How to Plan Your Commercial Millwork Project From Concept to Completion

Custom commercial millwork may seem like a finishing touch, but top-performing businesses today know the value of customization and personalization to their customers’ satisfaction. According to customer experience studies, 71% of customers expect personalized interactions, and 76% are frustrated by generic experiences. The results of these expectations are measurable: businesses that successfully offer personalized experiences can increase their revenue by up to 40%.

Creating a customized experience in a commercial setting can be complicated, as architects, designers, and owners must work together with a clear vision and against significant challenges, such as unclear timelines, budget overruns, and misaligned expectations.

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This guide aims to empower designers, architects, and building owners with solutions to the most challenging issues with custom craftsmanship. Custom commercial millwork can be used strategically to create engaging, functional, and brand-specific experiences, with the proper professional guidance from an experienced custom millwork company.

What is Custom Commercial Millwork?

Millwork is a broad term for a range of fixtures, flourishes, and architectural features, including cabinetry, doors, window casings, paneling, shelves, baseboards, trim, and more. The difference with custom millwork is that, rather than try to fit ready-made fixtures and materials into a space, a custom millwork company will work with the designer, architect, and owner to build the perfect millwork for the specific space and the intended customer experience.

Summary: Custom commercial millwork is how companies deliver a balance of style and function to personalize their ideal customers’ experience.

Step-by-Step Plan for Commercial Millwork Projects

Custom commercial millwork offers many benefits, but coordinating the design, planning, and execution of its individual parts can be difficult without professional guidance. These steps help make the process more seamless while avoiding significant challenges such as unclear timelines or budget overruns.

1. Define the Brand’s Vision

The point of personalizing custom millwork to the brand’s identity is to give customers a memorable, bespoke experience matched to their needs. Accomplishing this requires clearly identifying the brand’s most important traits and strategizing how custom millwork can bring them to life.

Here are some practical examples for how to maneuver this process with confidence:

Example 1: A cafe with a limited floor plan. The designer aims to maximize usable space to offer customers a choice of experiences and a cozy atmosphere without becoming cramped.

Millwork Design Option: Custom banquette seating can work within the constraints of small floor plans to create more usable space and the desired atmosphere. For example, in a cafe setting, corners often go unused when tables and chairs can’t be maneuvered in the space. Built-in bench-style seating or custom corner banquettes can turn an unusable corner into the most intimate and sought-after seat.

Example 2: A commercial retailer values a seamless reception experience and wants a design that offers better service without creating more clutter.

Millwork Design Option: The reception desk can be used to change the room’s functionality. Custom desks can have built-in space for POS systems, supplies, and other amenities to maintain easy access for staff without creating visible clutter. Hiding cords and other clutter behind custom materials, finishes, and branded flourishes can turn the reception area’s primary touchpoint into a brand-building opportunity.

2. Strategize the Choice of Materials in Custom Millwork

In addition to choosing designs that complement the intended vision, commercial millwork should use the right materials and finishes to showcase its professional craftsmanship. Warmer or cooler woods and finishes can communicate different feelings to first-time customers, who may identify with the brand’s intended atmosphere or be turned off by it.

Additionally, the choice of materials impacts the project cost. Designers should be aware of labor and material costs in advance to coordinate with architects and owners on the best options for the project’s intended budget.

Design Example: Creating custom pieces from reclaimed wood or other sustainable materials can demonstrate that a company aligns with the values its intended customers share. According to studies conducted in 25 countries, 7 in 10 customers support businesses that share their values. The right material choices can help companies connect with their intended audience and deliver their ideal experience.

3. Partner With an Experienced Custom Millwork Company

Choosing the right design, layout, materials, and finishes for custom commercial millwork can be difficult. Each choice will impact customer impressions as they enter the business, which will affect the likelihood that they will review the business favorably or become a long-term loyal customer. Experienced custom millwork companies coordinate design choices between architects and owners to make sure their expectations and choices align with the overall vision for the space.

Connect with Custom Millwork Company Artisans

For designers, builders, and business owners, custom millwork represents an opportunity to turn generic spaces into guided, personalized experiences for their target customers.

At Sixth Avenue Custom, our commercial millwork artisans work to make the process seamless from concept to completion. This requires communication with clients to make sure their choices lead to lasting design solutions that attract and retain their valued customers.

Contact our team today to make the commercial design process as seamless as possible. Our designers will find the right balance between brand identity and functionality to make sure your project meets expectations.