Ordering custom furniture at Merit Home Furniture means the maker builds your piece after you choose it, in the cover, finish and size you picked. Most of what stands in our Duncan showroom is a display model, so most of what we sell there is ordered this way. You sit in the display piece, choose the fabric or stain, sign an order that spells out each choice, and leave a 24% deposit.
A mattress order is usually ready in 2 to 3 weeks, and a Decor-Rest or Mako order in 8 to 10. The wait for every brand we carry is in our brand-by-brand list of lead times. What follows is the order itself: what you can change, what you sign, what the deposit does, and what we do when a maker runs behind.
How does ordering custom furniture work at Merit?
A custom order at Merit runs in six steps, and the paper you sign at step four is what the maker builds from. Each step below is how it happens at our Duncan store, one of the showrooms our family runs on the Island.
- Sit in the display model. The frame, seat depth and arm height you feel are what the maker builds. On some lines the cushion can change too: the Decor-Rest 2541 sofa comes with 1.9 lb. standard seat foam, with firm as an option.
- Choose the cover or the finish. Upholstery is chosen from the maker's fabric and leather samples, solid wood from its stain samples. A small swatch reads lighter than a whole sofa, which is one reason a showroom piece can look different at home.
- Measure the room and the way in. For a sectional, which way the chaise faces is drawn on the invoice beside your measurements. We also ask you to measure once more at home, doorways and stairs included.
- Sign the order and pay the deposit. Special orders take a 24% deposit. On the 2541 sofa at $1,499.00, 24% comes to $359.76.
- Wait while it is built. We give you a lead time before you order, and we keep you posted until the piece reaches us.
- Pick it up or have it delivered. When it is ready we call to book a time, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. Pickup at Duncan is free.
Delivery from our Duncan store costs $150 to an Island address, and assembly is part of that price. A Gulf Islands order is talked through by phone first, since we reach some islands only. On a long run across the Island, a mattress can need another shipping method. Merit's other three stores set their own rates, so ask the store you buy from.
What types of furniture can you customize, maker by maker?
The furniture we order to your choices is upholstery and solid wood: sofas, sectionals, chairs, recliners, upholstered beds, dressers and the rest of a bedroom. What each maker lets you change is set by the maker, and it differs from line to line. The table is drawn from each maker's own site and Merit's live product pages, read on October 3, 2026.
| Maker | What you choose | What stays as designed |
|---|---|---|
| Island Living, made to order | Over 400 fabrics Island Living keeps in stock, or your own fabric; the piece sizes in each style | The physical dimensions; leather styles stay leather and fabric styles stay fabric |
| Island Living, in-stock program | The cover it comes in | The rest of the piece |
| Decor-Rest | Fabric or leather cover, one of six wood finishes, standard or firm seat foam on some styles | The frame style |
| Mako | 12 pine finishes or 6 maple stains, 36 knobs and handles, 19 upholstery choices | The solid wood design and its sizes |
| La-Z-Boy | Fabric or leather, plus the upgrades each style allows | The style's frame |
| Best Home Furnishings | More than 700 fabric, leather and finish options | The style you sat in |
What made to order means at Island Living, Decor-Rest, Mako, La-Z-Boy and Best
Each maker describes its own program, and its words set the limits of what we can order for you.
"The one item we will not change, is the physical dimensions of our product," Island Living says in its FAQ. You choose the cover, and which of a style's pieces you want. The San Josef comes as an 86 inch sofa, a 78 inch apartment sofa, a 63 inch loveseat, and armless, corner and chaise pieces for a sectional. Island Living accepts COM (customer's own material), and says dimensions "may vary by up to one inch" because each piece is handcrafted.
Island Living runs two programs, and only one of them is built to order in Burnaby, BC. Those listings carry our Canadian Made tag, among them the San Josef and the Somenos upholstered bed. The Cumberland is from the in-stock range Island Living has made overseas, and it is not customized the way the Burnaby line is. More on the split is in our Island Living guide. Island Living's internet policy keeps its prices off our site, so call us for a Island Living number.
Decor-Rest calls itself "A leading North American manufacturer of fine upholstery, since 1972," and builds in Woodbridge, Ontario. On its own site it lays out the YOUnique sofa as four picks: 9 frame styles, 48 solid body fabrics, 27 patterned pillow fabrics and a wood finish. Our Decor-Rest listings are priced, and the 2541 sofa is $1,499.00 before applicable taxes.
Mako builds solid wood bedroom, dining and office pieces, and its finishing pages list the choices by wood. Pine takes 12 finishes, one of them lacquer only; maple takes 6 stains. The Decora 7-drawer dresser in solid pine is $899.00, and its photos show the Chocolate stain.
