A very good question and one I was asked by a prospective new customer recently.

I had to ad lib my answer but I can’t have done too bad a job because that client has now placed a very nice order for fitted bedroom furniture.

What other choices did she have? Well, I know for a fact that she had had quotations from other fitted furniture companies and from a local carpenter. I had nothing to fear from my other mainstream competitors because, although they all claim to make bespoke furniture, I am certain that none of them have the flexibility to achieve what this client wanted. The carpenter, however was another issue.

I have no wish to disparage carpenters, and those that don’t work for us as part of the Options Furniture installation team have every right to earn a living and do, on the whole, provide a very valuable service.

However, there is one reason why my prospective client would consider using a carpenter and it is a powerful one – price! There is no reason why a carpenter, with minimal overhead, cannot make and install fitted wardrobes for considerable less money than we can.

So, why should this customer choose Options Furniture or any other professional fitted bedroom supplier rather than a carpenter?

1. The design aspect: This client has a very attractive but difficult to furnish loft conversion and really needed professional help to design a bedroom while resolving complex issues about retaining the elegant proportions of the room and providing adequate storage solutions in difficult spaces. Furthermore, she was looking for the Japanese look and I have my reservations about whether a carpenter would have the skills and experience to address these issues.The Japanese look is often achieved with sliding doors that mimic the screens that divide up traditional Japanese houses but can be interpreted in other ways.
   In the event, I was able to offer five designs that resolved the complexity of the awkward spaces, creating the Tardis effect and achieving a Japanese look in a variety of ways.

   

   Whatever his skills, it is rare to find a carpenter who can resolve storage and space problems and present those design solutions through technical drawings that the customer can interpret such that they can make the right choice and have a clear understanding of what they are going to recieve.

2. There are many other benefits of using a professional bespoke fitted furniture supplier rather than a carpenter and I will address some more of these in my next post.