'It’s a very appealing feature': Nothing says luxury like this home detail

Nothing says luxury like furniture tailor-made for a room. Just like a tailored suit can flatter and accentuate the body, the same can be said for the furnishings in a room.

Desks, entertainment units, bedside tables and vanities can all be custom-built to fit the room and the life of the people using it.

A joiner makes furniture off-site which is then installed in a room. Most houses would have a kitchen installed by a joiner, but now more home owners are realising the appeal of other rooms having built-in furniture.

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“With an entertainment unit I’ve made, we’ve gone the full length of the wall, rather than a set size,” says joiner Jack Avison of Nosiva.

“It has a certain height and depth that the customer wanted. She wanted a sleek look, so we maximised the space and matched the timber floor as well. It could fit all the cables inside and it was incorporated with the builder.”

A joiner and the client will discuss the furniture needed for a particular space. They then come up with a rough sketch with measurements that will best utilise the space. Timber veneer or paint finishes will be decided along with hinges or runners.

Once a quote is decided upon, the joiner will design the furniture in 3D. “So, they can visualise what they are buying because that’s the hardest part, people can’t visualise the space,” says Avison.

The furniture can take four to six weeks to manufacture off-site. Installation for a simple TV entertainment unit can take one to two days.

Store-bought furniture comes in a standard size and a small range of finishings, while custom-made furniture can be built to a height and width that best utilises the given space.

“In terms of storage space, you can maximise your space with custom, down to the millimetre. If someone says I’ve got too much storage, that means I’ve done my job, which is awesome. We managed to make it a usable flowing space,” says Avison.

Storage space is one feature that home owners find very desirable. “I have too much wardrobe space – I’ve never had that line said to me,” says Nicole Gleeson, partner at Kay and Burton real estate in South Yarra.

When it comes to built-in furniture, home owners can specify how much and how little storage is required. Wardrobes are built from floor to ceiling and can have specialised shelving depending on the sporting gear, handbags or musical instruments that need to be stored there.

Architects have joinery in mind when designing houses. “When you design a house for a family or an individual they should not have to adapt to the dwelling,” says architect Sidney Koh of Supersoma. “It doesn’t stand to reason that one should have to compromise and buy something off the shelf if it is not the appropriate fit.”

When selling a home, people can see the quality in joinery. If a home already has cabinets, bookcases and wardrobes built into the home, it ticks more boxes.

“We notice a lot that people just want to have very efficient, functional spaces and it has to be aesthetically pleasing. A lot of people don’t want to [put in joinery] because they don’t have the vision or the know-how. If a home has it already, it’s a very appealing feature,” says Gleeson.

Koh says, “A good joiner will always achieve a superior outcome. It also comes down to attention to detail, the door pulls or the handles on flush knobs, all these things come into play for the final product. They marry as seamlessly as possible into the rest of the dwelling.”