Custom Furniture vs. Off-the-Shelf
Availability. Affordability (Budget). Quality.
Those are the predominant drivers for making an investment in a furniture piece for our home. And like many value triangles, there is a lot to unpack within those three dimensions.
We agree there are elements of this triangle that make sense: to get something today with quality build, you can expect to sacrifice on affordability. If you want something today but are not willing to invest much, you can expect quality to suffer.
Our issue with these three dynamics alone, however, is they ignore a critical fourth element which is one of our chief concerns. Without considering it we continue to act in a transactional nature, neglecting the fact that what we choose to bring into our homes becomes a part of us and contributes to our personal culture.
The final piece is Story.
We have pieces we know enhance our home: they could have been inherited, solved a specific need, granted unrealized gains, or been a special find at a flea market. We also have those pieces that are sojourners in our home: they served a purpose, for a time, but they are not long for the journey, some even causing more frustration than respite.
We believe that in the search for optimizing for only the three original dynamics of the triangle, we have gotten down many wrong paths when it comes to consumption, and myths have grown up around custom work that must be dispelled.
The Story is King and Queen
When you work with us on a custom piece for your home, it starts with n in-home consultation. We take an ethnographic approach to our design and craftsmanship that focuses on:
Purpose & Function
Design Aesthetic (Form)
Placement & Proximity (Complementary to Existing Pieces)
Unmet & Unanticipated Needs
These are the core components of the story for this piece, one that will be a melded with the material selection and design/crafting decisions.
When we go shopping for an off-the-shelf product, we are contorting the piece to fit the story, as opposed to collaborating with the raw materials. This collaboration is our aim.
The Nitty Gritty: Estimating Cost and Getting Started
For most of our clients, they get everything we have said. They love the ideas. They want to contribute to a better natural resources consumption legacy. They want to be better ancestors.
But there are practical limits. They ask: “Isn’t custom expensive?”
Our answer: “It is - in most cases- comparable to investment requirements you would find at mid-to-higher end furniture retailers.” If you decide to get exotic or highly customized in your demands, then yes, it can get expensive: then again, if those are your tastes, you likely will not find exotic and high customization in those retail establishments anyway.
When it comes to casework (cabinetry, built-ins, fitted and freestanding boxes), we can give ranges that are reasonably predictable (a future post to come on that soon). For custom furniture like bed frames, tables and chairs, the ranges vary.
The best way to get started is with our no-obligation consultation, free of charge.
For a general estimate, here is a short list of ranges for common fine furniture pieces built with sound joinery and locally available materials (all solid hardwood):
King Size Bedframe (w/ Headboard): $2500 to $5000
King Size Platform Bedfram: $2000 to $4000
End Tables (pair): $500 to $1100
Six-setting Dining Table (w/ chairs): $2100 to $5000
To further illustrate, below is a bedroom set we crafted with the investment ranges for each piece.
Solid Reclaimed Wood King Platform Bed ($3100), Solid Aspen Wood Headboard ($900), Solid Acacia Maple Floating Side Tables ($650)
We have clients that invest between as little as a few hundred dollars up to several thousand. Our biggest source of pride is repeat clients.
Let us talk to you about your home and how we can enhance your story. Contact us here.