Some custom furniture makers have experienced interior designers available that will translate your individual tastes to the drawing board that furniture makers will use to build your furniture. The interior designer will make sure that the furniture you want will match the color scheme and fit in the desired space. In addition, the designer can also help you pick out unique home accessories that will harmonize with your custom furniture pieces. Your home will be fully furnished from the moment your custom furniture arrives at your door.

Think about all of the time you can save from going from one furniture store after another. There is always something about a particular piece of furniture that you would change if you could. It comes close, but not enough to make the purchase so you travel to another furniture store. Some people spend months trying to find the perfect furniture set. With custom furniture, you spend your time enjoying your furniture instead of trying to find it.

Many people shy away from custom furniture because they believe that they can’t afford it. This is simply not true. If you can afford ready-made furniture, then you can afford custom furniture. Just give your interior designer a budget to work with and let him or her show you the furniture products that they can build for you.

There are virtually unlimited kinds of custom made furniture that can be built for you including kitchen cabinets, dining room furniture, living room furniture and bedroom furniture. You can also have custom bar stools that are the perfect height.

When choosing a custom furniture maker, you will want to see examples of the furniture they have built. Also, you should ask for references from other customers which should not be a major problem as most of these companies are extremely proud to show off their work. Keep in mind that in addition to price, you want to find out how long it will take to build and whether or not you will need to pay for shipping charges. When your custom furniture arrives you will have many years of comfort and enjoyment.

Nordic Collection by Tipota Furnishings

This retro Scandinavian design collection is made in Indonesia by Tipota Furnishings, a company based in Java where skilled craftsmen build top quality furniture pieces. One of the most interesting items is the Scandinavian Chair once used by President John F. Kennedy during a television broadcast in the press room of the White House.

Box Furniture

Established more than 10 years ago by architects Marcel Opstal and Maya Basyroel, Box Living has created over 1,000 designs and continues to add about a hundred new designs to its collections each year. Box Living is defined by its versatility and its ability to adapt as styles and tastes change. Their goal is to understand their client’s desires even before they have defined it for themselves. Box Furniture has hundreds of “classics” and Oriental Living is proud to be the exclusive distributor of this wonderful brand in the South of Thailand.

Galeri

Galeri was established in 2010 by the creators of Box Furniture to produce a hand crafted collection of discerning interiors for those that have an appetite for impeccable quality. Galeri Collections are made by the finest craftsmen available using world-class techniques and materials. Each treasure is carved, woven and assembled by hand from the finest natural wood timbers.

Mobella

Thailand furniture company, Mobella, is known for its original designs which draw inspiration from nature. Under the leadership of designer Anupol Yooyuen, Mobella’s experienced team of craftsmen and craftswomen have been manufacturing sofas, armchairs, beds and accessories since 2005. Mobella builds an impressive collection that is top quality. Its creative upholstered furniture blends international design with aesthetics and individuality for a pleasurable living experience. Oriental Living is pleased to be the sole distributor of Mobella Sofas in the South of Thailand.

Whether you are building a private residence or planning to furnish or renovate your hospitality project, we invite you to visit Oriental Living and browse our extensive collections. With locations in Koh Samui and Phuket, our team of professional interior designers is available to assist you with custom made solutions throughout Thailand.

Michael owns Oriental Living in Maenam, a shop specialising in Asian furniture, interiors and art, and where all furniture is hand-made to a customer’s design. The business started out in 1999 as a showroom in Chaweng where he still lives, and has been on the Maenam ring-road since 2005. It’s come a long way from when Michael first arrived on Samui on his first trip to Asia all those years ago and knew almost right away that this is the place he wanted to be. A couple of years of hard work back home in Holland followed before Michael came back to Samui for good.

So why interiors, and how did a career in fashion and hospitality in Amsterdam lead to establishing one of the most highly-regarded furniture and interiors shops on Samui?

“I love being able to be creative and transform a space,” Michael says. “When I was younger, I was always changing interiors – it drove my mum crazy. So, even though I was in fashion and hospitality back home in Holland, this is something that worked well for me from the start. We started off just as a gallery, somewhere to buy upmarket souvenirs, but then it just grew.”

And it’s been growing ever since. You’d think that with the much publicised economic downturn around the world people wouldn’t be building second homes in Thailand as much as before, but Oriental Living is about to open another shop in Phuket to keep up with demand. Michael’s been in the business for over 20 years and has seen styles come and go, but for Oriental Living, things stay fairly stable.

“There are trends in business and it can go up and down,” he says. “But it was when I was working in my restaurant in Chaweng that I was very aware of when the busy times where and which nationalities were coming to Samui, and when. This type of business is different and we’re busy most of the time. May and June are our quiet months when we don’t get so many walk-in customers, but we still do a lot of business with our web shop. And when we open in Phuket in October, it will be high season there even though it will be low season on Samui.”

If the thought of adorning your new space is overwhelming you and you don’t know where to start, Michael and his team offer ‘interior packages’, where they can come out to your newly-built home and advise on décor and style – then help you design and choose everything you need. Have to go back to your home country whilst your dream house is being built here on Samui? No problem – Oriental Living will take over managing the work whilst you’re away, whether that’s chasing up contractors or just keeping an eye on how things are going. Or maybe you just want a new bed or a dining room table – send in a rough sketch or picture of an item you like, and Michael and his team will design and manufacture the furniture according to your specifications and budget.

For the past two or three years, the interior packages have been extended to hotels, which has played a big part in keeping business thriving. Whether it’s fully furnishing a new hotel or just giving it a facelift with some new pieces, Michael consults with the owner or manager, gives his advice and works with them until the hotel is full of the quality furniture Oriental Living specialises in.

