We build both, so we have no horse in this race. Here's the honest split.
Ready-made wins when…
You need it this week, the room is standard-sized, and the piece is low-stakes — a side table, a bookshelf, a guest-room bed. Showroom pieces can go home the same day, and you can sit on exactly what you're buying.
Custom wins when…
The space is awkward (alcoves, sloped walls, that pillar), the piece is central to daily life (your bed, your dining table, your wardrobe), or you simply want it right: your dimensions, your timber, your fabric. Contrary to reputation, custom furniture in Accra from a workshop like ours runs only 10–20% above a comparable catalogue piece — because everything we build is made to order anyway.
The third option: made-to-order catalogue
Most buyers think the choice is "imported showroom floor" vs "drawing from scratch". Our whole catalogue is the middle path: proven designs like the Elmina dining set or Sirigu chair, built fresh for you in 4–8 weeks, tweakable in size and finish at little or no premium. Design certainty, custom fit.
The one rule either way
Whoever builds it, get the spec in writing: species, dimensions, finish, price, date. A workshop that hesitates to write it down is telling you something.
Talk a project through with the makers — message the workshop.
Shop the craft
See these woods and techniques in our handcrafted collections: living room furniture, dining room furniture, bedroom furniture, office & study furniture, outdoor furniture — all made to order in our Spintex Road workshop, or commission a custom piece.
