What "Custom Order" Furniture Really Means
"Custom order" can sound intimidating — like it means designing something from scratch, a long wait, and a big price tag. For most people, it's none of those things. Here's what custom order actually means when you buy from us, and why it usually leads to a better piece than buying off a warehouse floor.
It Starts With a Frame You Already Like
You're not designing a sofa from a blank sheet. You start with one of the hundreds of proven frames from Bassett, Palliser, or Parker House — shapes and styles that have been refined over decades. Custom order simply means that once you've found the frame you love, you get to decide how it's built: the material, the configuration, and the details. The hard design work is already done. You're personalizing, not inventing.
What You Actually Choose
The choices are straightforward, and our team walks you through each one:
- Fabric or leather — with over 1,000 options across our brands, from performance fabrics built for kids and pets to full top-grain leathers.
- Configuration — the size and shape that fits your room. A sectional's chaise on the left or the right. The number of seats. Whether it reclines.
- Cushion fill — firmer support or a softer sink-in feel.
- Details — leg finish, nailhead trim, contrast stitching, and the small touches that make a piece feel like yours.
That's it. A handful of decisions, each one made easier by seeing and feeling the actual options in person.
Why Custom Beats Off-the-Shelf
When you buy a finished piece from a warehouse, you're choosing from whatever happens to be in stock — a fixed color, a fixed size, take it or leave it. With custom order, the piece is built for your room and your life. The sectional fits the wall you have, not the wall the floor model was staged against. The fabric is the one that works with your floors, chosen in your lighting. And because it's built to order, you're getting a new piece — not the floor model a hundred people have already sat on.
About the Wait — and the Price
Custom pieces typically arrive in 6 to 8 weeks. That feels long next to "in stock and shipping tomorrow," but for furniture you'll keep for years, a few weeks to get exactly what you want is usually worth it — and our white-glove team delivers, sets up, and removes all packaging when it arrives.
As for price: custom doesn't mean premium. The cost depends on the choices you make, which is exactly why we don't list a single price online — it would only mislead. And whatever you choose, our Low Price Guarantee means you won't pay more than you would at any authorized retailer for the same piece.
See How Simple It Is
The easiest way to understand custom order is to do it — and it's far less daunting than it sounds. Visit our Towson showroom at 1125 Cromwell Bridge Rd, sit on the frames, feel the materials, and let our team guide you through the choices. No pressure, no rush.
