Build or Buy Home Furniture? Case Closed!

The DIY bug bit Indians locked down at home in the COVID-19 pandemic. With nowhere to go and little to do, people found ways to stay engaged and the DIY trend took in India. Baking, gardening, cooking, building, creating; social media was abuzz with achievements of DIY enthusiasts.

The fact, though, some things can be done at home while most cannot. DIY has never been a forte of Indians. Even Ikea makes an exception for the Indian market with a mix of DIY and off-the-shelf merchandise. Post-pandemic India appears to be embracing DIY culture, but not yet to the extent of mature markets.

Furniture always features in the middle of the build or buy debate in India. Most Indians do not buy furniture instore or online. They have carpenters build it to specification. Urban India, however, has already living the ‘buy’ motto for furniture. Business at small shops, large chains and online furniture stores and rental platforms is booming all year. The carpenter vs readymade debate is heating up even more. Let’s weigh the pros and cons.

Building furniture: what’s good and what’s not

• Involves buyer’s time and space: Carpentry projects for home furniture may take weeks depending on the size of the order, and demand investments of time and space, which can overrun and be messy at the same time.
• Made to specification with full control of budget and materials: Get the liberty to choose manpower and materials to suit every choice and budget.
• Good material and workmanship can guarantee quality and durability: There’s little to distinguish the durability of well-crafted furniture, built or bought.
• Can involve knowledge and research of a specialised subject: Not everyone knows about suitable material type and quality, which means you rely entirely on the carpenter’s knowledge and judgement.
• Not every carpenter is made equal: Matching the finish and precision of machine-made furniture is not guaranteed. What do you do if a built item is not to your liking? You live with it and hope to find a better carpenter next time.
• Cost benefit: The general consensus is building furniture costs lower than buying it.
• Not everything can be built: Building complex or intricate designs, certain types of contemporary space-saving furniture and engineered designs may simply not be possible by hand.
• Works better for fixed furniture: Bed, wardrobe, doors and windows, but not as well for movable furniture like tables, chairs, dining sets, sofas, cabinets, and similar items.    

Buying furniture: what’s good and what’s not

• The only time you will spend is choosing an offline or online store and the actual items to buy: Involves legwork for instore purchases. No mess at home and no cost overruns because you know what you are buying.
• Cannot be made to exact specifications or combinations of budget and materials: Much of what you need may already be available at a store. You still have the liberty to choose what’s best, and there will be plenty of choices. But, with great choice comes great confusion. Online stores often cause dilemmas when buying furniture. Would you, however, prefer the greater choice of bought furniture or the limited offerings of a carpenter who may not possess the skill to recreate that design from a Pinterest post or store catalogue?
• Good material and workmanship can guarantee quality and durability, bought or built: Stores do offer high quality wood and finishing at a higher cost. The question is do you want furniture that lasts decades or indulge your interests with new pieces when you seek change? The days of long-lasting goods are behind us, and so is the tendency to use an item for life.
• You don’t need to be a specialist: Traditional stores can clear all your doubts and queries, while online stores can offer the widest choice possible and a reasonable amount of information. Either way, you know exactly what you are buying. However, buying furniture online does entail the risk of things not being how they appear, but you can return or exchange.
• No nervous anticipation of the finished product: You get what you see.
• The general consensus that building furniture costs lower than buying it is true but not every time: Buying furniture made from particle board and MDF might be cheaper than building it with the same material because manufacturers buy in bulk and pass at least some of the cost advantage to customers. Such furniture has a reasonable shelf life too.
• Not everything can be bought: Beds and wardrobes fitted to room specifications can be difficult or even impossible to find in a store. On the other hand, the choice of design, material, and build quality and complexity available instore is unmatched by carpenters.

Building or buying furniture? The verdict.

• Build only if you have the time and space to devote, and a skilled and seasoned carpenter for the job.
• Build movable furniture like beds, wardrobes and items that you would invest only once and customised to your needs.
• Buy smaller items likes tables, chairs, dining sets, sofas, couches and even storage items instore or online. The sheer variety of design, material and affordable prices will cheer you up. Feel free to redecorate your home to shake things up.

Now that the build vs buy home furniture debate is settled. It’s time to redecorate. Or perhaps, find a new home where you can start anew and indulge your furniture fantasies. Visit Horizon and find a new home from the widest range of size, location, budget, amenities, developers and home financiers to choose from. Happy house hunting to you!