The Great 'Have you saved money by having furniture custom-made?' Hunt

Former_MSE_Debs · 20 February 2014 at 4:19PM

The Great 'have you saved money by having furniture custom-made?' Hunt

Have you got a tradesperson to make a household item, such as furniture or furnishings, because it was much cheaper than buying the equivalent in a shop? We want to tap MoneySavers' collective knowledge to find out which items are worth getting custom-made to save cash.

Please include prices of what you would have bought, what it cost to get custom-made, details of how well its lasted and how you found someone to make it.

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Debjar · 26 February 2014 at 12:00AM

About eight years ago we were installing a woodburner and wanted a new surround. We looked at a local Fireplace and Stove Centre in Co Durham and found the ones we were looking at cost £1300 and that was for MDF!
We took some drawings to a joiner/craftsman who made us a one off design in solid wood, stained it and fitted it for about £650 and it was beautiful. Wish we could have brought it with us when we moved. Needless to say he's our go-to guy for anything in wood.

Azurite320 · 26 February 2014 at 9:03AM

Last year I ask a local carpenter to make a king size oak sleigh bed. It's fabulous. Cost £750 with our choice of finish colour. The cheapest comparable bed, made to nothing like the quality is the Dreams Aspen bed which costs £1028 assembled. It was so good, we've had several other furniture items, bedroom wardrobe, hall console table, internal double doors, library bookcase made. All perfect and so much better quality and cheaper that high street shop stuff.

garden-lover · 26 February 2014 at 11:49AM

I had a handmade, painted kitchen made by a local tradesman and it was the same price as a B&Q kitchen, and far superior quality. He was able to make just what I wanted rather than making units fit the space.

scotty2c · 26 February 2014 at 4:16PM

I paid £160 for a console table and £170 for a bookcase because I needed a custom size and wanted my own design. With a rustic wax type finish it is very good quality and supporting a local furniture maker. It will probably last a good 20++ years if looked after.

They would cost a little bit more, and I get the exact style and size I want so it's well better than getting the generic mass produced crap that comes in from abroad.

Going to get a dining table soon.

malkypaul · 26 February 2014 at 6:27PM

Hi Everybody

I have made a study shelf/desk and cabin bed for No1& No2 daughters.
A storage single bed for myself out of a sheet of 13mm and a sheet of 9mm plywood, just as comfortable and loads cheaper than the c--p you see in the shops.
Current project is a triple glazed window out of recycled plastic (KEDEL.com) cos all local carpenters are so blinkered they cannot see the benifits of an everlasting window frame? that looks like real wood...
I'm just embarking on planning a (3) piece suite for myself (5 single chairs that will be coulped together for flexability), It will incorporate height adjustable and lifting seats (for under storage) storage armrests (for favourite magazines/calculator/TV remote), tilting back rests and cushions, and decent castors for ease of movement.
Although It's a lot of work, but you cannot buy decent ultimately configurable furniture on the High St for a decent price anymore. and of course i enjoy cocking a snook at the likes of the local furniture stores and giving work to local engineers/carpenters, and not just lining the pockets of so called businessmen.
looks like i'm going to be busy
Regards

Malkypaul

pusyparent · 26 February 2014 at 7:06PM

Hi if anyone knows any good carpenter then would welcome the contact. As I like a large dinning table.

Cheers

boots_babe · 26 February 2014 at 7:51PM

We had a non-standard sized fireplace that we wanted a surround for.

We found a local joiner who, from a picture of one we like, built a solid oak surround custom made for us. It's gorgeous and was much cheaper than had we bought a standard shop one.

DigForVictory · 26 February 2014 at 8:14PM

We needed a child bed that would fit between 2 radiators & not only were all the High St options a fixed length (4" too long) but started at £125.
A mattress maker locally sorted us mattress, base & delivery for £100!
(Must drop back in on them for Our Mattress when the creditcard's paid off!)

phoebe1989seb · 26 February 2014 at 9:16PM

Our last two kitchens have been handmade from solid wood to our specifications by a local independent co. They were delivered primed and we then handpainted them ourselves. The first time we also obtained a quote from B&Q and found their quote for something similar but of inferior quality (not solid timber) was more expensive

Think the first time we paid around £5000 for the same number of units that would have cost £8000+ at B&Q!

Furniture-wise we never shop in the high street, preferring auctions, both online and otherwise.....much better quality and value for money - but then we don't like contemporary

DS (age 24) is a philosophy graduate but very handy at DIY. He makes lots of his own stuff, including radiator cabinets and small pieces of furniture for his flat......

trishx · 26 February 2014 at 9:33PM

Bit of a coincidence but I did this yesterday.

I've just bought a house and it came with an old Yorkist range.

But the grate was broken in two and so warped you couldn't even balance it in position on firebricks.

As you can see, it's not a standard size or shape - so it's not like I could have just bought one. So I made a cardboard template

took it to the local blacksmith and he made me a new one

for £25!!! I'd have struggled to buy a standard one for that price - it's proper thick and weighs a ton, I can't see it warping any time soon! Admittedly it needs a little refinement for the brackets (my poor template) but he said he'd be happy for me to bring it back if it wasn't quite right.

The Great 'Have you saved money by having furniture custom-made?' Hunt

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