The Process of Creating
a Custom Piece of Furniture

On this page I want to take a few moments and describe to you the process by which we, as well as any good custom shop, should go through to provide you, the customer, with the highest quality product that meets your expectations.

Let's get some terminology out of the way first. Let's address the term "custom". Just what does custom mean? The online dictionary gives us: "made specially for individual customers"and"dealing in things so made, or doing work to order" in short it is your piece and yours alone! Do you have a small dining room and cannot find a commercially available table? How about a small space where you cannot find a piece to fit? Extra storage? All of these problems are easily fixed by having a custom piece made.

I would like to take a moment to address one popular misconception. Price. A custom piece of furniture, or cabinetry is not automatically more expensive than commercially available products. In fact, it might be less expensive, depending on materials selected and size. Since you control the size and specify the material, you can directly affect the cost.

To accomplish this goal requires that you, the customer, be involved in every step of the process. First we will work together to define the scope of the job (budget, time frame etc.) and what you are expecting the piece to be.  Together we will sketch out ideas or look at other pieces until we have a basic plan. Perhaps you have seen another piece somewhere and want something like it? Or a piece from our library of plans would be right with your unique modifications. Once we have a basic idea of what you want, we take that information, along with the measurements of the place the piece will occupy and create a set of shop drawings detailing the specifics of the project. Here you will decide on what the wood will be. Solid or composite? Perhaps a unique veneer? We will guide you based on our experience but ultimately this is your choice.

With the materials selected we will finish the shop drawings for your approval. We prefer to not stain or use dyes on a piece unless specifically requested by you. We believe that proper selection of materials such that the natural color and grain patterns can be used to create your piece without resorting to artificially coloring. With the drawings approved and a price settled upon. We will give you a start date and we ask for a 50% down payment on your project.  Once we begin your piece becomes the most important in our shop. We only do one piece at time. That way you are assured that your piece is receiving our undivided attention and total focus on quality.

At any time you are welcome to come by the shop and see what we are doing and where in the process your piece is.