Have you ever been sitting down, perhaps on a chair by a table, and asked yourself "where would we be without furniture"? Furniture is available from a whole host of retailers in many forms. But who wants the hassle of a multi-faceted, flat packed monstrosity when you could have a beautiful, custom designed chair to sit on?
The demand for wooden and bespoke furniture has remained consistently steady. Many rural areas of Britain maintain family run businesses where you can browse existing ranges or enquire about custom made furniture. To help provide inspiration for your vision we have provided a brief run down of some styles available.
Product Range
As well as making cabinets, some carpenters will accept commission work to create other pieces of furniture to suit your own personal style.
Traditional furnishings such as matching sets of tables and chairs, sideboards and bookcases are readily available. Some carpenters will offer a service where they can replicate an existing piece of your furniture. This can be handy if you are a lacking a chair to make up a full set or would like to create a matching look for a bedroom.
Many new companies specialise in more contemporary designs. Minimalist designs are remaining particularly popular at the moment. Many simple coffee table designs or sideboards can be created to compliment the personal flair of your own home.
There are numerous companies throughout Britain that offer these services using a range of different materials. Contact your local furnishing company or carpenter for more information on product ranges.
Reclaimed Materials
With the increasing demand for environmentally sound products in our home, many bespoke furniture companies now make products solely from reclaimed timbers. As wood ages naturally, the colour starts to develop more fully and often has a more pleasing appearance than new timber.
Using recycled materials, such as reclaimed timber, designers can create a one off piece to your dream specification. Finishes can be applied to lock in the aged appearance of your piece or to enhance and distress further to create a different effect.
Different kinds of reclaimed materials can be used to create a range of effects. Pine is a popular choice for creating a traditional look, good for bedroom dressers and chairs. Reclaimed oak is a good choice for achieving a rustic feel that can be used to juxtapose your existing furniture well.
Helping the Environment
As well as providing a unique piece of furniture for your home, using reclaimed wood is a good way of protecting the environment. By using old redundant materials we are not only lowering the demand for logging trees from the world's rainforests but also reducing emissions from redundant wood being unnecessarily burnt.
Wood is an extremely hard wearing material and has traditionally been reclaimed in various cultures for centuries. It has often made sense to simply collect disused wood as opposed to wasting energy acquiring, distributing and processing new wood.
Ask about using reclaimed materials when choosing your wooden furniture. As well as reducing costs in acquiring new materials you'll also be doing the whole planet a huge favour. Now there's something to think about next time you sit down!