Matt Deighton is the managing director of the bespoke furniture company Sofas by Saxon. Here he shares his insight into why it’s a good idea to buy from British manufacturers when you’re decorating your home.
There are so many things you need to consider when you’re shopping for a new piece of furniture. You need to consider the look and quality of it — plus, you’ll have to ensure that it’s going to fit your needs and style perfectly. You might have started to consider all of these points already, but have you thought about whether you’re going to buy from a UK manufacturer, or a retailer that imports everything from abroad?
I’m a huge advocate for buying bespoke British furniture because there are a whole host of benefits to doing so. And, I’m going to explain what those are here.
You can design a unique piece to suit your needs and style
The main advantage of purchasing bespoke furniture — and the main reason people tend to go down this route — is that it gives you the freedom to design the likes of a sofa, bed, or bookshelf that’s going to suit your home perfectly. For example, you’ll be able to specify what dimensions you’re looking for, which is particularly ideal if you’re decorating a space that’s especially large, small, or awkwardly-shaped.
When buying bespoke furniture, you should also be able to decide what materials it’s made from. Perhaps you want a chair that’s upholstered in a fabric with the same print as your curtains, or you might be interested in having a cabinet made from a particular type and shade of wood. You mightn’t always find exactly what you’re looking for in a shop or online, but companies that specialise in making furniture to order will be able to help you achieve the specific look you’re going for.
You’ll be supporting the British economy
Another benefit of buying bespoke furniture from a British brand is that you can shop guilt-free, because you can be proud of the fact that you’re supporting our economy. In these uncertain times, every sale counts for SMEs so, by choosing to spend your money with home-grown companies, rather than businesses that mass-produce furniture abroad, you can be confident that your purchases are helping to keep British people in jobs.
Of course, this also has a knock-on effect, because the employees of the companies you shop with will then hopefully go on to spend their money on products from other small British businesses. The more this happens, the stronger our economy will become.
It’s more environmentally friendly than buying imported goods
Buying your furniture closer to home will also help to reduce the size of your carbon footprint. This is because the environmental impact of transporting it from elsewhere in the UK will be much smaller than if you buy from abroad and arrange for your furniture to be shipped over.
Climate change is becoming an increasingly pressing issue, so we all need to be doing what we can to look after the environment. And, buying locally produced furniture is just one of the ways you can do that.
Bespoke furniture is typically hand-crafted with great attention to detail
Perhaps the biggest difference between mass-produced and hand-crafted furniture, is that you can tell how much — or how little — attention has been paid to getting everything just right. When furniture is made in bulk, everything is typically done in batches by unskilled workers or machines in order to finish each piece as quickly as possible, but a great deal of care and consideration goes into making anything by hand via the same craftsperson.
As a result, bespoke furniture tends to be of a much higher quality, and everything should be finished beautifully. Plus, it’ll be clear that a lot of care, and a great deal of heart, has gone into making a piece of handmade furniture, and that’s something you just can’t replicate with pieces produced in bulk.
Your furniture will be made using high-quality materials
Companies that specialise in bespoke and handmade furniture will always want their products to be of the highest possible quality, which is why they’ll typically use fine materials that are going to help achieve this.
Another bonus of ordering bespoke is that you should be able to get a good idea of what your furniture is going to look and feel like ahead of time, because you’ll typically be able to pick what materials will work best for you from a range of samples. So, for example, when you’re choosing the upholstery for a sofa, the company you’re looking to buy from should be able to send across some swatches, so you can make your material choices with confidence. Some bespoke furniture companies will even allow you to visit their workshops to see exactly how their products are made and get a feel for the quality of the material they use in their manufacturing.
If you’re shopping around for some new furniture, I would highly recommend buying a bespoke piece from a British manufacturer. Not only will it be of a very high quality and made to your specifications, but you can also buy in the confidence that you’re keeping your carbon footprint small, and supporting the UK’s economy.
