How does a bespoke commission work, from brief to delivery?

A bespoke commission begins where the collection stops. A room with a shape no standard piece suits. A dynamic that asks for something none of our pieces offers. A pattern you'd like cut into steel. Each is a problem with a particular answer, and bespoke is how we find it with you.

A bespoke commission follows a clear sequence, from your first message to the day the piece arrives. At every stage before making begins, you can ask questions and ask for changes, and nothing is made until you've approved the drawings and quote in writing.

Your brief

It starts with a brief: a short description of what you want, where it will go, what it should look like and when you need it. Photographs of the room help, and so do rough sketches. Nothing needs to be drawn to scale. If you're working with an interior designer or architect, send their drawings and we'll work from them, or speak to them directly.

Please don't include sexual or health details unless they're needed for sizing. We only use what you send to answer your enquiry; our privacy policy has the details.

Our guide to what to put in a bespoke brief covers this stage in detail.

Questions and early answers

We'll read your brief and come back with questions. If the brief needs something we don't make, we'll say so at the start: we don't make anything designed to hold a person's weight off the ground, we don't add motors, electrics or heating, and we don't copy another maker's design.

Measurements

Next come measurements. We'll ask for floor dimensions, ceiling height, and the size of every door, stair and landing on the route in, with beams, sloping ceilings, radiators and sockets marked. We confirm every measurement before drawing begins. Our guide to measuring a room for restraint furniture explains what to measure.

Scaled drawings

Once the brief and measurements are agreed, we send scaled drawings for you to review. This is the stage to take your time. Look at the drawings together, picture the piece in the room, and ask for changes before anything is approved.

The drawing stage is where a commission takes shape, and changes there are expected. You might ask for a different proportion, a change to a pattern, a different finish, or a detail moved. Say what you'd like and why, and we'll redraw. Changes are easiest at this stage, before anything is approved, so raise everything you're unsure about here.

Your quote

Your quote is fixed when you approve the drawings, and payment terms are set out in your written quote. We confirm the timing for your commission in the quote too.

Your written approval

Nothing is made until you've approved the drawings and quote in writing. This is the point of commitment: bespoke pieces made to your specification can't be cancelled once you've approved the drawings and we've started work. This doesn't affect your other legal rights; the exception for goods made to a consumer's specifications is in regulation 28 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013. Our returns and cancellation page sets out the detail.

Approve only when you're sure. If anything is unclear, ask before you approve.

Making

Your piece is made in the same S235 steel as the collection, and coated in your chosen finish: Obsidian, Oxblood, Gilt, Chalk, Forge Clear or any RAL colour. Because commissions use the same materials as the collection, a bespoke piece sits comfortably beside one you've already bought. We answer questions throughout production.

Delivery and assembly

Like every piece we make, a bespoke piece ships flat-packed with printed assembly instructions, in discreet packaging, and your card statement shows SanDom. We deliver to the UK, US and EU. Assemble it with enough people, in the room it will live in, and re-tighten every fixing before first use.

Staying in touch

We answer questions from your first email to delivery. If anything changes at your end, such as a move, a new room or a change of plan, tell us as early as you can.

What bespoke can be

A commission can start from a collection piece with one thing changed, from nothing at all, or as a set of pieces drawn together for a whole playroom, matched in finish and placed for the way the room will be used. Our guide to what to put in a bespoke brief covers how to describe it.

Bespoke or collection?

If a collection piece suits your room and the way you'll use it, in a finish you like, it's the simpler route, with a clear lead time from the start. Bespoke makes sense when the room, the dynamic or the design calls for something the collection can't give. If you're unsure which route suits you, describe what you have in mind and we'll tell you plainly whether a collection piece would do.

Before you start

• Have you looked at the collection first? A collection piece in the right finish may be all you need.
• Do you know where the piece will go, and have you photographed the room?
• Have you thought about how it will be used, in terms of the dynamic and the room?
• Is there a date that matters? Say so in your brief.

Every commission ends with a piece of furniture you'll use with a partner, so the conversation between the two of you matters as much as the one with us. Before any piece is used for a scene, agree it sober, with consent that's freely given, informed, specific, ongoing and withdrawable at any moment, and a safeword and a non-verbal signal, either of which ends the scene immediately and is never discussed or overridden in the moment. Keep the scene itself sober too.

Start with our bespoke page, or send your brief to info@sanctumdomina.com. To see what the collection already offers, browse our BDSM beds, St Andrew's crosses and BDSM cages.