Bo Carlock/Spacecrafting
A home is a vehicle of personal expression, from the colors you select for the walls, to the decor displayed on shelves, to the furniture that will be used to help gather family and friends. Sometimes, though, the perfect furnishing that fits your personality and preferences can’t be found at a big-box retailer.
Rather than constantly searching and sourcing, partnering with a designer means you can create a custom furnishing that will fit in perfectly with your home. It’s a request that professionals like Bhavana Bhimavarapu, senior interior designer for O’Hara Interiors, receive regularly.
“[These pieces] are catered personally to you … they are made specifically for your home, tailored to exact dimensions, and you can pick out fabrics, finishes, and all the minute details down to the nail head,” she says. “I can [help] create pieces that are so unique that whoever comes to your house will be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have not seen that.’”
Are custom furnishings the right option for your interior design project? We break down the levels of available customization, what to consider when planning a custom project, and how to work with an interior designer to bring your vision to life.
Types of Custom Furnishings
Spacecrafting
Depending on your budget and preferences, there are a few levels of custom furnishings you can pursue. Bhimavarapu breaks these down in three categories:
- Semi-custom furnishings: As it sounds, these are shown pieces with choices for customization not available to retailors. These custom details might only be open to you if you’re working with an interior designer who has relationships with vendors. Maybe it’s a chair with three seat color options, or a piece of furniture with three different finish options.
- Custom furnishings: This is when you’re spoiled with choice. From dimensions to fabrics to other details, you can partner with a designer to create a furnishing from scratch.
- Artisan furnishings: Bhimavarapu considers this a subset of a custom furnishing, but at the next level. If you crave a handcrafted piece from a master maker, that’s an artisan furnishing. You can even tap artisans for smaller custom features like gold leaf detailing or custom wallpaper.
[Related: 4 Home Design Trends on the Rise in 2026]
When You Should Consider Custom Furnishings
Not every interior design project requires a custom furnishing, but there are times when your space calls for it. Bhimavarapu has helped clients solve spatial issues by designing a custom storage unit for a TV in a window-heavy room, or creating a couch where every seat reclines to meet a family’s needs.
When embarking on a new project and considering your furnishings, ask yourself:
- Does this fit in my budget?
- What is my project timeline?
- How much do I want to customize?
- What spatial problems does my space present?
- Are there any local makers or vendors that I love?
Lean on your design partners to help you answer these questions, solve functionality problems, and present you with curated options based on your preferences. Whichever route you decide to take, Bhimavarapu finds value in creating one-of-a-kind pieces that are built to last.
“Everyone wants to do customization—wants it to be fun,” she says. “But at the same time, it needs to stand the test of time, because it comes with a higher budget. So along with all the fine details we are able to pick, it needs to be practical.”
Read this next: 3 Contemporary Living Rooms That Encourage Togetherness
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