Custom Furniture

After you make the decision to make your furniture, you’ll meet with the designer. GTZ’s designer will help you express your ideas and get them down on paper so that both of you understand just what you want to build. This step is often one of the most difficult parts! It is relatively easy to say, “I want a rocking chair.” But do you want a Nantucket? A Carolina? Wicker back? Ladder back? Glider? How big? How much weight will it be required to hold? Of what kind of wood should it be made? What kind of finish? Stained? Painted? The list goes on and on. A designer knows how to get to the bottom of these problems in a calm and organized fashion. No detail is overlooked.

A budget will be estimated. A rule of thumb applies here: The simpler the design, the lower the cost. If you have a lot of fancy design cues that you are trying to meet, that will take time and effort to produce, and it will significantly increase the cost. If you have a simple product that the designer says is easy to manufacture, your costs will be lower. The designer is to find the balance between what you want and the budget you can afford. GTZ’s designers use their knowledge and experience to find solutions without quality compromises.

Here’s the step where your ideas begin to take shape. Simple sketches made during the interview session are turned into more formal drawings, often using CAD — Computer Assisted Drafting — and you begin to see not only your dream start to take shape, but now it has indications of dimensions, and possibly sample colors and textures, too. The earliest sketches, even on the computer, will show little more than an indication of basic proportion, line, and scale. This is for the best, as the details need to be added slowly and carefully. Any mistakes at this stage can result in a failed product. Your GTZ designer knows what to do and will keep you informed all along the way.

As the product plans mature, the sketches may move to actual blueprints. Even if they don’t, they will become much more detailed, showing complicated joinery, and the internal components necessary to keep the structure of the product together. These plans are what the carpenters will use to mill and fabricate the furniture you are anticipating.

The wood needs to be cut, sanded, bent, nailed, glued and whatever else is required. Any upholstery must be sewn. The whole project must be assembled and stained or painted, and time allowed for drying. Hardware must be installed at the proper time. Finishing touches applied. You will receive reports on the project’s progress as appropriate. The process is transparent.

Your custom-made furniture is complete and delivered on time and budget. Congratulations!