For interior designers, architects & contractors
One-off and contract furniture, made to your drawing.
Farwinger is a small Birmingham workshop that makes the furniture nobody stocks — the single statement piece, the oversized one, the thing drawn for one room and never made twice.
Start a commission → What we can make- Minimum orderOne piece. A single commission is a real order.
- QuoteFixed price, normally within two working days.
- Before you commitA free visualisation of your piece. No charge, no obligation.
- Made inBirmingham, England — and we tell you if any part of it is not.
Why designers call us
The piece you have drawn does not exist yet.
That is the whole problem with specifying furniture. A catalogue can give you something close. It cannot give you the piece on your drawing, at your dimensions, in the timber you chose, to the deadline on your programme.
We are a bespoke furniture manufacturer working almost entirely to other people's drawings — and, when the job is a hotel or a fit-out rather than a single room, a contract furniture manufacturer working to somebody else's programme. Most of what leaves this workshop is one-off furniture, a single commission for a single interior; the rest is contract furniture in matched runs for a hotel, a bar, a members' club or a shopfit. Everything is made to spec — yours, not ours. We carry no range for you to choose from, and we will not ask you to compromise a design so it suits our machines. If a detail cannot be made as drawn, we say so at the quote stage and tell you what would have to change.
Nothing here is made twice unless you ask for it twice.
The work divides roughly three ways. Exclusive furniture and statement furniture for private and residential schemes — dining and refectory tables, solid oak desks, consoles, seating frames. Sculptural furniture and one-off pieces where the form is the point rather than the function. And commercial furniture for contract interiors, where the piece has to survive public use and arrive on a programme date. As a trade furniture supplier we work to trade terms with designers, architects, main contractors and fit-out teams, and we are used to being one line on somebody else's schedule.
On cabinet work the honest answer is worth more than the flattering one. We do not fit kitchens or wardrobes and we will not claim to — an enquiry we would have to hand back helps nobody. What we are is the workshop the bespoke cabinet making trade uses for the parts it cannot turn: legs, bun and ball feet, columns, plinths, finials, dome caps, bosses and turned mouldings, made to your profile and machined to your carcass dimensions. Those parts go into bespoke cabinetry and custom cabinetry built by somebody else, and UK cabinet makers, joiners and shopfitters are among our steadiest trade accounts. We alter and match existing cabinet work too — cutting a run of doors down at the shaker line and re-jointing them, or replacing the one turned element in a piece nobody makes any more.
Capability
What we make, and how big a single piece can be.
Most makers will not tell you their limits until after you have specified something they cannot build. Here are ours, in writing, before you draw.
| Component | Largest in one piece | Timber | If you need it bigger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turned legs, columns, balusters, newel posts | 700 mm long × 250 mm diameter | Oak, African walnut, ash, beech, redwood pine, tulipwood | Turned at a partner workshop, or built up as a veneered hollow column — dimensionally stable and lighter than solid at large section |
| Turned spheres | 300 mm diameter from a single solid block | Oak, African walnut, redwood pine | 300–340 mm bonded from two trued hemispheres; above that, up to roughly 2 m, ribs are CNC-cut from laminated board, bonded and hand-finished |
| Hemispheres and domes | 450 mm diameter | Oak, African walnut, redwood pine, beech | Segmented, or rib-built as above |
| Table tops, panels, carcass work | Laminated to the drawing — no lathe limit applies | Oak, ash, African walnut, tulipwood | Sectioned for access, with the joint detailed where you want it rather than where it is convenient |
| Machined and CNC-cut components | Cut to your CAD file, to roughly 2 m | Solid hardwood or prelaminated board | Assembled from cut sections |
| Solid blank thickness | 70 mm per board in oak — about ø66 mm finished from a single board | Board stock varies by species; tulipwood runs 51/64/76 mm | Same-species glue-up. It is a real extra operation, so we price it rather than absorb it |
| Minimum order | One piece | — | Matched runs and repeat batches quoted per commission |
| Typical make time | Turned components 2–3 weeks from your approval | — | Furniture commissions are quoted with a date, and if the date is going to slip you hear it from us before it does, not after |
Sizes are the ceiling for a single component, not for a finished piece — a table is not limited by the lathe, only its turned parts are. Slender sections over a long run chatter on any lathe, so we will usually suggest keeping a thin element short or close to a centre. That is a cost, not a refusal.
The workshop
Made here, to somebody else's drawing.
Client names are withheld — commission work usually is. What is shown is the work itself.
Process
How a furniture commission runs.
Five stages. The price is fixed at stage three, and nothing is cut until you have seen the piece.
| Stage | What happens | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · You send what you have | A drawing, a CAD file, a sketch on a napkin, a photograph with something in frame for scale, or the existing piece you want matched. A mood image and a dimension is enough to start. | — |
| 2 · We answer the awkward question first | Whether it can be made as drawn. If it cannot, what would have to change, and what each alternative costs. You get that before a price, not instead of one. | Same or next working day |
| 3 · Fixed price and a free visualisation | A written quotation with the scope broken down line by line, and a rendered visualisation of your piece with a familiar object in frame for scale. The render is free and carries no obligation. | 1–2 working days |
| 4 · Prototype, if the piece warrants it | Optional and priced separately. Furniture prototyping is worth it on a repeating contract run or an untested joint; on a single piece the visualisation usually does the job for nothing. | Quoted |
| 5 · We make it and deliver it | Made in Birmingham. Delivered UK-wide and internationally, with freight and any import duty priced on separate lines so you can see what each one is. | Quoted with the price |
The de-risking step is a render, not a prototype. We would rather spend an hour visualising your piece for nothing than have you pay for a sample that tells you the same thing. If you genuinely need a physical prototype — a contract run, a new joint, a finish you have to hold — we make those too, and we price them honestly rather than burying them in the unit cost.
