Commissioning Furniture

PIECE OR PIECES TO FIT YOUR SPACE AND NEEDS

Commissioning furniture can be a thrilling, daunting, creative and deeply rewarding process, in which you will end up with a piece or pieces to fit your space and needs. When you choose to work with Zelouf & Bell, you’re choosing studio furniture makers with a team of master craftsmen who have been making museum-quality furniture to commission in their workshop in rural Ireland since 1992, with award-winning work in private collections, public offices, embassies and embassy residences, Michelin-starred restaurants, churches and museums, at home and abroad.

As artisans, we use techniques and materials that are impractical for larger manufacturers, who depend on volume and factory-led automated processes and are often based in low wage/low overhead countries. As engineers, we always keep the requirements of the end user in mind. As artists, we are committed to making work that resonates beyond its function.

The Details

LEAD TIME, BUDGET, VISION

We ask that our clients have a reasonable lead time, a realistic budget for the kind of work we are committed to making, and the vision to commission pieces that we trust will both meet their requirements and exceed their expectations.

Pricing

In terms of price, our work is necessarily high-end. The pieces we make are functional, beautiful and extremely labour-intensive. We are a small team, working in a costly country, designing unique and limited edition pieces, working in traditional techniques using hand selected, luxurious materials.

Getting in touch

CONTACT US FOR A MEETING OR CONSULTATION

If, after viewing our vast and varied portfolio of recent and archived work, you are interested in having furniture made especially for you, contact us to set up a meeting, either in our studio or your home or office. We’re happy to arrange for an initial consultation at no cost. It’s helpful to provide us with plans or sketches, if available, and during the meeting, we’ll assess the space and take dimensions. Knowing your budget allows us to consider the complexity of design we’ll propose.

The Process

During our meeting, if all of us feel the ‘fit’ is right, we’ll specify a design fee to cover the cost of developing the drawings and detailed design proposal, based on your requirements. Samples may or may not be ordered; depending on the project, you may want to add a model to your design proposal. The design proposal cost may be absorbed into the overall cost of the commission; should you choose not to go forward with the commission, this fee will still be applicable. Once we come to an agreement on the details of the design, cost and lead time, we’ll prepare an order form/contract; a 50% part payment confirms your order. Depending on the complexity and scope of the project, we may negotiate stage payments.

While our design proposal is a detailed and cohesive response to the brief we’ve established with our clients, we encourage visits to our workshop to see your commission in progress when possible; we may also take pictures and video-clips and send them on, to share with clients the genesis of their pieces.

Receiving your commission

SHIPPING AND DELIVERING

For clients who live further afield, we can provide a shipping quote. When possible, we can arrange to personally deliver and install your pieces, both in Ireland and worldwide.