A friend was practically bald, so often did I find her pulling out her hair, so I sat her down for a gin, and discussed the situation. The problem was to do with finding– no, not a person, but furniture that would fit into her life. All I could do was to pour several more gins, and suggest she tore up blotting paper instead.

If only I had known about Bespoke Furniture.com. We would still have drunk the gin, but she would have paid for it, so pleased would she have been with me. So just in case any Frost readers have a similar problem, read on. But don’t forget the gin.

How Moving into a Flat Made me Start a Furniture Business

by Adam Buchan

Nothing beats a room of one’s own and I was delighted when I moved into the flat above the pizza delivery parlour.

Next up was the thorny question of how to furnish it. I had a problem. Originally part of a bigger house, the rooms were an awkward shape and I found it impossible to find furniture that I liked and would fit in. Eventually, I ended up commissioning a kitchen dresser and dining table but they were both disappointing and badly made.

Two years later, having built the website myself,  I am running a company, bespokefurniture.com, which oversees the making and delivery of just such wooden furniture, including kitchen dressers, larder units, wardrobes, chest of drawers, and tables.

Description: Welsh Triple Dresser, Glass Door Top

Its aim is simple: to provide high-quality made-to-measure furniture from the best British workshops. All of our furniture is handmade to order, so customers can specify their exact dimensions, paint colour, timber and handles.

It took me eighteen months (much longer than anticipated) to find the right workshops, during which time I travelled the length of the country. There were a lot of individual craftsmen that were not geared up for regular orders but eventually I found the right partners, based in Staffordshire and Yorkshire.

After much deliberation over the blueprints for each piece of furniture, I launched the company, unleashed an on-line marketing campaign and held my breath. It took a week for the first order to come through… but then another soon after. I haven’t looked back since then, sales have been climbing month after month.

Description: Double Wardrobe, Four Drawer

I have learnt an enormous amount. Quality control has to be maintained at all times, and takes a lot of care and patience. Couriers can be unpredictable. Customers can change their mind. But all of these issues are part of any retail business. My original conviction was that if we could deliver excellent quality, affordable furniture within a reasonable timeframe, then there is a really significant market to be tapped – and this is definitely proving to be the case.

https://www.bespokefurniture.com/