"Handmade" appears on many furniture labels, and it can mean very different things. For a sofa set, the useful question is which steps are done by people and which decisions they make along the way: how the frame is joined, how the seat is built up, how the leather is cut around its natural marks, and how the pieces of a set end up matching. This article walks through those steps as they happen in our own factory in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul, where every Sitdesign piece is made by hand.
If you are comparing sofa sets, the points below also work as a checklist: ask any maker the same questions and compare the answers. For the full sequence from order to delivery, see our post Inside the Luxury Sofa Production Process.
The frame: kiln-dried beech, cut and joined by hand
The frame decides how a sofa holds its shape. Our upholstered frames are made from kiln-dried beech. Kiln drying brings the moisture content of the timber down before it is worked, which limits later movement. Wood that is still wet tends to shrink after assembly, and that is typically where joints loosen and frames start to creak.
In a handmade frame, the joiner checks each part as it is assembled: that the rails are square, that the arms and back sit at the angle the model needs, and that the corners, where most of the load goes, are reinforced. On a three-seat sofa of around 220 cm, the front rail takes most of the weight every time someone sits down, so it is a part worth asking about.
- Which wood is the frame made from, and is it kiln-dried?
- How are the corners joined and reinforced?
- For a custom length, is the frame redrawn for the new size rather than simply extended?
Springs and foam: how the seat is built up
Comfort comes from layers, not from a single block of foam. Our seats combine sprung seating with high-resilience (HR) foam. The springs carry the load and spread it across the seat; the HR foam on top recovers its shape quickly after someone stands up, which helps cushions keep their form instead of flattening after the first months of use.
Building the seat by hand means the upholsterer can adjust the layers to the model. A low, deep lounge sofa with a seat depth of 60 cm or more needs a different build-up from an upright sofa with a seat height of around 45 cm and a depth of 52–55 cm. As a general rule, a firmer seat suits people who sit upright to read or talk, while a softer, deeper seat suits a TV room. If you have a preference, say so when you order: it is much easier to set at the start than to change later.
Leather: cut and upholstered by hand
Genuine leather is a natural material, and every hide has its own marks: small scars, growth lines, areas where the grain is tighter or more open. Cutting by hand lets the cutter read the hide and place each pattern piece where it fits. The most even areas go to seat cushions and inside backs, where the eye and the hand go first; areas with more natural character go to outer backs and sides.
Sitdesign works with genuine leather only, in 76 colours across 12 colour families, with Italian leathers forming our top leather group. Fabric upholstery is also possible, and we accept customer's own material (COM). After cutting, the upholsterer pulls the leather over the frame by hand, aligning the seams and keeping the tension even so the surface does not wrinkle on the arms or pucker at the corners. For an overview of leather types and finishes, see our leather materials page.
One leather across the whole set
A sofa set is usually a sofa, one or two armchairs and sometimes a pouf, for example a Platon sofa with two Jackson armchairs. Because leather is natural, two hides of the same colour can differ slightly in shade and grain, and the difference is easiest to see when the pieces stand side by side.
That is why it helps to order the pieces of a set together: they are upholstered in the same leather in the same production run, so the colour reads the same on every piece. If you plan to add an armchair later, keep your colour reference and tell us which set it is for, so we can match it as closely as possible. When you choose the leather, look at the samples in the room where the set will stand, because daylight and warm evening light can change how a colour appears.
What handmade means for timing and custom sizes
Making each piece individually takes time, but the schedule is predictable. Upholstered pieces take 3–4 weeks; wood pieces such as tables and cabinets take 6–8 weeks. If your set includes a coffee table such as the Balance coffee table, plan the delivery around the longer of the two.
Because every piece is built individually, custom dimensions are available on request. Typical requests are a sofa 20 cm longer to fill a wall, a slightly lower seat for a room with low windows, or a deeper seat for a family room. A good starting point is one of the standard models in our sofa collection: choose the shape you like, then adjust length, depth or height where your room needs it.
If you are planning a sofa set, send us your room dimensions and the pieces you have in mind. We will send leather samples on request and prepare a quote; you can reach us through our contact page.
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