Pros and Cons of Custom Furniture – Luxury or Common Sense?

Today, as prices for mass-market furniture have moved out of the "economy" range and high-end furniture has become even more expensive, custom-made furniture is gaining popularity. And we're not talking about ordinary wardrobes made from particle board. Custom furniture is not only comparable in cost to ready-made furniture made from similar materials but can even be more budget-friendly. Let's look at the nuances of this issue.

Pros

1. Material Selection

Solid wood or MDF, stone or concrete, forged metal or painted steel, regular glass or stained glass, natural fabrics or synthetic ones. When it comes to solid wood furniture, the choice usually lies between different types of timber. The finishing elements and hardware are also selected for each specific item. Therefore, the cost of furniture will not include options that the customer doesn't need.

Design: Milla Titova.

2. "Your" Furniture

Carefully tailored to the centimeter, with individual functionality, desired color and shade, and stylistically planned – furniture made specifically for your home cannot be compared to mass-market ready-made furniture. The more complex the geometry of the space, the more important it is to plan the ergonomics of the future furniture. The higher the aesthetic expectations of the client, the more likely they are to choose custom furniture.

Design: Lina Lenskikh.

3. Creating High-Quality Copies

This is an option for those who have found furniture they dream of but didn't want to spend too much on it. Or maybe a photo was found, but the place to buy it is unknown. Making an item in a private workshop is significantly cheaper, and a "personal" copy can even be better than the original.

Design: Maryam Pousti.

4. Furniture as an Art Object

A piece of furniture can be so original that the entire interior will revolve around it. Of course, such a piece cannot be bought ready-made, as it exists only in the imagination of the client or designer. But only until a craftsman is found who can bring the idea to life. Such furniture is not replaced with every renovation, it is treated with care and passed on to the next generation.

Design: TorySun.

Cons

1. Manufacturing Time

Planning an interior with custom furniture requires allocating 1 to 6 months for production, depending on delivery distance, material availability, order volume, and complexity. If you don't want to wait long, then the option "go and buy" is for you.

2. Expectation vs Reality

You imagined, discussed, waited, and received it – and... it doesn't appeal to you. Of course, in the case where material samples were viewed, all details discussed, and a sketch was drawn, unexpected surprises should not happen. But sometimes, without seeing the final result in person, the client envisions some details differently.

Even a piece carefully examined in a store will look different once installed at home. Therefore, when ordering furniture based on a picture, one should be prepared for some surprises – for example, visually larger or smaller dimensions, color shade mismatches, unexpected texture, and so on.

3. Poor Quality and Missed Deadlines

Unfortunately, this happens. Therefore, it's better to order from verified craftsmen, if possible, by viewing samples, visiting the production facility, and reading reviews. This is especially true for orders made through the internet. It's also important to sign a contract with clearly defined delivery times, product characteristics, prices, and responsibilities of the manufacturer.

What do Russian designers think about custom-made furniture?

Cartelle Design: "The more detailed the technical specification, the better the result"

Dennis Krasikov INTERIOR DESIGNER
Cartelle Design Studio

Anastasia Struchkova INTERIOR DESIGNER
Cartelle Design Studio

We have extensive experience using various custom-made items, and not always successfully. We still do this project by project and rarely use ready-made furniture. But each time, we encounter a series of difficulties. Approximately 80% of factories, manufacturers, and private craftsmen delay delivery times. Delays can range from several days to months. There was even a case where furniture arrived just a day before the opening of a public space, but it was not the right color… The opening had to be canceled, the furniture taken away and remade.

20% of manufacturers completed their work perfectly. Magically and divinely – we will return to them many times. And 80% – mostly cabinet makers – are a challenge.

Our advice is to always attach a detailed technical specification to the contract, where colors, materials, mechanisms, sizes, and everything else are described in detail. If it's cabinet furniture, always check the technical drawing before cutting any material! Each sheet. Even if there are 105 sheets. It's better to spend 4 hours of your time in advance than to wait a month for corrections!

Design: Cartelle Design.

Sergey Kovalyov: "Furniture with perfectly planned dimensions and functionality creates a harmonious space in the house".

Sergey Kovalyov
Architect
Founder of ArtBaza.design studio

Custom furniture is an opportunity for a homeowner to create a harmonious and comfortable space in the house. We often design and order exclusive furniture for our clients because its dimensions and functions are pre-planned, meaning it will fit perfectly into the interior and be used 100%. Correctly planned furniture placement significantly reduces the burden on living space. Precise measurements and drawings ensure that useful area is not lost, guaranteeing no gaps, so everything will look beautiful and functional.

Today, the advantages of custom furniture are understood by representatives of both modest one-room apartments and spacious country homes. Demand is growing, and seeing this, we launched our own production of luxury exclusive furniture made from high-quality materials with partners.

For now, we are designing and producing designer tables made from stainless steel and marble, but as practice shows, this is just the beginning.

Design: ArtBaza.design studio.