WoodEdit’s Timeless Handcrafted Furniture

We like to think of WoodEdit as an enviable dream edit of wood furniture carefully designed, curated and handcrafted by husband and wife team, Paul and Maria Le Mesurier. Her creative vision and his finely honed woodworking skills evolved into a passion project that kindled their custom, made-to-order furniture collection.

Paul is the craftsman and maker, carving each piece in his workshop next to the South Downs in West Sussex. Following a long career as an osteopath, Paul took a year-long sabbatical in 2011 and immersed himself in the study of traditional boatbuilding in Suffolk. While there, he fell in love with the idea of switching from using his hands to treat people through osteopathy to using those same hands to make beautiful, timeless pieces of furniture for his customers to enjoy.

Maria is the venture’s creative director. She designs, styles and photographs the furniture pieces in the couple’s home, a former West Sussex stable, documenting WoodEdit’s minimalist aesthetic via her Instagram account, @marialemesurier. Her passion for nature, simplicity and authenticity perfectly mirrors WoodEdit’s ethos — understated, high-quality pieces made from responsibly sourced woods, and crafted to last for generations.

The parents of five children, the couple cleverly use every room in their 17th-century home to showcase their work and provide inspiration for all of us. Peg rails and boot racks line the walls in a hallway, where handwoven baskets from Portugal and Spain corral everyday necessities. The entire family can gather around Paul’s extra-large ash wood table that cozies up to a wood stove in the kitchen.

Throughout the home, Paul’s little square tables and graceful consoles, tall, tapered-leg tables and skinny benches display antique Italian glass bottles and olive pots that Maria fills with tree branches and a variety of found foliage from the surrounding woods. “These are the things that breathe life into rooms,” she says.

Wood, sisal, jute, terra-cotta, botanicals, linen — all natural elements that blend together to form a warm tableau for the true heroes of the Le Mesurier home, the simply crafted wood pieces made by a healer’s hands.