Bespoke Dining Table - IX - The Final Step - Delivery Day

This is a short series following the creation of a bespoke dining table all the way through the making process, from selecting the timber to delivery to the client.

Delivery day is a big one for any maker, though hopefully any client will be blissfully unaware. There's a lot to manage behind the scenes - booking the van, wrapping and protecting every edge and surface, making sure the piece will fit through doorways and up stairs. All of that happens quietly, so that when I arrive, the only thing my client needs to think about is appreciating their new piece of furniture.

I make every commission to the client's brief, involving them as much as they'd like along the way - sometimes a little, sometimes with visits to the workshop or timber yard - and by delivery day they've signed off on every detail. It's been pored over in the abstract, down to the last drawing, 3D render, finish sample and 3D print. But there's a completeness to bespoke furniture that only arrives once a piece slots into its home, where it all just makes sense.

So when I get to see a client's face light up as I deliver or install a piece, it makes everything worthwhile - every hour in the workshop, every ache, bruise and splinter, every time the timber insisted on resisting my efforts. It's why I get out of bed and head to the workshop every morning. In this particular case, my client couldn't have been more delightful. She even laid the table so we could get some photos of it in use - and doesn't it look glorious.