Ask three carpenters in Accra how long your custom dining table will take and you'll hear "two weeks" three times. Here is the honest version, from a workshop that has built custom furniture in Accra for thirty years: a proper custom piece takes 4–8 weeks, and the difference is where the quality lives.
Week zero: design and quote
Measurements, drawings, timber and finish agreed, then a written quote in cedis with a committed date. This costs you nothing and prevents everything.
Weeks 1–2: the timber rests
Boards for your piece come out of the kiln and acclimatise in the workshop, rough-cut and stacked. Skip this step — as every "two weeks" quote must — and the finished piece keeps adjusting itself in your living room: cracks, warps, doors that won't close.
Weeks 2–5: the build
Joinery first — pegged mortise-and-tenon, dovetails — then assembly, then caning if the design calls for it. You get progress photos from the bench; this is also the window for small changes, honestly discussed.
Weeks 5–8: finishing and delivery
Sanding through the grits, staining or oiling, curing time between coats (humidity decides the pace, not the calendar), a final inspection by Daniel, then delivery and installation.
Why the fast quote costs more
Furniture built in two weeks is built from unrested wood with shortcut joints and rushed finishes. It's cheap until it's replaced. A committed 4–8 week date in writing — with a workshop you can visit — is the better bargain every time.
Start your commission on our custom furniture page, or visit the Spintex showroom to see finished work first.
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.
