BESPOKE WOODEN DINING TABLES

Why Buy A Bespoke Wooden Dining Table

One thing we have learnt as furniture designers and makers is that no two homes are the same. Even if you built a hundred homes that had identical spaces inside, we think that the people who lived in those homes, whether they are single occupants, young couples, families, retirees or young professionals, we believe that no two homes would have the same style, size or types of furnishings. We all have different tastes, different needs, different budgets and different interests. Some homes would be wall to wall books for instance and some wouldn’t have a single book on show. So when it comes to the humble dining table, the same theory applies. The vast majority of people could find a dining table size that fits their needs, but it doesn’t mean that the table is absolutely perfect for them and their space. They may have compromised slightly on width or length or height. They may have got the size they wanted but struggled to find the design in the colour or finish they prefer. Maybe it has to have the ability to extend but the design you preferred doesn’t come with that option. The list of preferences or requirements can be very specific to the customer. The amount of times a customer has said to us “I can’t believe I have found you. I have been looking for the right dining table for more than two years”. If you are reasonably sure you wont be moving home any day soon, the benefit of having the right dining table for your needs is not to be underestimated. You will also be surprised to know that bespoke wooden dining tables don’t have to cost the earth either. Again we are often faced with a customer who has just been to the Barker And Stonehouse showroom and seen a dining table for over two thousand pounds and we had a nicer one in our showroom that was almost a thousand pounds cheaper, but are table was handmade to order by proper furniture makers in our own workshop using sustainably sourced timbers and the one from the big highstreet store was imported in a container from the far east and was made using lots of small sections of questionably sourced timber. If we were to make that table a bespoke size for our customer it would still have been around the same price, even though we might have made it a fractionally different height, width or length.

How To Choose A Dining Table Design

Searching for bespoke wooden dining tables is not as simple as you might hope. Firstly choosing a dining table design is yet another one of those things in life that we don’t consider until we are faced with all the questions, and we say things like “who knew how hard it was to find the right dining table”. Couples regularly fall out in showrooms. Ikea has probably been partly responsible for a few divorces over the years, or at least the catalyst for the tension. So if you can manage to agree on a style, you are winning, you just have size, colour, finish, materials, seating number, seating style, benches or chairs, and base design to work through, oh and do we need it to extend. With all that said it doesn’t have to be difficult. You just start with your priorities and work back from there. If you know you would like something made from natural wood thats a good start. The size is next. If you are short on space you can opt for something on a smaller scale so its no problem. However if you are short on space but you need to maximise the amount of seats you can have then you need to consider a trestle style table that means the legs for the table wont be in the way of anyones seat. Now we just have seating styles, colours and finishes and extensions. Benches can get more bums on than chairs, but they often don’t have backs and can look a little more casual than chairs and aren’t as comfy as upholstered seats. Upholstered Leather or fabric chairs are more comfortable than wooden chairs but they can push your budget if you go for good quality. A helpful fact is that when searching for dining tables, don’t forget that chairs are often more expensive than the table. There is one table don’t forget and often 4, 6, 8 or even 10 chairs or more to purchase. The colour and finish can be relatively easy as you know what you like and what your trying to achieve. Having your table made for you is so useful because with a company like Ashton & Coleman you simply have to have a conversation to discuss what your going for and they can produce or give you a pre made sample to take home and check against your other furnishings. Extensions are last. Personally we think that unless it’s absolutely necessary then dining tables are better left as a stand alone single piece. So if you have the space then get the biggest table you can afford for the space you have without drowning the space completely. If you however only have a small amount of people that use the table from day to day and you don’t want an extra large dining table in your room, just so you have the available spaces for family on Christmas day then extensions are probably the way to go. In short the best thing to do is to visit a proper furniture makers to have a discussion with someone who knows what they are talking about. They will be more than. happy to impart their wisdom and help you make the right decisions for you and your home.

Are Bespoke Wooden Dining Tables Easy To Look After

This one is difficult to answer, largely because both the question and the answer are subjective. However, if we were to break things down we can advise easily. First is with your wooden dining table, do you want it to look natural or do you want to see it looking shiny. If you want to see a shiny finish that makes the grain pop then you can have the table finished with a really strong lacquer or varnish. Both these wood finished give incredible resistance to marks and scratches etc. And it is easy to reapply after you have had the table for a few years and want to revive the finish. If you prefer a more natural finish (like we do) that keeps the natural look of the wood from looking fake then you have a few options from traditional furniture wax or a more modern wax oil. These finished don’t give you an extremely durable finish that prevents cup marks etc so you generally have to be more careful by using coasters and matts etc if you don’t want the table to get marked. There is another approach to owning solid wood dining tables though, a category that I personally fit into. Owning a solid wooden dining table that you want to look natural but you don’t mind seeing marks and scratches and signs of daily use. This in actual fact creates something completely unique, a dining table that looks, smells, and feels great. Your table, has your signs, of your families day to day use, literally all over the table. It has your history, your future and your story attached to it. Like another member of the family. It’s personal, it’s got character and its uniquely yours. We don’t think that owning wooden furniture should make you anxious, we think if anything it should bring you a calming effect. Try surrounding yourself with natural wooden furniture and simply enjoying it without getting too caught up in ‘looking after it’. Use it, scrub it clean if you want and watch it develop it’s own character as it ages with you.

Are Handmade Dining Tables Better Than Mass Produced Dining Tables

We could just say yes and have done with the question, but truthfully it’s not that simple. The fact is unfortunately, there are many ‘furniture manufacturers’ out there who do have a workshop, who can make bespoke sizes, that are made in Britain. However these companies either know how to make furniture properly but simply choose not to, so they can make a better profit or they actually don’t know what they are doing. This ‘furniture’ is often screw together rather than jointed properly, its sanded very badly, waxed badly, made with very cheap construction timbers rather than furniture quality timber and they are also flat pack style so they don’t have to deliver and assemble the furniture for you. These dining tables tick a lot of sales boxes that people think they are looking for accept quality, which technically destroys any  sustainability credentials and is no better in reality than something you could buy from any high street store. Do your research, watch out for cheap imitations or save yourself some time and give Ashton & Coleman Furniture a call to start a conversation.

What does Bespoke Actually Mean

Made for a particular customer or user. This is the definition of the word. So technically all of our furniture is bespoke as each piece is made to order regardless of the fact that the sizes or designs are standard pre existing designs from our range of furniture. Often people confuse the word bespoke with what we refer to as a ‘commission’. So customers have the word bespoke in their mind and assume its going to have a huge price tag, but in actual fact all of our furniture is bespoke and it doesn’t have a huge price tag. It is being made to order for you, so tweaking the size or design slightly hardly effects the standard price. So you can often get exactly what you want to fit the right space for a fraction of what you may assume it would be. And you get all the benefits of a handcrafted solid wooden table that is built to last forever. A commission however is a different kettle of fish. If you come to us with an idea that requires meeting after meeting regarding the design, functionality, colour, timber choice, paint colour maybe, with a design that you have seen somewhere before but can’t find an image of that’s exactly the same, then yes we are going to be talking bigger numbers to complete this for you, as you would expect. But needless to say you would be getting a completely unique dining table that fits every one of your needs and preferences. So don’t be scared of the ‘bespoke’ word. Just make sure your not being charged commission prices for a bespoke job.