Interior designer Sabrina Albanese creates bespoke furniture pieces for clients, such as this custom dining table, that are designed specifically for their habits.Lauren Miller/The Globe and Mail
When anything and everything is available at the click of a mouse, what distinguishes a purchase is when it’s personalized and tailored to your unique style – something that no one else can have. Unique personal expression is a trend that’s crossing into home interiors and furniture. What was once confined to handbag charms and vintage clothing is now being expressed through couches and cabinetry. Interior designers and makers are involving luxury clients in the creation of custom furniture pieces that not only help them furnish their homes but put them in the driver’s seat from a creative perspective, too.
People are increasingly seeking products that align with their values as an extension of their personalities, whether that’s single-origin coffee beans, locally made clothing or one-of-a-kind furniture. According to the 2020 Consumer Culture Report by public relations agency 5WPR, 83 per cent of millennials want companies to align with their values, an attitude of individuality that translates to purchases that maximize personal aesthetic expression. According to Moen senior creative style manager Danielle DeBoe Harper, one of today’s top emerging design trends is personalization, something she says is achieved through the use of bold colours, strong patterns and heirloom pieces.
Another way to meet this home decor demand is through customizable products, which empower clients to select products that authentically reflect their individuality. One option is made-to-measure furniture, which can generally be configured online to meet individual needs. It’s an option that furniture designer Heidi Earnshaw, whose studio in Eastern Ontario focuses on residential wood furniture and functional objects, says has grown in popularity since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everyone has gotten used to doing all kinds of things online that we never would have dreamt of doing before,” Earnshaw says.
She explains that made-to-order furniture, like her Seven Day Dresser, a contemporary interpretation of an 18th-century semainier available in various sizes, materials and finishes, is helpful for clients in that, unlike true custom work, it offers a starting point and a sense of parameters. “Truly custom work, where you have a completely blank slate both as the designer and the client, can be a bit overwhelming,” she says.
Over the past 25 years, Earnshaw has developed strong relationships with her regular clients, some of whom entrust her studio to outfit their entire house, from the millwork to the dining table. While the made-to-order process takes some of the guesswork out of both sides, she says that custom work is a much more fulfilling creative process. “I love going to someone’s house and sitting down and seeing what else is in the room, taking dimensions and noting the rug or helping them choose it,” she says. “It’s really fascinating to be let into people’s homes that way and hear about how they live and who’s going to be gathering around that table.”
A custom children’s bed designed by Sabrina Albanese. She designs pieces through her own studio and in collaboration with local producers.Lauren Miller/The Globe and Mail
Toronto-based interior designer Sabrina Albanese says she often works with her clients on bespoke furniture pieces designed by her namesake studio and produced by local fabricators. On occasion, she can even arrange to have a piece customized, like stitching or finishes, directly through a manufacturer to suit the needs of a project.
Albanese says there are plenty of benefits to creating custom furniture for your home, from maximizing space to creating hyper-functional quarters. “While clients’ needs are met, they are also completely harmonious with the rest of the room,” she says of custom designs. “It offers peace of mind that their space is tailored to making improvements to their lifestyle and facilitates increased functionality. We make a point to ask a lot of questions about their habits and interests so we can work together to achieve a design unique to how they want to experience their space.”
That experience of having a piece of furniture tailor made brings a special energy to a home and is something that Earnshaw says presents the opportunity to go beyond acquiring a commodity. “To have something bespoke made is a real rare luxury, and it attaches people to the things that they’re purchasing in a way that buying off the shelf doesn’t,” she says. “You’re tapping into this whole experience and a way of seeing and being in the world.”