Commission

Making furniture by hand is a demanding and time-consuming endeavor.  When you commission us to build a piece of custom furniture, you are entering into the creative process, helping to assure that the piece will be unique, as well as totally suited to your needs and tastes. The process of commissioning a piece generally goes through three major phases - preliminary review, design and construction.  Here is a review of this process and an outline of some of the costs involved.

Preliminary Review

When you get in touch with us regarding a possible commission, we will ask you a lot of questions, I’ll invite you to the studio so that we each get a better idea of what might be involved in the piece and during these initial conversations we’ll explore:

• What you are trying to achieve with the piece both factually and figuratively
• The style that works best for the piece
• If we are the right designer and builder team for you
• The types of woods that might suit
• Possible design/build timeframes
• Budget expectations

At this point in the discussion, we won’t be able to tell you any specific prices – although there are some general ranges that are noted below.   Only when the final design has been selected and we know what will be built, will we have enough information to give you a price. At the bottom of this page, we've put some general ranges, but they are just ballparks.

Design

Once the initial conversation is complete, and you feel comfortable moving forward, the next step is design.  There is a non refundable design fee that will be charged at this point – the minimum is $200 for small furniture projects, however it can be significantly more for larger projects.  This fee covers several expenses.   It includes the time and materials for:

• visiting your location and gathering of requirements

• creating of a prototype to scale cut out

• creating a series of designs for your selection

• creating construction drawings once selection has been made

• creating preliminary and final pricing, lumber and hardware requirements 

Once the drawings are complete, we schedule a meeting to review the drawings and prices. During that meeting we identify and work through any changes or adjustments. The changes from this meeting are incorporated into the final drawings once you have approved it we create a contract.  At that time, we will also be able to tell you when we will be able to start your project – start times can vary between a few weeks and sometimes several months.  This start time is only good for two weeks from the date the contract is issued, as our workflow is constantly changing as new projects and assignments come in. 

If you decide to delay the start of the project two things happen:

1. The design fee is usually forfeit.  However, if the drawings have been approved, the contract signed and the initial payment made, the design fee is deducted from the project. 
2. If the contract is not signed within the “valid thru” time period, we will be happy to generate a new contract for you when the time is more suitable, however your project will have a new start time assigned to it.

Payment can be made by cheque, money order, or by Paypal (Visa/MC etc)

Sometimes our clients are able to provide us with a budget within which they want to work.  Using the client's criteria, we often able determine if the budget will work for the project within our workshop. The design fee will still be charged, but we will be drawing the project to a known budget.

Contracts Contacts are written for all projects. The contract has all of the terms of the projects written out – what woods will be used, measurement criteria etc and will also have the approved drawing(s) for reference.

Projects of $5,000 and less require a down payment of 50% of the total project price to start construction. If a design fee was paid, it is deducted from this figure.

Projects over $5000.00 require a down payment of 50% of the total project price to start construction. If a design fee was paid, it is deducted from this figure. A 35% payment due at 3/4 progress, we will have you come down to the shop so you can see that the work is at 3/4 progress. 

If more than a few days go by without payment, the construction schedule and delivery date may be impacted. A final payment of 15% is due on completion.

Once the contract has been signed and the deposit made, your project will be scheduled into the current flow of projects in of the shop.There may be an immediate opening or there may be a delay of several weeks. We will let you know of the general schedule prior to signing the contract, so that you can make an informed decision.

Construction

We will be specific as we can about construction and delivery timeframes for your project, but we will always sacrifice a due date if it means that quality of your project will be improved.  Custom furniture is always worth the wait.  

Large projects may take 4 – 6 months to complete, (smaller projects less) but project completion timeframes vary considerably.  Custom projects are just that, custom.  Every aspect of your project is unique, each piece of wood is hand milled, each joint hand crafted, it is this craftsmanship, quality and commitment that you are paying for when you commission a custom project.

 
Miscellaneous Fees

Sales Tax
Any applicable sales taxes are not included in the commission proposal and are calculated once the piece has been completed.

Shipping costs

Shipping costs are estimated at the start of the commission and finalized once shipping materials,  shipping method and final weight including any crating have been determined.

Changes & Additions

Once you have signed off on the proposal and terms any changes to the original drawings will be bill at $85 per hour plus material costs.  Changes after building has started will result in additional design fees (minimum addition $200)

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General Cost Expectations

Many first time clients are suprised by the cost of custom made furniture.  They are used to the prices associated with mass produced, lower quality products found in large retail stores.  Custom made furniture is a unique commodity, with value propositions unavailable from production line furniture.  Over time, we have found that there are some general baseline prices given design, lumber pricing and finish. We have listed some minimums below to provide a general estimation. Please consider these ball park only, your final piece may vary considerably in either direction.

Dining Room Tables  Dining Room Chairs   End Tables             Coffee Tables         Bookcases               Beds                        Buffets

- $7,500 - $1,500 - $1,000 - $1,200 - $1,900 - $5,500 - $10,000