18 November, 2011

A Question of Quality – Customer’s Own Material (COM)

By Emily Anderson, Allied Member ASID
We're wrapping up our week on high quality furniture. We've discussed three components of manufacturing quality furniture so far: construction, finish and tailoring. Today I want to discuss the pièce de résistance, the icing on the cake and the cherry on top referred to those in the industry as COM.
If you are accustomed to shopping retail sources for furniture you may not be familiar with the custom capabilities of high end furniture manufacturers. Typically, the upholstery frame is ordered separately from the fabric that will be applied to it. This fabric is called Customer's Own Material or COM. This capability opens a new world of options for the designer and client.
Not only can we select any fabric we choose but we can specify exactly how we want the fabric applied to the piece. We can also add other custom options like tape trim or contrasting welt. The sky is really the limit and through these custom details a piece goes from ordinary to extraordinary.
Examples of COM available through the trade:
[caption id="attachment_9821" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="from Brentano"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9822" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="from Pollack"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9824" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="available through KDR Showroom"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_9825" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="available through KDR Showroom"][/caption]