Whether you are traipsing through high street stores or browsing online furniture shops looking for a table, bed, or chairs, do you find yourself wishing you knew a craftsman who could make you exactly what you want? After all, if you’re discerning how will you ever find the best products available?
Unfortunately, the commercial market is driven by trends that most people are forced to follow including furniture styles, wood types and finishes, and colors of everything from paint to upholstery fabric and bed linen. Rejecting fashion and opting for custom made furniture may take courage – until you realize just how accessible handcrafted items of furniture are, especially when you opt for items made by Amish artisans.
You don’t have to buy flat-pack or mass produced furniture just because manufacturers are doing their best to cut costs. Instead, you can have exactly what you want, and invest in something beautiful rather than spend money on something strictly utilitarian that probably won’t last. Better still, you will probably be pleasantly surprised that it won’t be overpriced if you buy from a reputable dealer that values both the craftsman and the handcrafted product he makes.
While handcrafted, custom-made furniture certainly won’t be the cheapest option, the quality you can expect offers more than just a “nice” piece of furniture. In fact, value takes on a much broader meaning.
Personal Benefits of Buying Custom Made Furniture
One of the reasons many people love custom made furniture is because it’s unique. You decide what you want and get it made according to your own specifications.
However, custom-made furniture isn’t necessarily unique, but it is tailored to meet the needs of the buyer. So, if you spot a table and chairs, or a bespoke sleigh bed that you like, but with alterations, you can have it handcrafted to your own individual specifications. Similarly, if you have an idea for a special item of furniture, or have seen a photograph or drawing somewhere but can’t find anything that fits the description, a craftsman can custom-make it for you.
You might even spot items of Simply Amish handcrafted furniture that you love, but would prefer them made in a different wood, or perhaps stained to look darker, or even lighter, or brighter. When furniture is handcrafted for you, you will work with an artisan who will then create exactly what you want. If you want something nobody else has got, this is the way to get it.
Another benefit is that you will get a better quality product when you buy custom made furniture via a reputable source. It stands to reason that if an artisan is lovingly handcrafting a piece it will be better made than those mass produced pieces of furniture that literally come off a production line. This means it will undoubtedly last a lot longer than most ready-made furniture we find in shops.
Yet another benefit is that you can change features from legs and arms to backs… all those elements that make both an aesthetic difference and can impact quite radically on comfort too. When you order a couch or chair that is going to be custom made you can state just how firm you want the seat or cushions to be, and what type of fabric or other material you want it to be upholstered with.
Wider Advantages of Custom Made Furniture
Getting beautifully handcrafted custom-made furniture is very special, but there are even greater implications that having a gorgeous piece made by a skilled artisan. For instance, by supporting the time-honored skills practiced by contemporary craftsmen you are helping to preserve ancient crafts and in this way help to maintain traditional occupations that have been practiced for generations.
Supporting traditional crafts is also a way to improve and increase sustainability. This is manifested in a number of different ways:
- Badly made furniture is discarded and often ends up in landfill.
- Handcrafted furniture is more likely to be made from wood that has been harvested in a sustainable manner.
- Some custom-made furniture is made from “reclaimed” timber, essentially recycling the wood. These items are not only ecologically sustainable but also highly collectible.
- Buying custom-made furniture, for instance Simply Amish, enables us to identify where the raw materials were sourced and how the items were made. When we buy mass produced items we have not idea where materials came from or what kind of working conditions factory workers were subjected to. This doesn’t imply off-the-shelf goods are either inferior in terms of workmanship or in terms of production practices, but it does offer us increased transparency in terms of processes because the supply chain is quite simply shorter.
- Anyone who has commissioned custom made furniture that has been lovingly handcrafted will know that it can add a story to the item, especially if you have the opportunity to connect with the craftsman personally. A simple piece of furniture can quickly become not only an investment but also part of your family’s personal legacy that comes with a special story.
Investing in Custom Made Furniture
There is absolutely no doubt that when you commission a talented artisan to make any kind of handcrafted custom-made furniture, be it a table, bed, chairs, or even a hallstand, you will get a lot more than you will if you buy from a shop window or catalog. It’s the same kind of investment a man will make when he goes to a tailor rather than buying a suit off the peg. It might cost a little more, but it’s going to be a better fit!
When it comes to clothing you can feel the difference and see it when you wear what has been designed for you. Custom-made furniture is not that different. Simply Amish pieces, for example, are sanded and stained by hand, and when you pull out drawers they slide quietly and close softly. The dovetail joints look beautiful and feel amazing. Tables aren’t just sealed on top, the wood is sealed underneath too, to ensure they won’t warp.
When a craftsman makes custom-made furniture, there is something special that will never shine through in a mass produced table, bed, or chairs. There’s a certain pride that an artisan has to produce the best he can.
If you’re in the market for special, custom-made furniture handcrafted by a local artisan is probably going to be what you are looking for.
Learn more about Simply Amish Furniture
