OUR STORY
We are Isaac and Alex Chatterton, the husband and wife duo behind Chatterton Studio. Our story began at a furniture exhibition and our life together continues to be a furniture exhibition. Our practice centres on furniture design, built on a deep respect for craftsmanship and beauty.
Isaac leads the design and making, bringing over a decade of experience as a furniture designer and maker. Alex curates the studio’s direction and presentation, drawing on her background in graphic design.
Together, we are committed to creating pieces that invite beauty into every space.
ABOUT THE MAKER
Isaac’s first workshop was under his parents' house in Newmarket, Brisbane before packing up shop and heading to upstate New York where he spent two years apprenticing under artist and craftsperson Joshua Vogel. It was there that he developed a deep respect for traditional woodworking and a particular love for making chairs.
Isaac is fascinated by the history of furniture making, often looking to the past for inspiration. He is a traditionalist, preferring to use old machinery and tooling rather than computer-operated technology. The mark of the human hand is important to him, appreciating the nuances of what only a hand can feel and an eye can see — beauty is not an abstraction, but a quality that requires all of one’s senses.
Explore our Press page for a selection of early exhibitions and recent publications.
OUR PRACTICE
We create pieces we’re instinctively drawn to. Most of our designing and planning happens at home — sketches, ideas, and a lot of back and forth. Collaboration is at the heart of our process, and we try not to take ourselves too seriously.
Our work balances function with beauty, guided by a considered use of colour, refined forms, and honest materials. Our home is an ever-changing landscape of forms and configurations, resembling a lived-in gallery (or, as some friends call it, the ‘Chatterton showroom’).
Our practice centres on designing and making one-off pieces. We take on a small number of collaborative commissions each year. To see our latest work, follow along on Instagram or sign up to our newsletter below to be notified first.
MATERIALS
We work exclusively with solid timber, never veneer or overlays. It allows us to create pieces with a sense of weight, warmth and groundedness, while honouring the natural beauty of the material. We typically work with American hardwoods: Cherry, Oak, Ash and Walnut and slow growing Pines like Hoop and Douglas Fir (Oregon) when available.
Solid timber is a living material and will naturally respond to its environment. Seasonal shifts in temperature and humidity can cause subtle movement, most noticeable at the height of summer and winter. You may see small cracks appear in dry weather and gently close again as moisture returns. We see this as part of the beauty of owning a piece made from solid wood.
Knots, sap lines and other markings are inherent to timber. We embrace these features where possible, and where needed, carefully stabilise or repair them to preserve the strength and integrity of each piece.