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When Londoner
Debbie Parr-Nash wanted a new chair to go with a formal
sofa, chair and ottoman in her home, she turned to a
local custom furniture maker.
" I really wanted to
keep the sofa ad chair because they are good quality
pieces of furniture." says Parr-Nash worked with
interior decorator Nancy Bangsboll who helped her choose
fabrics and recommended Schuenemans, a London
reupholsterer and custom furniture maker. In addition
to having the new chair made Parr-Nash had Schuenemans
overhaul and reupholster the existing suite.
The
furniture is much more comfortable to sit on now, and
the cushions fit better, says Parr-Nash
" I would
never buy ready made furniture again." She says. "You
have more choices in fabric and stuffing with custom and
the furniture can be to the sizes of the people who will
be using it "
" I bring up the idea of custom
furniture with all my clients because I think that it is
a smart thing to do," says Bangsboll." I tell my clients
to go shopping first," she adds "If you see a piece of
furniture that you just love and the scale of it its in
your room and price range, then you should buy it. It
doesn’t make any sense to make something that is already
on the store floor. But a lot of people have trouble
finding that ideal piece."
" You can get exactly what
you want," says Keith Schueneman. " Because you 're
dealing directly with the manufacturer, your choices are
unlimited." The customer has a hand in the design and
construction and how it fits, he says "we'll build a
piece to the stage where the customer can come in and
sit on it to make sure that it is proportionately
correct for them" He
says.
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Debbie Parr-Nash's home features
a custom-made Swivel rocker and couch that are big
on
comfort | |
"They can
decide on the foam density and whether they want
feathers. Seat cushions can have a foam core and a
feather wrap and the back cushions can be completely
filled with feathers. It’s more expensive but it is the
ultimate in
comfort."
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| "You have more choices in fabric and stuffing
with custom and the furniture can be made to
the sizes of the people who will be using it."
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Schueneman's frequently receives request
for his n' hers chairs made to fit their owners. " The
husband might be 6-3 and his wife 5-6," says Gil
Schueneman. "They will sit in one of our tub chairs and
it will fit one of them but not the other one so we
build two different size chairs."
Besides comforting
the size of the user furniture must also be in
proportion to the size of the room, and that is anther
reason for choosing custom says Bangsboll." A lot of
ready made furniture is very big these days and it just
doesn’t fit most rooms" she says " if the furniture is
so big it over powers the room, you run out of space to
walk and the room becomes suffocating -it doesn’t have a
good feel to it.
"Smaller furniture can still be
comfortable and smart, just made to scale in a small
room." When you choose custom furniture, any
requirements can be accommodated. " I had a older client
once whose sofa had to be the right size for her to lie
down and take her afternoon nap. She also wanted enough
room for her dog to sleep at her feet," Bangsboll says,
"so I measured the room, the client and the dog!"
" A custom piece of furniture ...is not
necessarily more expensive than something you would buy
from a good quality retailer," Keith adds " It's not
inexpensive, but the quality is superior to anything you
can buy ready made. And it last just Gil and Keith
Schueneman, who occasionally reupholster one of the
sofas made by their father in the 1950's or 60's. "It’s
usually clients kids who are bringing the furniture in
to be reupholstered. There’s nothing wrong with the
frame, its just the cover that gets worn out," says Gill
"Custom Furniture is a life long investment."
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