When shopping for new furniture, it’s easy to assume all stores offer an experience that is more or less the same. However, the more time you spend shopping for new furniture, the more you will realize that not all furniture retailers are the same. If you’re looking for more out of your furniture buying experience than just a quick purchase—if you care about craftsmanship, customization, and professional guidance—a furniture design store or design studio might be a better fit for you than a traditional furniture store.
In this blog, we’ll break down what sets a design store apart, compare the differences in products and shopping experiences you’ll find at traditional furniture stores compared to design studios, and show why Room Concepts is Pittsburgh’s go-to furniture design center.
What is the Difference Between a Furniture Store and a Design Store?
Traditional furniture stores typically include a showroom of pre-made, mass-produced furniture that is ready to buy and often stocked in limited styles, colors, and materials. What you see is what you get—and for some shoppers, that’s enough.
However, furniture design stores (also called furniture design studios or designer furniture showrooms) offer a much more personalized and creative shopping experience than what you’ll find at a traditional furniture store. Rather than simply choosing from existing options, customers work alongside in-house designers to craft furniture that reflects their style, space, and functional needs.
Here are some of the key factors that make a furniture design store different:
Customization Is at the Core
At a furniture design store, you can choose fabrics, finishes, dimensions, and features to create one-of-a-kind pieces from a broad inventory of customizable furniture. The customization model makes it easy to keep what you love about a piece you see, while curating other details to align with your vision.
Benefit from Expert Guidance
Many design stores are staffed with professional designers who assist with layout, style choices, and cohesive room planning. Is interior design not your strong suit? Just bring some pictures and measurements of your home interior, or examples of what you are looking for, and our in-house designers will help find colors, pieces, and styles to match either what you already have or what you would like to see.
Unlimited Options
Design centers partner with premium manufacturers and furniture artisans, offering options far beyond what you’ll find at a traditional Big Box store. The personal relationships between design store owners and the furniture manufacturers also makes it easier to accommodate your own personal requests.
Quality and Craftsmanship
Custom furniture is an investment, so it should be built to last. Products carried by design stores often come from high-end or custom makers (including local artisans). These furniture builders focus on durability and sustainable design, and the products created are intended to last for decades.
In short, a furniture store with design services doesn’t just sell furniture; it helps create pieces that contribute a new, personalized meaning to your home.
Furniture Store vs. Design Store: What’s Different?
So, should you shop at a furniture store or a design store? Since everything from product selection to buying experience is likely to look different between the two, let’s dive into some of the key differences between furniture stores and design stores so you know what to expect before your visit.
Store Focus
- Furniture Store: Furniture stores focus on convenience, fast delivery, and ready-to-go products. Their goal is typically to sell a large quantity of adequate products and keep customers coming back.
- Design Store: Design stores emphasize customization, design support, and creating personalized living spaces. Their goal is to help each customer find and customize their ideal furniture that will outlive cheaper, trendier alternatives. As such, the full process from shopping to purchase to delivery is likely to take 2-3 months, although the results are worth it.
Product Selection
- Furniture Store: Selection is limited to in-stock or catalog options; often standardized for mass appeal. While there may be some variety, it is still probably limited to only several options per product, so they can be produced efficiently.
- Design Store: At a design store, you are free to browse an extensive selection of furniture options from various manufacturers and builders, often with customizable components like fabric, wood species, or finishes. Some vendors may offer products in thousands of different possible configurations. Since each product is made-to-order, there are fewer limitations when it comes to customization.
Shopping Experience
- Furniture Store: Shopping follows a self-service model with basic sales support and minimal design input. If the store offers online shopping options, you may be able to move through the full shopping experience without even speaking to a salesperson. Depending on the store’s inventory options, you might also be able to walk into a store and take the product home with you the same day.
- Design Store: Shopping at a furniture design store is thoroughly different from any other kind of shopping. The shopping experience at a design store is a collaborative process with interior designers that are knowledgeable of both current home trends and timeless design methods. Design stores also emphasize tailored solutions and intentional curation. Your in-store shopping experience may take longer, and you will have to wait for your product to be made and delivered to you, but the results will ultimately be worth it when you have a piece that fits your vision perfectly and will be in your home for a very long time.
Affordability
- Furniture Store: Prices are often more affordable due to the lower costs of mass production and standardized products without additional customization needs.
- Design Store: Pricing will vary depending on the extent of the customization and the degree of craftsmanship involved, as well as each manufacturer’s price point, but it will generally be more expensive than a standard furniture store. However, with the higher price tag comes an unbeatable guarantee of long-term value through quality and personalization. Customizable products are also often backed by manufacturer warranties.
Customization Options
- Furniture Store: There is little to no room for customization with regular furniture stores. You are limited to what’s available on the floor, or in standard catalogs. A typical furniture piece like a bed or table might be available in two to four wood variations, or a couch in several different colors, but beyond that, you won’t find much room for variation.
- Design Store: Design stores’ biggest differentiator is their extensive customization options. Most, if not all, pieces are made-to-order, with nearly all details customizable, including the finish, size, cushion type, and miscellaneous add-on details like nail heads or handle styles. You will have hundreds of fabrics/leathers to choose from and up to 40 different wood colors to make sure you furniture looks and feels the way you want.
Shop Design Stores in Pittsburgh
If you’re in the Pittsburgh area and searching for a furniture design center that offers both style and substance, look no further than Room Concepts Furniture, with locations in Wexford and Pittsburgh South Hills.
What makes Room Concepts different? As a furniture design store rooted in decades of experience, Room Concepts is proud to offer:
- High-end, customizable furniture from a wide variety of North American manufacturers, including locally crafted Amish furniture that is built with exceptional care and quality.
- Expert design support to make the customization process a seamless and enjoyable experience.
- Designer furniture showrooms that highlight a range of styles, including traditional, contemporary, and everything in between, for those who love to mix classic and modern styles.
Unlike chain furniture stores, Room Concepts doesn’t push cookie-cutter designs. Instead, we focus on helping you craft pieces that fit your life and your space, down to the smallest detail. Whether you’re furnishing a single room or planning an entire home refresh, our furniture design services are here to make the experience both inspiring and stress-free.
Visit Room Concepts Furniture today and discover how a furniture design studio can transform your home, one beautiful piece at a time.
