There was a time when large warehouse-style retail stores were the only game in town for buying furniture. Specialty retailers like Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware weren’t as widespread, and online options like Wayfair and Amazon didn’t exist yet. Custom furniture makers were around, but without the power of the internet, they didn’t have nearly the publicity of the big retailers.
Nowadays, more and more people are turning to custom furniture makers over mass retailers, and that is largely because they are realizing that custom furniture makers can offer benefits that retailers simply can’t provide. So, what are these benefits? What is special and different about these artisans that is helping them attract more customers?
Pieces That Are Truly One of a Kind
Everyone’s personal style is unique. We all have different tastes and aesthetics, and our homes tend to reflect our style preferences when possible. One of the main ways people tend to express their aesthetic is through their furniture choices, but it can be difficult to find a piece that fits a very specific stylistic criteria among limited choices that all look similar.
Mass-produced furniture looks the way it does for a reason. Designers who work for large retailers are careful to stay within certain parameters because that’s what has the widest appeal to the widest customer base. Designing a piece with a unique flair might be fun for the designer, and it might drive interest for a very specific customer, but it won’t sell on a large scale. People’s tastes are just too diverse.
This is a huge advantage custom furniture makers have. If you have a specific idea in mind or if you’re trying to match a certain look in your home, then a custom piece is the perfect answer. According to these custom furniture makers serving Riverside, California, just about anything is possible! They can create a piece in any style you like and from a selection of materials you won’t see in typical furniture stores.
Personalized Customer Service
You may not think that customer service matters that much when buying furniture, especially if you’ve only ever shopped online or at large retailers before. You can see the selections in front of you, either in a showroom or on a website, and you just choose the one you like, right?
This approach will work just fine for some customers and for certain situations. But if you have never worked with an artisan and had something handcrafted to your specifications, you are missing out on an incredibly rewarding experience. If you need a special furniture piece for your home—something that will stand the test of time and something you truly love—then working with a custom furniture maker is going to be the perfect option for you.
Custom furniture makers consult with each client individually and create each piece from scratch, for their client. That means that clients are an integral part of the process. They have to be involved in the design phase, and they are likely solicited for feedback along the way while the craftsperson is building the piece. That is a very different experience than pointing at an example in a showroom and having a salesperson ring you up!
Pieces That Are Built to Last
When you look at all the options for furniture out there, one of the first things you notice is that quality is all over the map. A quick search for dining tables, for example, pulls up tables of all sizes and styles, and the prices range from a few hundred dollars to upwards of $10,000. When you start to dig in, the reasons for the variances become obvious—there is a huge difference in quality between a handcrafted solid-wood table and one that is made from MDF that you have to assemble yourself.
Working with custom furniture makers is a different story. People who start custom furniture businesses do it because they love the process of crafting pieces. That means they are going to spend time improving their craft and perfecting techniques. They don’t only have passion for furniture—they have passion for the work itself.
Because so much time and attention is paid to the work, the pieces that custom furniture makers build are almost always going to be of superior quality. They are made to last for years to come, and most can even be passed down to future generations.
If quality and longevity are important to you for the next furniture piece you buy, consider working with custom furniture makers. Not all mass-produced furniture is bad quality, but it can be difficult to tell sometimes, and you really have to do your research. You will have much better chances of getting a piece that lasts a lifetime or more when you have something custom made by a professional craftsperson.
People are sometimes nervous to work with custom furniture makers because they’re afraid it will be too expensive or because they simply don’t understand the process. These are understandable hesitations, but the advantages are undeniable. There are certain things custom furniture makers can do that large retailers just can’t, and if these things are important to you, then the choice is clear!
