5 Questions To Ask Your Custom Furniture Designer

Are you thinking about adding some customized furniture to your home? You’ll be upgrading your living area with a piece you know to be one-of-a-kind, and that’s very special. When looking into custom furniture designers, the more you know about their process, the better! Here are the five to ask your custom furniture maker before committing.

 

What materials do you use? 

What the furniture is made from is as important as anything else. Ask how the craftsperson uses wood, metal, synthetic plastic materials, and other materials in their furniture. Some makers don’t commit to using natural or local materials, and that’s good to know before you pay for an item.

This is a general question that leads to more questions: what dyes and finishes are used? Are these finishes food safe? How do they enhance the look of the wood? If you’re having a piece of furniture custom-made for your home, it’s good to know everything going into it!

 

What are my options? 

If you’re going to have a piece of furniture customized, the final product should be exactly what you wanted. Ask about every option available and don’t be afraid to get into the details. If the furniture maker can’t do something for you, don’t want to wait until it’s too late to find out!

 

Can I see some examples of past work?

Online photos are a great way to get a taste of the furniture maker’s portfolio, but they can be misleading. Ask to tour the showroom or see some examples of their work in person. This is especially important if your request is more unconventional because you’ll want to know that the furniture maker can follow through on your request.

 

Can I take a sample home?

A good custom furniture designer should be accommodating to your needs, and this includes design decisions. A customized table, for instance, is a lot of wood and will most likely be the defining piece of the room. You don’t just need it to be good enough – you need it to be perfect.

So ask about sampling. If you’re unsure about how a certain wood, finish or paint colour will look in the room, request a sample piece of the material for you to take home and compare. Even a small piece of the material can help you put the furniture in context. You can then picture how natural and artificial light look on the finish, how it will look next to the other furniture, and how it works with the colours in the room. 

 

What do you recommend as a custom furniture designer? 

If you’re not sure about what choice to make, why not ask the furniture maker? After all, they do this work for a living! The craftsperson can give you recommendations on the size, shape, colour, and type of material for the home, the specific room, and your lifestyle needs.