La-Z-Boy's own description of the Collins sofa says it is "Customizable with your choice of fabrics and other upgrades." Our page lists it at $1,649.00 in six Fairfax covers. Other La-Z-Boy covers can be ordered through us. For a La-Z-Boy chair, ask first what we have in stock.
Best Home Furnishings is based in Ferdinand, Indiana. Its history page says its styles come in "1,000+ covers made to order in days, not weeks," as Best puts it. Its covers page gives the more careful count of over 700 fabric, leather and finish options. We use the 700 figure.
Which custom furniture is right for you: made to order or in stock?
The choice between custom furniture and a stocked piece comes down to how much the cover matters against how soon you need the seat.
Made to order
You get the cover, finish and piece sizes you chose, from a maker whose own rules are above. You wait weeks for it, with 24% of the price paid up front as the deposit. It suits a room you have measured and a date that can wait.
In stock or on display
You take the cover it comes in, and it can be ready in a few days to about a week. The Brosmer rocker recliner from Best is on display at our Duncan store at $949.00. Nothing has to be built for you, so there's no special order to wait on.
Ordering the display model you liked in a different fabric keeps the comfort you tested and changes only the look. Changing the frame style as well means sitting in that frame first.
What to check on a custom furniture order before you sign
The order you sign is what the maker builds from, so every choice belongs on it in writing. Before you sign, check that the order names:
- the maker, the style and each piece, such as sofa, loveseat or corner;
- the cover by its name and number, and the wood finish or stain;
- the hardware, for a Mako piece, and the seat foam, where there is a choice;
- for a sectional, a drawing of which way it faces, with the measurements;
- the price before applicable taxes, the 24% deposit and the balance;
- the lead time we gave you, and whether it is pickup or delivery.
If you are bringing your own fabric for a Island Living piece, the yardage needed depends on the fabric's width and its pattern repeat. Island Living asks the dealer to confirm the amount, so ask us to check it before you buy the fabric.
The 24% deposit and changing your mind on a special order
The deposit on a special order is 24%, taken when you sign. Merit's full terms are on our returns page, and they are worked through in plain words with the deposit examples.
Can I change my mind after ordering?
Call us as soon as you know. Whether a cover or a size can still change depends on where the order stands with the maker, and we can find that out for you. Our invoices say all sales are final, but in practice we are flexible: we encourage exchanges for up to 30 days and handle returns case by case.
How long custom furniture takes, and what we do if it runs late
The lead time we quote for custom furniture is the date your piece is ready for pickup or delivery on the Island. That is a later date than a factory's build time. Island Living's FAQ puts its usual ship time at four to six weeks, and Best talks of days. Our figures for both are longer, because ours run to the day the piece is ready for you.
A late special order does not leave you without a seat. We lend loaner furniture at no charge until yours arrives. If you decide to keep waiting, we usually offer a discount, and cancelling stays open to you as well. The booking call and the delivery terms are set out on Merit's delivery terms page.
Who should skip a custom order, and where made to order has limits
A custom order is the wrong fit if you need a sofa before a move-in date that is closer than the maker's lead time. Buy from stock, or order early and keep the old sofa until the new one is in.
Made to order does not mean made to measure. Island Living will not change a piece's dimensions, and its sizes may run up to one inch off the listing. If the room needs a length no style comes in, no maker on this page will build it.
A new cushion is firmer than the display model you sat in. Island Living notes that stores keep floor models for several months, so their cushions soften with handling, and yours will soften with use.
Some covers are locked to a style. At Island Living, a style shown in leather comes only in leather, and a fabric style only in fabric. A Island Living in-stock piece comes only in the covers Island Living stocks it in.
Where the custom order facts come from
- Decor-Rest Furniture Ltd., How it's Made, checked October 3, 2026.
- Decor-Rest, YOUR YOUnique SOFA collection, checked October 3, 2026.
- Mako Wood, Stain Choices, with its knob and handle and upholstery pages, checked October 3, 2026.
- Best Home Furnishings, History and Covers, checked October 3, 2026.
- Merit's delivery, returns and deposit terms, from our own delivery and returns pages; prices and piece sizes from our live product pages, October 3, 2026.
Starting a custom order at our Duncan store
Bring the room's measurements, the width of every door on the way in, and a photo of the room if you have one. Merit's Duncan store is at 107 Ingram St, open 9 to 5 from Monday through Saturday, and we write the order with you there. The other stores can tell you which lines they order.
Call the Duncan store, (250) 746-5527
How delivery and deposits work is on the page about ordering from us. The made-to-order lines are in our Island Living, Decor-Rest and Mako collections, and La-Z-Boy has a collection of its own.