The wear no one thinks of at the opening

A chair in a private home may be used a couple of hours a day by the same two or three people, who know it and sit in it the same way. A chair in a hotel or restaurant is moved, pushed, leaned on and sat in by a new guest several times a day, every day, all year round. Over a year, that amounts to a load a private piece would not experience in ten.

That is why furniture for commercial use cannot simply be private furniture in a different colour. It has to be designed for an entirely different frequency of use from the very first line.

What has to withstand more

Joints and hardware are often the first things to give way under frequent use. A hinge that is fine for a cupboard door opened five times a day in a home can work loose within a few months if the same door is opened fifty times a day in a hotel room. That is why we choose heavier hardware and reinforced joints wherever a piece is expected to be used by many different people.

Likewise, surfaces must withstand cleaning agents used more often and more aggressively than in a private home, without losing their finish or fading.

Consistency from room to room

A hotel or commercial client often needs the same piece in many copies, with exactly the same dimensions and the same look from room to room. That places different demands on documentation and precision in production than a single piece for a private home, where small variations are part of the charm.

Why it should still be made to measure

Standard furniture from a catalogue manufacturer is often the easiest choice for a commercial project, but it is rarely designed for the specific room it will stand in or the specific use it must withstand. A room designed by an architect often has its own dimensions, and furniture made to measure for that room and its expected use lasts longer and looks better, year after year, than a piece that merely resembles it in a price list.