Essential Tips for Ordering Custom Furniture: A Comprehensive Guide
We love getting things exactly our way and the world of custom furniture lets you have just that. Ordering custom furniture can seem much more daunting than it is, but we’re here to hold your hand through the process to make your home furnishings feel more like you.
Know Your Space's Dimensions
The golden rule of any interior design project is to measure twice and order once. Let’s make sure that dream sectional fits in the living room. A great at home trick is to grab a roll of painter’s tape and tape out the dimensions of the furniture you’re considering. Once you have that template, walk around it, move things around, and see how it feels and how it flows. Once the tape is down, you’ll have a good idea of scale and whether we need to size up or down your custom sofa.
Delivery and House Openings
An often overlooked aspect of ordering custom furniture is assessing whether the furniture can be delivered seamlessly to your home. Are the stairs or doorway to the family room narrow? Does the landing at the top of the stairs allow you to turn the corner with a big oversized armchair? It’s a sad day when a beautiful piece arrives and then you realize it won’t take the corner leading to your bedroom. Measure twice and order once (where have we heard that before?!)
Sit Test Sofas and Chairs
Now that we got the measurement part out of the way, we can move on to the fun part: sit testing! Visit our Portland custom furniture showroom which features luxury furniture brands: Lee, Baker, Verellen, Thibaut and Thayer Coggin. We have a variety of pieces from each manufacturer on our showroom floor to keep that process easy breezy. If you’re a firm cushion sort of gal or a downy pillowy cushion sort of guy, we’ve got you. Don’t know what kind of cushion person you are? We’ll help narrow it down to ensure you get just the sort of comfy plop-down feel you’re after.
Choosing Fabric
Another fun part! Whether you need a wears-like-iron-performance fabric for the den, or a beautiful silk blend brocade for the bedroom chair, you’ll surely find an option you will love. Remember when performance fabrics felt like a rough outdoor sun lounger? Those days are long gone! We’ve got velvets you can spill wine on and simply wipe off, and bouclé fabrics that can be cleaned with bleach. Our top vendors launch new fabrics twice a year and there’s always something new and exciting to see in our showroom.
Order a Fabric Swatch
Acquiring a fabric swatch allows you to assess how the fabric complements your home environment. Examine each fabric swatch in your space, particularly under natural light, to gauge how the colors, textures, and patterns interact with your existing decor and lighting conditions.
We carry fabric swatches from brand Thibaut, as well as fabric and finishes on hand from Baker, Lee, Verellen, Anna French, and Alice Sergeant. We're happy to order you a fabric swatch if we don’t have it in stock. And if you don’t like any of the fabrics in our fabric library, not to worry! If there’s a fabric you’ve always dreamed of seeing on your sofa, we can help! We have access to the most delicious fabrics in the industry and will gladly assist you in tracking down your favorite.
Ordering Process and Lead Time
It’s important to understand the ordering process and lead time associated with custom furniture so you can manage your expectations. Most furniture brands require a lead time of 8-10 weeks or longer for crafting and delivery. Planning and management of your custom furniture project will be smoother with this in mind. For example, If you are sprucing up your home with plans to host an elaborate Thanksgiving dinner, then August is a good time to place your furniture order. Follow our advice, and your perfect custom piece is just a few months away from becoming a reality.
Love where you shop
For over 20 years the interior designers at Maison Inc. have ordered luxury furniture for their clients from the top furniture brands across the US to make living spaces more comfortable and beautiful. At the Shop at Maison, we sell these favorite designer furniture brands in our NW Portland, Oregon retail space, Trade Showroom, and online store. We are here to help if you have any questions about ordering custom luxury furniture in Portland, OR.
Want to get started?
Visit our showroom, located at 3032 NW Roosevelt St. Portland, OR to start your custom furniture project. We're open Mon – Fri from 9 am – 5 pm or by appointment.
Interior designers, please contact our Trade Manager Lisa@maisoninc.com to start the design process. If you're an individual in need of inspiration, reach out to our Showroom Manager, Ryan@shopatmaison.com. If you have the desire and budget to redesign your whole space, but the scale of the project leaves your head spinning, reach out to the Interior Designers at Maison Inc., contact us here