About CustomMade

CustomMade is an online matchmaker connecting Buyers who want one-of-a-kind Creations with professional and passionate Makers.

Custom Furniture Design and the Slow Furniture Movement

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on June 13, 2012

Are you concerned that cheap retail furniture, in price and quality, is eroding support for custom furniture design and traditional craftsmanship? If you’re familiar with CustomMade, you’re likely aware of CustomMade’s mission: spreading the custom word and bringing together artisans and consumers who understand the value of fine craftsmanship.  When we hear about others who [...]

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Restoring Pride: Sir Terence Conran on Design and Craftsmanship

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on February 13, 2012

Is there a divide between designing and making?

We’ve previously raised the question of a “societal disconnect” with working with your hands and highlighted efforts to restore a sense of pride in building things that can both benefit future generations of custom artisans and encourage economic recovery.  At CustomMade, we are proud to showcase artisans [...]

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Archaic, Unwritten, Irresistible: The Art of Scagliola

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on January 30, 2012

What is scagliola?  A composite substance made from selenite, glue, and natural pigments that can simulate marble and other stone.  Known since the days of Ancient Rome, most in vogue in Europe from the 17th to the 19th century, and historically considered an inexpensive substitute for natural materials, scagliola has “come to be recognized as [...]

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Catching the Building Bug: The Girls at Work Program

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on November 25, 2011

What do young people need from their elders in order to join the burgeoning maker movement?  They need training to learn to use the right tools and encouragement that they can succeed.

For many young girls, finding both is a challenge.

On the CustomMade blog we’ve previously highlighted efforts to change attitudes towards manufacturing and [...]

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The Maker Movement

Posted by Pedro in For Makers, The Pro Shop on November 15, 2011

Who can save the economy? Who can change the world?

The maker movement.

Who are the makers?  In the Forbes article “Moving the Economy: The Future of the Maker Movement,” blogger TJ McCue identifies them: “The people who create, build, design, tinker, modify, hack, invent, or simply make something.”  The definition of “maker” is also [...]

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Gadget Camp Tackles Some Popular Assumptions

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on August 24, 2011

How will the custom makers of the next generation get their start?

This is a question we’ve addressed numerous times on the CustomMade blog.  We’ve featured stories about mid-life career transformations, guilds and schools dedicated to teaching crafts, and government/business partnerships in other countries. We’ve recently showcased CustomMade artisan Jamison Sellers, who mentors a small [...]

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What is Live Edge Design?

Posted by Pedro in Concepts & Buyer Guides, For Customers on July 22, 2011

It’s easier to identify furniture made from live edge wood than to understand what live edge means.  When you look at custom live edge furniture, you probably can imagine if not see the profile of the tree that yielded the wood for the piece.  If you examine the edges of the wood slabs, the rough, [...]

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Neo-Traditionalist New Artisans: CustomMade Makers and Craftsmen Communities Featured on EcoSalon.com

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, The Wide World of Custom Making on June 11, 2011

At CustomMade, we love the stories behind the pieces.  Have you ever wondered about the stories behind the artisans?  What did they do before they became artisans, and why did they choose their paths?

More people are leaving behind their traditional 9-to-5 careers to build “functional, artisan quality pieces for the home,” writes K. Emily [...]

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Traditional Craftsmanship Unswerving in Economic Downtime

Posted by Pedro in For Customers, For Makers, Maker Spotlight, The Wide World of Custom Making on May 19, 2010

Solid wood furniture, guest blogger Erik Braunitzer of Harden Furniture writes, “we have made it through some of the worst of the current economic decline and downtime, and he would like to take a moment to discuss with the readers of the CustomMade blog why the industry continues to [...]

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