Furniture shopping at a traditional furniture store is fun, but sometimes it can be extremely aggravating. Seeing all the different design setups makes your mind race with the possibilities, but you have to deal with pushy salespeople breathing down your neck telling you how a specific piece comes in many colors. There are advantages to shopping in stores like this, but sometimes the benefits don’t outweigh the frustration. There is another option that many will find more appealing, and that is ordering custom furniture. To better understand if custom furniture is right for you, it helps compare custom and ready-made side by side.
What’s the Difference?
Ready-made furniture is mass-produced, and you can go to a show floor and buy on the spot. Custom-made furniture is designed from scratch with specific space, function, and taste in mind. Traditional furniture stores like Crate and Barrel or West Elm sell ready-made furniture which may look nice but isn’t exclusive to you.
Pros of Ready-Made
Ready-made furniture is tangible; you can feel the texture, sit in it, and visualize exactly how it will fit into your existing space. In some cases, the shop already has it in stock so that you can take it home the same day. If that is not the case, furniture is usually delivered to your front door in a few short weeks, so there is little time spent waiting to pull your room together. Given that these items are mass-produced in a factory, ready-made is often more budget-friendly than custom pieces.
Pros of Custom
By far, the best thing about custom furniture is that it is exactly what the buyer wants for the space. No compromises are made, and owners can ask for features that one would never find in traditional ready-made pieces. Having custom-made furniture creates an air of luxury that will impress guests or clients. Custom-made furniture will almost always last for generations and possibly become an heirloom.
Cons of Ready Made
Apart from being chased around a store like you are being hunted, there are a few other reasons that ready-made furniture isn’t right for everyone. If you are trying to create a stand-out look in your home, it is hard to do with the same couch that everyone else on your block has. There are great examples out there of ready-made furniture that is quality built, but sometimes this mass-produced furniture isn’t the highest quality, and you will find yourself looking for another replacement in less than a year, which drives the cost of ownership up. They don’t always come in the colors, shapes, or fabrics that you envision for your space.
Cons of Custom
The cons of customer furniture are truly short-term problems for a long-term piece of furniture. They may cost a little extra upfront and take significantly longer to deliver, but it will be worth it in the end. It’s rare, but one other downside to custom furniture is commissioning a custom piece only to find out you don’t love it as much as you thought.
Which One is Right for You?
There are advantages and disadvantages to both routes, and it really comes down to the balance of aesthetics, budget, and timeline. If you need a place to sit in front of the television as soon as possible, a ready-made piece may be the economical choice, especially if you don’t think you live in a forever home. If you are in a position where you want something that will last a lifetime and give off a look of sophistication, custom-made furniture will be worth the wait. If you would like to see examples of how fantastic custom-made furniture can look or want to get started with a custom piece of your own, please contact us today for more information.
