthier eco friendlier materials, we are the first UK fitted furniture company to use UK sourced strawboard which is totally natural and bound with no glues at all to make our bespoke furniture, we can build your units out of formaldehyde free MDF too, we also use recycled plastic sheeting for decorative purposes with lighting behind and recycled glass as well as many other sustainable materials and finishes to find out more please see our eco page.

Do you paint the units and what colours do you offer?

Yes, we use the best quality professional waterbased DULUX and Farrow and Ball eggshell semi matt white paint . If you would like the eco option using more natural paints please see our environment page. We mostly use white but can paint any colour you like (If you would like to paint your fitted furniture we can offer you free advice).

Do you spray the units and do high gloss?

We can arrange to spray the doors and outside visible parts and make the internal carcass of a white or other colour melamine coated laminate.

Are your charges transparent?

All charges are stated in advance in the final quote, you know what you will pay from the start, everything is listed in the quote. Only handles are optional and to be supplied by you or us, also parking is extra, so they are priced separately. All of which is clearly stated in your quote.

Does your service represent value?

For the quality of service we offer from beginning to end we offer outstanding value, we take great pride in producing only the best bespoke furniture that you will be proud to own for years to come, we offer a 2 year guarantee on our work, we are endorsed by various independent certification bodies, we take customer service very seriously, we understand that there is more to producing furniture than wood and screws, your total satisfaction is our number one priority, but don’t take our word for us see what our clients say.

How flexible are you once the work has started if something needs changing?

Our craftsmen all speak good English and have a great deal of skill and will do everything they can if you feel that something needs adapting, for example you change your mind about how many shelves you want, or the spacing between them, then if it is possible we will do what we can to please you, either free of charge or at extra cost depending on what it is.

Can you fix stuff in my home?

Yes if you need anything fixing in your home while we are there making your fitted furniture, if we can do it we will help you out. I like to offer a service that I would like to use myself so for such things as hanging pictures, fixing doors that don’t close and generally anything wood related tell us when we come to measure up for your fitted furniture.

Do you use real wood?

We use real wood veneers or plastic laminates that look like wood but not generally solid wood, we work with close associates who use solid wood, just ask us for contacts.

We don’t do bathrooms but if we are already working in your house doing other fitted furniture, we will consider any storage you would like for your bathroom.

I have sockets where I want my fitted furniture how will you deal with this?

If you have an electrical, phone or TV areal socket that is ok as we can cut a hole in the back so you can still access them, we can move electrical sockets around if they haven’t got far to go. Phone sockets we can more if there is enough spare wire.

Do you make kitchens?

No we don’t make kitchens but sometimes can make units that go in your kitchen such as a bookcase.

Natural willow storage boxes for your fitted furniture.

Home » Blog » Natural willow storage boxes for your fitted furniture.

My company, Empatika, works with people like John Waller to offer our customers options for pull out willow storage baskets that are both beautiful and useful for storing your belongings while knowing that you are contributing to local British crafts and encouraging the best sustainable forestry practises by using such natural and healthy materials in your fitted furniture.

John, makes baskets and willow work, wood turning, chair making and many other skills using wood from forests he has been managing for over 20 years in Sussex, “he says no I am a traditional craftsmen and I am happy living and making my furniture, baskets etc and just been able to do what I love as a craft without having to take it any further than that.”

John holding his basket made of wood from the Willow tree. (Photo by Tristan Titeux)

“the way he looks after his forests the F#C dream about”

What he does is beautiful in the way that he is content with his life, he loves wood, trees, living and working close to nature, he understands what nature has to offer and how to use wood in a sustainable way. His wood is not F#C certified, he does not need that, the way he looks after his forests the F#C dream about, John goes into the forest and carefully selects trees that are ready for use without devastating the area around it and without mowing down the whole forest, he has a great understanding of how the forest works and his job is to maintain and encourage the forest to grow healthy with the right species and the right balance. He is another example of a caring person who thinks deeply about his effect on the environment around him.

This is a Wilow tree taken in my native Belgium, it is an amazing and useful tree, like all trees. (Photo by Tristan Titeux)

“The flowers of the willow have been used for insomnia, migraines and anxiety”

My dad used to be an Ecologist and Herbalist in Belgium, he spoke on the national radio and wrote about wild plants. In his ” Les fiches vertes de Jose Titeux” he wrote in french that the bark of the wood is reputed to be astringent, a tonic and antiseptic. It stimulates appetite, helps the digestion and strengthens the digestive system, maybe I should take some then as my digestion isn’t great. He says it is also good for chronic rheumatism, I should tell my mum! He says that it is used in homeopathy for rheumatism too, the leaves are useful too but to a lesser degree. The flowers of the willow have been used for insomnia, migraines and anxiety.

“along comes modern man and he thinks he can out do nature”

Well there you are, if at the end of the useful life of your basket, you have nothing left to do with it, you can always make a tea and sort out your tummy! That is the kind of thing I love about nature, she gives us all we need and not only that it is healthy, natural and designed to work perfectly with our bodies that have evolved over thousands of years with her. Then along comes modern man and he thinks he can out do nature. She has years of experience and he is a baby, yet he produces synthetic materials that pollute the land where it is sourced, pollute the air and water where it is processed, uses up tons of energy to manufacture it, then more to distribute it! It doesn’t end there, it lives in your home where it slowly pollutes it and you and at the end of it’s life it gets thrown away and carries on polluting.

“at the end of it’s life it can be used to cure you of disease better than any man made chemical drug”

Ooh what a contrast to the good old Willow, living graciously beside the stream, cleaning up the water, holding the bank together, feeding countless insects, birds and mammals, and producing every year without fail a crop of thin wood sticks ready for us to cut and weave into many different useful objects. They grow everywhere in England, give back to the land instead of polluting, they clean the air too, are easy to take care off and require low energy input apart from physical human energy, but that is something we don’t use enough of these days.

My dad Jose Titeux out and about in his local town of Liege in Belgium.

The willow has a very low manufacturing footprint, just cut, soak in water and weave. Then at the end of it’s life it can be used to cure you of disease better than any man made chemical drug, or it can be composted, thrown in a woodland to produce habitat for wildlife or burned in the home fire.

What a perfect circle that makes, I love it, the thought fills me with joy!

I don’t like using the word hate and always tell my children not to use it, so sorry boys, but I hate injustice, and I promote the use of natural and sustainable materials because it is unjust not to use them, they are there for us to use, they are the perfect materials for us and a lot of us don’t realised it, we are sitting on a gold pot and replacing it with fake tat, for the sole reason that tat can be patented and profited from.

But I see a world where we will be more just and fairer.

There are more and more young people producing and doing things to help the world, help those in need, help nature from being pillaged completely, and this is what drives me forward. I can see the light, I can see that there is a way out of this mess we are in. We need to learn from our past and realised that this is the way to learn about the future. If you ignore the past you ignore the knowledge and experience of millions of people that have come before you.

Thank you Jose for teaching me the things you have taught me. Thank you for being so generous.

I better stop now, or this will never end.

If you want to hear more of my view of the world, materials and ethical furniture my book will be out in 2012.

I wish you all the luck in the world and if you need me to help you with anything I am there for you.

Tristan Titeux 21 November 2011

To connect with me through social media you can search my name in Google.

My Twitter is @TristanTiteux