Step One: Floor Plans, Sketches & Specifications

When you visit your furniture designer, don't forget to bring along a detailed floor plan that indicates where furniture will be located, as well as exact dimensions.
Be sure to also include measurements for all doorways, halls, stairways and elevators through, which the furniture will travel to reach its final resting place. Laugh if you will, but even the most experienced designers make fatal errors that are evident only upon delivery.

Do your homework before you visit. Take time to go through design magazines. Find examples of furniture that have the style you're after. Don't be afraid to take an upholstered arm from one photo, a back from another and a skirt treatment from a third --- good custom furniture makers are skilled in bringing the varying elements together. Pictures that show what you want will save a thousand words of explanation.

Above all else, be as specific in your instructions as possible. Once you have instructed the manufacturer, ask for written confirmation of your instructions that includes a drawing of how the piece will look. Take the time to read the manufacturer's instructions and look the drawings over carefully. Design deadlines and budgets rarely permit costly errors.