Furniture maker, joiner or design studio: who to ask for custom furniture
Furniture maker, joiner or design studio with its own atelier: what each does, when to choose which, and what to ask before you commission a piece.
A furniture maker builds freestanding pieces, often from your idea or drawing. A joiner builds fitted work, such as kitchens, wardrobes and shelving, measured to the wall and installed on site. A design studio with its own atelier designs the piece and makes it. Choose by what you need: a single piece, something built into the room, or a design.
The furniture maker: freestanding pieces
A furniture maker, or cabinetmaker, builds pieces that stand free in a room: tables, chairs, cabinets, beds. Often you bring an idea, a photograph or a sketch, and the maker turns it into a working drawing and then into the piece.
Most of the design then rests with you. That works well when you know exactly what you want. When you do not, the maker decides much of the form, and the result depends on their eye.
The joiner: fitted to the room
A joiner, or fitted-furniture maker, builds what is fixed to the house: kitchens, wardrobes, shelving, panelling, a reception desk in a shop or hotel. Everything is measured to the wall and installed on site.
Because measuring and fitting happen in the room, you usually work with someone nearby. Fitted work is often made from board with a veneer or lacquer; ask which material is used where.
The design studio with its own atelier
A design studio decides the form, the proportions and the details of a piece. When it has its own atelier, the design is made under the same roof, so what was drawn and what is built stay close.
This is how we work. ALUR Atelier is a design studio and furniture maker in Bali. Each piece starts in our studio, often together with the international architects and designers we work with, and is then built by hand in our own atelier. The atelier works in wood, stone and upholstery, in solid wood, mostly teak, never veneer.
The Armchair is an example: on each side a teak arm grows out of the back and runs in one S-curve down into the front leg. A line like that needs a designer and a maker who know each other’s work.
When to choose which
The lines are not sharp: many furniture makers also design, and some joiners make freestanding pieces. Ask what someone makes most often. As a rule of thumb:
- You know exactly what you want and have a drawing or an example: a furniture maker.
- It has to be fixed to or built into the wall: a joiner.
- You want a piece with its own form, designed for one room, or a series for an office or hotel: a design studio with an atelier.
- You like an existing design but need it longer, lower or in another finish: a studio with a collection, such as our Dining Table or Executive Desk made to measure.
Questions to ask before you commission
Whichever maker you choose, these questions separate a good commission from a disappointing one:
- Who designs it, and who makes it? The same people, or a subcontractor?
- Where is it made?
- Is it solid wood, or is there veneer or board in it? See solid teak vs veneer.
- Will I see drawings to approve before anything is built?
- What do I pay up front, and when is the rest due?
- What is the lead time, and what happens if it runs late?
- What does the warranty cover, and for how long?
- Is delivery to the door, or is the piece also carried in and placed?
How it works with us
Custom work starts with a conversation: send us a floor plan, a brief or a sketch. We design the piece and adjust it with you until it fits the room, and nothing is built before you approve the drawings. More on custom made; the words themselves are explained in bespoke, made to measure or custom.
A collection piece you order online. It is made by hand after your order in about six weeks, then travels 6–9 weeks by sea to your door; we deliver within the EU. The construction carries a two-year warranty. For prices and timing, read how much custom furniture costs and how long it takes.
Questions
What is the difference between a joiner and a cabinetmaker?
A joiner builds fitted work that is fixed to the house, such as kitchens, wardrobes and shelving, and installs it on site. A cabinetmaker or furniture maker builds freestanding pieces such as tables, chairs and cabinets.
What does a furniture design studio do?
It decides the form, proportions and details of a piece. A studio with its own atelier also makes it, so design and making stay in one place.
How do you commission a piece of custom furniture?
Start with the room: dimensions, use and budget. Send a floor plan, sketch or example, ask for drawings to approve, and agree price, payment, lead time and warranty before anything is built.
Talk it through
A free 20-minute call with the people who design and make the furniture: what fits your room, the finishes, a price and a lead time.