Custom-Made Furniture Design for Homes Across London & the UK

If the piece could be picked up and moved, it's freestanding. If it fixes to the wall, floor or ceiling and becomes part of the room, it's built-in. A sideboard is freestanding; the same storage fitted into an alcove is built-in. If you're not sure, tell us what you have in mind and we'll point you to the right one.

Per piece. If you want a media wall and a pair of alcove units designed as one composition, that's more than one piece, and we'll tell you honestly how many before you book anything.

Each package includes two revisions. A revision is one round of feedback on the drawings we've issued, sent to us together in one go. Inside that round you can ask for as many individual changes as you like: adjust the proportions, move a shelf, change the drawer arrangement, swap the material, alter a handle detail. Your designer works through the lot and reissues the drawings.

Starting again. If you've approved a fitted wardrobe and then decide you want a walk-in dressing area instead, that isn't a revision, it's a different piece, and it's priced as one. The same applies to changing the location, changing the type of piece, or moving from freestanding to built-in after the drawings are done. We'll always tell you before doing any of it. Feedback sent in scattered messages over several days also counts as one round, so it's worth gathering your thoughts and sending them together.

You can, and for a straightforward freestanding piece that's usually fine. For built-in work, particularly in older properties where walls are rarely true, a site visit is the safer option and can be booked as an add-on. It also moves the responsibility for fit onto us, which is worth weighing against the cost.

It depends who measured. If we did the site visit and the measurements were ours, we cover the cost of putting it right, capped at the value of the piece. If you supplied the measurements, the responsibility is yours. If the measurements and drawings were correct but the maker built it wrongly, that sits with the maker. In all cases you approve the drawings before production, which is the stage at which problems are cheap to catch.

You can, and plenty of people do, but it's where bespoke projects most often go over budget. A sketch leaves a maker guessing at materials, thicknesses, fixings and junctions, so they either price defensively and come back high, or price optimistically and the cost climbs once those decisions get made on site. Neither leaves you in a strong position. A drawing that specifies all of it means every quote is for the same piece, which is what makes them comparable and what keeps the final invoice close to the original number.

No, we design it. Your drawings are fabrication ready, so you can take them to any carpenter or cabinet maker you choose. If you'd rather not manage that, we'll send the design to two Akiva partner fabricators for quotation covering manufacture and fitting. There's no obligation to use them.

That's separate from the design fee and comes from your maker, not from us. As a rough guide for the UK, entry-level bespoke pieces such as an upholstered footstool start around £950, fitted wardrobes in London work out at roughly £2,600 per linear metre, and a statement media wall can reach £8,000 or more. Timber species, specialist finishes, integrated lighting and access all move the number. Getting the design done first is what makes those quotes accurate rather than speculative.

Drawings start from five working days, counted from the point we have your brief and measurements rather than from when you book. A single freestanding piece usually lands close to that; a large run of fitted joinery takes longer, and so does a brief that arrives in stages. Manufacturing then sits with your chosen maker, and typical UK lead times run three to eight weeks for most cabinetry. Complex pieces involving glazing or fire-rated elements can stretch to six to twelve weeks because of sourcing and certification.

Yes. Existing and returning clients get 5% off furniture design. That covers anyone with a project running with us now, and anyone who has worked with us before, however long ago. Mention it when you get in touch and we'll apply it.

Because the room decides. Bespoke pieces use the full height and depth available, work around eaves, chimney breasts and awkward corners, and finish flush with your skirting and coving. Ready-made furniture is built to standard dimensions for an average room, which is why it so often leaves dead space above, beside or behind it.

Usually, yes. Send photos and, where possible, a note of the timber, finish and any profile details. We'll specify to match as closely as we can, though on older or hand-finished joinery a perfect match isn't always achievable and we'll tell you upfront if that's the case.