Timber, finish and matching
Specified in the timber you chose, not the one we had.
We work in European oak, African walnut, ash, beech, redwood pine and tulipwood as standard, and will buy in a species we do not hold if the scheme calls for it — we will quote the minimum purchase honestly rather than steer you onto something we already have in the rack. Fumed and ebonised finishes, stains, hard-wax oils and clear lacquers are all available; so is supplying unfinished, if your site is finishing everything together.
Matching an existing piece is routine work here rather than a special request. Send the original, or a photograph and a rubbing of the profile, and we turn or machine to match it so the new part sits correctly against the existing joinery — the same skill that lets us replace one broken baluster in a period staircase applies to extending a dining table nobody makes any more, or making six more of the chair a client bought two of in 1974.
A word about grain: every piece is cut from real boards, so a matched run is matched in profile and finish, not in figure. If a scheme needs visual consistency across a large surface we will say so at the quote and propose how to lay the boards up.
Where the commissions come from
Most of them start with a single component.
Almost every furniture commission this workshop has taken arrived the same way. A designer was looking for a turned part — a sphere, a stack of balls for a leg, a plinth — found us because we actually make them, saw the standard of the turning, and asked whether we made the whole piece.
So the components are not a side business, they are the front door. If you are specifying and want to see the work before you commission anything, start with one of these and hold it in your hand. It is the cheapest sample any workshop will ever give you.
The trade arrives the same way. A bespoke cabinet maker normally finds us hunting one turned part for one job — a set of feet for a run of bespoke cabinets, a column for an island, a finial for a pediment — and stays because the parts come back to the drawing and on the date. Furniture and cabinet making firms, joiners, shopfitters and prop houses buy from these same collections on trade terms.
Before you ask
The questions designers actually ask.
Will you work from my drawing, or do I choose from a range?
From your drawing. There is no range to choose from. A CAD file, a dimensioned sketch, a photograph of the piece you want matched or a reference image with the dimensions written on it are all workable starting points. If the drawing is not finished yet, send what exists — we would rather help resolve a detail early than price something twice.
Will you make just one?
Yes. The minimum order is one piece, and a single commission is a real order, not a favour. Most of what leaves this workshop is a one-off. Matched runs for contract interiors are quoted per commission and get cheaper per piece as the run grows, because the setup is the expensive part.
Can you match an existing piece?
Usually. Send the original if you can spare it and we will return it with the new one; otherwise a photograph with a ruler or a coin in frame, plus a profile rubbing, is normally enough. Matching period turning is core work here rather than an exception.
How big can a single piece be?
A turned component is limited to about 700 mm between centres and 250 mm in diameter; turned spheres go to 300 mm from one solid block, and domes to 450 mm. Finished furniture is not limited by any of that — a table top is laminated to the drawing. Beyond the turning limits, work is either built up, taken to a partner workshop, or rib-built from CNC-cut laminated board, which is how we make spheres up to roughly two metres. The full table is above.
Do I have to pay to find out whether it works?
No. The quotation and the visualisation are both free and carry no obligation. You will see a render of your piece, with something familiar in frame for scale, before you approve anything. A physical prototype is a separate priced stage and is genuinely only worth it on a contract run or an untested detail.
Do you make cabinets, or parts for cabinet makers?
Parts, mostly, and we would rather say so plainly than win an enquiry we have to hand back. We are not a fitted-kitchen or wardrobe company. What we turn and machine are the elements that go into bespoke cabinetry and custom cabinetry — legs, bun and ball feet, columns, plinths, finials, dome caps, bosses and turned mouldings, to your profile and your carcass dimensions. Cabinet makers, joiners and shopfitters are among our steadiest trade accounts, and we also alter and match existing cabinet work. If your piece is a cased one, tell us which parts you want made and we will price those honestly rather than quote for work we do not do.
Do you supply the trade, and are there trade terms?
Yes — designers, architects, main contractors, fit-out teams, cabinet makers, joiners, shopfitters, prop houses and furniture makers are most of our work. Volume and repeat terms are set per account; ask when you enquire. See trade and B2B enquiries.
Where is it made, and can you deliver to site?
Everything is made in our workshop in Birmingham, England. We deliver across the UK and ship internationally every week, with freight and any import duty priced as separate lines on the quotation so you can see exactly what each one costs.
How far ahead do you need to be booked?
Turned components typically run two to three weeks from your approval. A furniture commission is quoted with its own date, agreed before you commit. If a date is going to slip you will hear it from us before the date, not after it.
Start a commission
Send the drawing.
Or the sketch, or the photograph of the thing you want matched, or the dimension you are stuck on. There is no form to fill in twice and nobody will chase you.
- A fixed written price, normally within two working days
- A free visualisation of your piece before you commit to anything
- An honest answer if it cannot be made as drawn, and what to change
- One piece is a real order
Or email contact@farwinger.com · Farwinger Limited, Birmingham, England · company 16047814