Custom Furniture Commissions
Things men have made with wakened hands And put soft life into Are awake through years with transferred touch, And go on glowing For long years.
— D.H. Lawrence
Custom furniture is not a need, it’s a desire. And it’s a long, winding road from initial conversations to receiving a totally unique piece. But for some people, it’s the only way. “Mass market” is not how you see yourself, and your home should be a reflection of that.
The Process
The commissioning experience is the same but different every time, with its own needs, pace and milestones. It is always collaborative, absorbing and enormously satisfying for both of us.
Step 1: The Brief
Where possible I like to start by meeting you where the furniture will live. “Turn up clean and on time” was the only sales advice I was given by a mentor, and it has served me well. Delivering on promises is what bespoke furniture is all about. I’m asking you to trust me with a large chunk of cash based on nothing more than a few sketches and my dazzling wit. Turning up on time is the first step in earning that trust.
The mission of the first meeting is to understand what you need. Anyone interested in bespoke furniture wants something special. But that doesn’t always mean flashy. Creating a piece that quietly enhances the space it lives in without overtaking is much more difficult than making something that screams, “Here I am. LOOK AT ME!”
Having extracted the brief, I’ll leave you with a ballpark figure. The following day I’ll email the brief back to you, with a note that I won’t start the drawings for 14 days. This is 14 days for you to add, change, or otherwise amend the brief.
Step 2: The Drawings
The days leading up to a design day are troublesome for my wife. They follow the same pattern: escalating irritability, loud music and compulsive cleaning. She assures me I start growling at the dogs. There’s a lot of displacement activity. Anything, please, but sitting down to the damn drawings.
I go into my workshop and clear everything off my bench. No other work is done on design days. With nothing on my bench but two sharp pencils and a scalpel, by the end of the day I’ll have a finished set of presentation drawings.
I fill a page with quick, scribbly, mostly crap images. A brain dump to flush out the rubbish and get to the good stuff. The first doodles are like a reheated meal — a shadow of a proper dinner, leftovers from old ideas. I want to get past those, so I dump them all on the page until there’s nothing left but inspiration.
Then I walk the dogs, grab a coffee and it’s back to the bench to turn a doodle into a formal drawing.
These drawings are important. They show you what the thing will look like. They’re also vital for me in the workshop when the kids are sick, it’s the end of the day and my brain has slowed to a creep. What was I doing again? Ah yes, a table.
Now that there is a front, side and plan elevation drawing for me and a perspective drawing for you to hold up and see the thing in your space, I’m done for the day. And I’d better get a good night’s sleep, because tomorrow we do it all over again.
The mentor also told me to never turn up with just one idea, and I’m not game to try and prove her wrong. She never is.
Step 3: The Deposit & Making
If you choose one of my ideas, the way we make it official is a 50% deposit.
In normal circumstances I don’t give expected delivery dates. So much can happen to delay projects that there’s really no point. Unless you have a solid date you must have it by — a restaurant opening, say — we shake hands and I tell you I’ll be in touch when I start.
First thing is to order stock, and when it arrives I let you know. I let you know when the first cut has been made. I keep you updated the whole time. I’m yet to have a client who doesn’t appreciate a blow by blow account of the making.
Step 4: Delivery Day
I enjoy the design period. I love the making period. But without hesitation, my favourite day of any build is delivery day.
The look on your face when after this long process — a process fraught with anxiety on all sides — is finally complete. That’s the reason I do this. From the first time we speak to this moment our relationship has been resting solely on faith, and delivery turns that faith into something tangible, a product of both our imaginations come to life.
Limited Edition or One-Off?
When commissioning, you’ll always be given the option: are you OK with me making a limited run of these for other people, or do you want it to be exclusive to you?
Pricing is quoted with the limited-run in mind. By making a limited run it spreads the cost of developing the design and production methods across multiple pieces, making your quote lower.
If you’d like the piece to be truly your own, just for you and you alone, I will sign a contract promising to never make another one. This increases the cost to you, but you get something no one else ever will.
About Pricing
Custom furniture handmade by a solo craftsman costs more than going to a retailer. There is no pretending otherwise. But furniture that lasts for multiple generations could be called extremely cheap. It will certainly be cheap for your great-grandchildren.
The cost breaks down into three parts: materials (15–25% of the total, which often surprises people), design, and manufacture. The time it takes to design and make the piece accounts for the rest.
An accurate price is unknown until we have a design to cost against. The design will be accompanied by a fixed price quote — once given, it’s fixed. Unless the design changes, the price will never change.
Establishing a budget early helps set realistic expectations for both of us. I’m experienced at working within budgets, and I’d rather know yours upfront than discover it later.
Starting Prices
I design and make custom furniture in simple, elegant styles through to extravagant parquetry and creative veneering. The following gives an idea of starting points:
- Beds: from $1,400
- Blanket Chests or Linen Chests: from $4,000
- Chairs (Dining or Lounge): from $2,000
- Chests of Drawers: from $6,000
- Coffee Tables: from $3,500
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