Furniture manufacturers

What to look for in a furniture manufacturer

Furniture factories specialize by material: solid wood case goods, upholstery, metal, or mixed. Match the factory to your construction and look hard at finishing, because that is what customers see.

Visit if you can, or ask for a live video walk through the workshop, the finishing line and the packing area. Furniture problems usually start in drying, finishing or packing, and you can see all three on a call.

• Wood species, kiln drying and moisture control for solid wood.
• Finishing lines and the finishes they can match.
• Compliance for your market (formaldehyde and flammability rules for the US).
• Brands they have produced for, shown on the cards.

MOQs and sampling

Furniture is priced and shipped by the container, so your real minimum is often a container load across several designs. Pay for prototypes, check them in person or on a video call, and agree packaging that survives the trip.

Domestic or overseas

The furniture factories in these records are in Vietnam, India, Turkey, Indonesia, Italy and China. Domestic workshops cost more but make sense for custom and made to order pieces.

Questions to ask on the first call

Furniture is expensive to get wrong, because the mistakes arrive by the container. Ask the factory to walk you through its process from timber to packing.

• Which woods and materials do you use, and how do you dry and control moisture?
• Which finishes can you match, and can I see a finish panel first?
• Which US compliance rules do you already meet for other customers?
• How do you pack for export, and can you show a drop test?

In this list

12 furniture factories, in Vietnam (4), India (3), Turkey (2), China (1), Indonesia (1) and Italy (1). Between them, records show they have produced for Khaite, McGee & Co, Nickey Kehoe, Restoration Hardware, Hollywood at Home and Serena & Lily. The Vault has 21 more furniture suppliers whose names, contacts and notes stay with the course.