Finishing Options for Your Custom Furniture in San Diego

We talk a lot in this blog about the fact that when you commission a piece of custom furniture to be made for your San Diego home or office, you get to choose all the details. When many of our readers read that, they tend to think about the style and design details of the furniture piece, as well as the wood from which it is built. While it’s true that these are some of the details that we tend to spend the most amount of time discussing, the finish of your custom furniture piece is also very important.

For some pieces, there are fewer choices than others. For example, a piece that will be around a lot of water, like a bathroom vanity or a bar top, should be finished with something that will make it waterproof. Polyurethane and marine-grade varnishes are popular choices, but if you want something maintenance-free and don’t mind a glossy look, we could use clear epoxy (like we did on this custom floating bathroom vanity).

For custom furniture pieces that will live outdoors, we often recommend Odie’s Oil. This product does a great job of preserving the wood, but we especially love it because it won’t peel over time like other finishes tend to when exposed to the outdoor elements for a while. We used Odie’s Oil on this custom outdoor gate for a customer in Ramona, and are so happy with how the oil finish enhances the gate’s design!

For indoor pieces, we use a variety of products, but most often, we use high-quality polyurethane. We can use either water-based or oil-based polyurethane, depending on how you want the final piece to look. However, we sometimes use Odie’s Oil on indoor pieces as well (like we did on this custom dining table). This is a popular choice for homeowners who want a more natural finish to their furniture piece.

We also offer specialty finishes, such as food-safe finishes, for things like custom butcher block countertops or custom charcuterie boards.

With every one of our custom furniture clients, we take the time to discuss finishing options. We go over the pros and cons and make sure the finish we choose will give you the look you want for your piece. We are always happy to make suggestions based on our many years of experience building custom furniture in San Diego, but the final say in how the piece is finished is up to each individual customer!

Are you ready to get started on having a piece of custom furniture for your San Diego home or office? We would love to talk with you! We will work with you to make sure every detail is perfect—even down to the finish of the piece.