“We have factories in Indonesia and Bangkok, so we’re well placed to order and provide furniture for hotels as well as homes,” Michael says. “For hotels especially, it’s important to use high quality furniture, to cope with sand, the sun, people sitting on it in wet clothes … there’s no point buying something cheap you’ll have to replace a year later. Our furniture is of high enough quality that it doesn’t have to be replaced, so it’s more economical in the long run.”

For anyone who already has their house furnished, but just wants something stylish to finish it off, Oriental Living quality also extends to artwork and ornaments. The Asian art on offer includes Buddha statues, Burmese and copper statues, lacquerware and antiques, all meticulously crafted with individual attention to detail. For furnishings, you can shop by fabric type or colour, or just pick the room you want to transform, whether it’s kitchen, bedroom, office or dining room.

And if you’re just visiting Samui, but want to get a unique piece of furniture for your place back home, there’s no need to wait around until your designed piece is finished, as Michael will oversee the process for you and have the piece shipped. You can even design and buy your furniture online once you get home, browsing the site for ideas and chatting to Michael on the Oriental Living messenger for inspiration. The furniture is sold directly from the factory, so discounts of 40 or 50 per cent are the norm, and Michael will arrange shipping of your new piece to Russia, Europe, New Zealand, the USA or wherever you happen to be.

It’s good for Michael, of course, that business is still booming despite the worldwide economic downturn, but it’s also good news for anyone living on Samui who wants to furnish their house, or for hotel and resort owners wanting to give their place a facelift. Oriental Living offers a definite Samui style right across the board, with Michael expertly overseeing it all.

Laura Canning

http://www.samuiholidaymagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=325:samui-style&catid=37:september-2011&Itemid=16

Since you are going to be keeping your living room sofa for a decade, you will want to make sure you acquire one that is durable, comfortable and affordable.  Unfortunately, most consumers overlook durability altogether and focus mainly on price and comfort with price being the driving force.  Shifting your buying preferences can mean the difference of your sofa looking like it just came out of the losing end of a boxing match or looking like it just came off the showroom floor.

Before we consider the durability of your next sofa, let’s see how they are made.  Sofas are normally made with wood, springs and cushions and upholstery.  The most important part of the sofa is the frame.  It stands to reason that frames made from strong, resilient wood material like mahogany and teak will last the longest.  Naturally, these woods are more expensive.  However, when you factor in a twenty year life span, the cost per year is actually lower than cheaper pressed wood products.

The next important piece are the springs.  The springs act like shock absorbers and also prevent the occupant from falling through the bottom.  The more durable the wood, the stronger the springs have to be.  Therefore, cheaper woods have lower quality springs which will result in an early demise of the sofa.

Finally, the upholstery and cushions gives your living room sofa its identity and determines the level of comfort.    Generally speaking, thicker pillows and cushions will provide greater comfort.  Some furniture stores can further customize the color and style of your new sofa to match your living room furniture that is already in your home. Also, keep in mind that you can always re-upholster your sofa.  If you buy a high quality piece of furniture and in ten years you want a new look, just select new upholstery and you have a brand new piece for a fraction of the cost.

You can shop online furniture for a lower cost and buy direct from the factory or large supplier.  An easy way to tell whether you are buying a quality product is to review the warranty.  Manufacturers that provide a lengthy warranty know that their product will last.  Those that are only offering a limited one year warranty don’t expect their product to last for a long time.

If it’s time to replace your worn out living room sofa, consider putting durability and comfort ahead of price when making your decision.  You will be rewarded with a quality piece of furniture that will seat you for the next decade or more.

When you determine your budget, then you can plan your interior design for each room. You don’t have to complete the whole house all at once, it is usually easier to take on one room at a time.

While painting is one of the biggest expenses of an interior decorating project, there are some tactics that you can take advantage of to greatly minimize the cost. One example, you can mix two or three base colors into hundreds of other color blends.  If you want to paint rooms blue, green, white and teal.  You can mix blue and yellow to make green and add white to make teal without having to buy a pre-mixed paint color.

Instead of spending thousands of dollars to replace your kitchen cabinets why not paint them? It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to convert your kitchen into a modern masterpiece by painting your cabinets white and adding glass doors. You will be in awe how easily you can have a new kitchen on a tight budget.

Instead of purchasing all new furniture, you can buy a few new high quality furniture items and re-upholster some of your existing pieces.  This has the effect of getting brand new furniture for half the price.  Another great idea is to accessorize your space with works of art and other interesting pieces.  A few small items will go a long way towards decorating your home in your own taste. By planning a budget and concentrating on one room at a time and being a little creative, you will be able to complete your interior design project on a limited budget.

If you are having a hard time deciding which color to use then starting with white is often the right choice.  White is a neutral color and a fresh coat of paint will brighten up any room.  Also, white is a primary color that will go with any bedroom furniture and design elements that you have or are considering.  There are a variety of shades you can use like egg shell, off white, etc. Another reason to choose white is that it makes a great base paint.  If you decide to paint the room in a different color in the future, you can easily cover the white paint.

Once you have finished painting your bedroom its time to paint the crown mouldings with an earthy accent color to match your furniture for a smart designer look.  We can continue the designer style and make the room even more luxurious simply by changing the bedding to a white comforter. Finally, add darker toned pillows and sheets to complete the design.

When the paint is dry, you can hang pictures or paintings on the wall using dark frames. This will further customize the guest bedroom to create your unique style. There are lots of ways to add a splash of color to your bedroom.  You can choose from a variety of real or artificial plants, colorful wall art or an area rug.

Now you have a bright and airy guest bedroom that is inviting, practical and comfortable. Whether your guest bedroom is big or small, white is a great starting color that makes your interior design project quick and affordable that will never go out of style.