What should you put in a bespoke furniture brief?

A bespoke piece starts with a few paragraphs from you. Before anything is measured or drawn, we need to understand what you want, where it will go and how it will be used. That first message is the brief, and a clear brief makes everything after it quicker and more likely to end with exactly the piece you had in mind.

You don't need to be a designer to write a good one. Nothing needs to be drawn to scale, and nobody expects technical language. What helps is clarity about four things, plus a few photographs.

The four questions a good brief answers

What is the piece, and how will it be used?

Start with the kind of piece: a bed, a cross, a cage, something that combines forms, or a set of pieces for a whole room. Then describe how it will be used, in terms of the dynamic and the room; particular acts aren't needed. 'A bed for a shared bedroom that should read as an ordinary four-poster' tells us a great deal. 'A cross for a dedicated room, to be the first thing seen from the door' does the same.

Please don't include sexual or health details unless they're needed for sizing. We need to understand the piece and the room, and nothing more personal than that.

Where will it go?

Describe the room and where in it the piece will sit. Is it a bedroom, a spare room, a loft with a sloping ceiling? Is there an alcove you'd like it to fill, a window it needs to avoid, a radiator in the way? A collection piece may not suit a room with an awkward shape, and that's where bespoke can begin.

What should it look like?

Describe the look you want, and anything you've seen that's close: a piece from our collection with one thing changed, a pattern you like, a finish, a style of room. If you'd like a pattern of your own or initials cut into a headboard panel, send it as a sketch or an image and we'll redraw it.

Choose a finish if you know it: Obsidian, Oxblood, Gilt, Chalk, Forge Clear, or any RAL colour. If you don't know yet, say so; it can be settled later.

When do you need it?

If there's a date that matters, tell us at the start. We confirm the timing for each commission in your written quote.

Photographs and sketches

Photographs of the room help more than anything else. Take them from the doorway, from the opposite corner, and close to where the piece will go. Photograph anything awkward: beams, sloping ceilings, radiators, sockets.

Rough sketches help too. A plan of the room with the piece drawn in, or a quick drawing of the shape you're imagining, is plenty. Nothing needs to be to scale at this stage.

If you're working with an interior designer or architect, send their drawings with your brief and we'll work from them, or we can speak to them directly.

Measurements

You don't need full measurements to send a first brief, but they'll be needed before drawing begins. We'll ask for floor dimensions, ceiling height, and the size of every door, stair and landing on the route in. Mark beams, sloping ceilings, radiators and sockets near where the piece will go. We confirm every measurement before drawing begins. Our guide to measuring a room for restraint furniture explains how.

What we can and can't make

Commissions use the same S235 steel and finishes as the collection. A bespoke piece can start from a collection piece with one change, such as a bed at a different height or a headboard cut with an initial, or from nothing at all.

Some things we don't make, and we'll say so at the start if a brief needs any of them:

• Anything designed to hold a person's weight off the ground.
• Pieces with motors, electrics or heating.
• Copies of another maker's design.

Easy things to forget

• How the piece will be approached during use: from one side, from all round, from the front.
• Who else uses or sees the room, and how discreet the piece should be.
• Anything already in the room the piece must work with, such as a bed, a wardrobe or a window seat.
• Whether the piece will ever need to move to another room or house.
• The finish, or at least whether it should match or contrast with the walls.

Briefing a whole room

If you'd like several pieces designed together, brief the room as a whole: how it will be used, what each piece is for, and how you'd like to move between them. Pieces drawn as a set can be matched in finish and placed so the room works as one. Send a plan of the room with each piece marked roughly, alongside your photographs.

A sample brief

A short brief might read like this.

• Piece: a four-poster restraint bed, based on Pavilion's headboard.
• Use: our everyday bed in a shared bedroom, which should read as an ordinary bed to visitors.
• Room: a loft bedroom with the ceiling sloping down on one side. Photos and a rough plan attached.
• Look: Pavilion's arcs, in Chalk, with our initials cut into the centre of the headboard.
• Timing: we're redecorating, so no fixed date.

That's enough to start a conversation. We'll come back with questions, ask for measurements, and move on to drawings from there.

What happens next

Once the brief and measurements are agreed, we send scaled drawings for you to review, and you can ask for changes at that stage. Nothing is made until you've approved the drawings and the quote in writing. Our guide to how a bespoke commission works sets out each stage, from brief to delivery.

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, and our returns and cancellation page sets out the detail. Take your time at the drawing stage, and approve only when you're sure.

Send your brief to info@sanctumdomina.com, or start with our bespoke page. If a collection piece is your starting point, browse our BDSM beds, St Andrew's crosses and BDSM cages first.