From Factory to Home – Journey to the Perfect Sofa in Taiwan 社子島訂製沙發經驗分享

After living in Taipei for the last 4 years and having gone through 4 renovation projects, one of the biggest challenges to fit a house is finding the right furniture for the space. In Taiwan, I feel like there’s a huge gap between Ikea and the upscale, designer furniture, not much else in between. So when it came to finding the right sofa for my living room space, I wanted to make it right but not break the piggy bank. After flipping through magazines and scrolling through Pinterest, I decided that (and the kids pleaded for) a L shape sofa. I wanted to make sure that it is wide and deep enough to fit our family of 5 on a family movie night, yet stylish and chic enough for our new living room. So flipping through so many magazines, this is the photo of the sofa I have my heart set on.

在臺北住了四年以及完成四個裝潢工程後，我後來發現裝潢新屋其中挑戰之一，就是找到好看，品質好，又不會讓我破產的傢俱。在臺灣挑選家具真的不是件容易的事情，宜家家具價格親民但用了不久就壞，想要品質好一點的話，去傢具行看到價格，有時候真不知道貴在哪裡，當我在思考要為我們新家客廳買沙發時，的確思考了很久，想要一張舒服，好看又有型的沙發，但是預算不超過十萬。在翻閱許多雜誌和流覽Pinterest之後，我最後決定訂製一張L形沙發。夠寬和夠深，足以容納我們一家五口在周末窩在沙發上看電影，翻了很多雜誌，我最後決定以這張沙發以靈感，做出類似的款式。

This was it. I liked the shape, the cushion, the color and the wooden legs. This is what I want. Now I just have to find someone to make it for me. An interior designer friend shared with me that in this little neighborhood in Shilin called She-zi (社子), is home to lots of furniture warehouses and factories. This is where designers go, make replicas of European furniture, and fit their clients’ house. Since it’s not too far away from Taipei, I googled, found a list of furniture factories that have actually pivot their business to more B2C model. I made my husband drive out to a few places with me to visit the factories in person. There were hits and misses. After visiting a few places, the store that I decided to go with at the end, it’s a shop called Choice 巧思傢俱工坊. https://www.facebook.com/ChooseHandmadefurniture The reason I decided to go with them is because when I walked it, I was greeted by a friendly saleslady, and then in their showroom, I saw my sofa.

我喜歡它的shape、沙發墊的厚度和顏色，現在只需要找到工廠幫我訂作出來。一位室內設計師好友告訴我，在士林的社子島，是很多設計師的後花園，不少傢具倉庫和工廠都在此。更不少設計師需要訂製傢具的時候，都拿著名牌家具的照片請師傅們複製。由於就在台北市，我用 google搜索，馬上找到傢俱工廠的地址電話，反正距離台北市區不遠，有一天就決定花了幾個小時時間，開車去社子島，親自拜訪這些工廠。坦白講，有些工廠看起來凌亂不堪，有些根本沒開。走訪了幾家之後，跟不同工廠老闆聊過，最後我決定委託定做的是巧思傢具設計工坊 https://www.facebook.com/ChooseHandmadefurniture

之所以決定這家，是因為當我走進去showroom，一眼就看到了雜誌上面心儀的沙發。

Okay – same same but different. Regardless, it was close to what I had in mind. The first floor is the factory and the second floor is the show room. When I showed them the photo. They told me it’s not a problem. Minor tweaks to get us as close to what I want as possible. Length, depth, sofa legs – all can be customized and changed. The total cost of it – $60,000NT – higher than Ikea, but cheaper than furniture shops in downtown Taipei. It was going to take about 4-5 weeks in production. Here are some more photos of the show room. You would be able to keep the cost down as long as you’re making a replica of some of the sofa models that they already have. They do everything from sofa, bedframes, sofa chairs, dining chairs and upholstery.

樓下一樓就是師傅們在忙碌工作的工作間，樓上就是 showroom ,雖然我是臨時跑進來的散客，招呼我的小姐十分友善跟專業，當我給她看雜誌照片時，她說可以做到非常接近，但是如果依照他們現有的款式去做的話，價錢會比較親民，沙發的長寬度，尺寸配置，布料材質，坐墊軟硬度，都是可量身訂做的手工沙發。費用抓大概六萬元左右，雖然價格比宜家高，但是我做的沙發三百公分寬度，一百公分深度，還有更多選擇的布料，我覺得超值得的，時間大約需要 4-5 周。除了沙發，還有床架，沙發椅，餐椅，巧思都有訂製家具服務。

I was able to try on different levels of firmness at the factory, just sitting on the sofas they had in the show room. The saleslady Ms. Chen was co-owner, who took over the business from the family. She was very attentive and very meticulous, patient to all sorts of questions from me. I picked the fabric I wanted and confirmed on the size. They sent me a drawing to confirm the final details. I paid a deposit and they confirmed an approximate delivery date. There was nothing else but to wait for the shifu to work their magic on my sofa. Ms. Chen would sent me photos of the process of making my sofa.

在showroom 可以直接試坐不同坐墊，最後決定適中的軟硬度，也直接在工廠選了喜歡的布料，之後則是用LINE 溝通沙發的構圖，尺寸，跟沙發腳的木頭顏色，我付了押金，陳小姐確認交貨日期，並開始期待沙發完工之日，陳小姐三不五時會拍照片給我看製作過程，令人十分期待。

It looked great on photo but to be honest, I was really nervous how I would like it in person. So finally after 4-5 weeks, it was delivered to my house. I was smitten! Love at first sight.

照片都看起來很讚，但還沒送到家裡的時候，坦白講還是很擔心! 但是一送來，保護膜拆掉之後，真是令人驚艷，我超級滿意! 布料比我想像中更舒服，沙發非常有型，雖然已經忘記當初選的坐墊軟硬度，但是坐下來就不想起來了! 沙發的腳底都貼心的貼了防磨墊，陳小姐還送我四個顏色相近的坐墊，一擺進我們新客廳，就是好看!

The color, texture and the shape of the sofa turned out exactly – if not better than what I wanted. The firmness of the sofa was perfect. Deep enough to curl up to watch Netflix or read a book. The color is perfect against the deep blue accent wall in the dining room. And the comfy level passed the hubby and kids’ test. Everyone is happy.

Overall, a great customer experience and I got exactly what I wanted, at a price point that I was comfortable with. I think mostly I was impressed with the quality of the sofa. Well made in Taiwan – in a small factory not too far away from us. I would recommend this if you are tired of ikea furniture and want something customized for your space. Definitely worth making a trip down to the factory, show them the design you want, sit on the couch and see how they can create something for you that you can enjoy as a family.

沙發布料，背墊厚度，形狀跟整體造型坦白講比我想像中還要好，顏色與後面餐廳的一整片深藍色相映成趣。跟新家的顏色超級搭的，我們一家五口擠在上面看電影非常舒服，雖然大家都搶著要坐L型那邊可以直躺，唯一覺得可惜的就是，當初貪心想要做寬一點，應是做了三百公分，稍嫌寬一點，可能兩百八十公分會讓客廳看起來更大一些

整體而言，這是一次很棒的客戶體驗，買到了我在雜誌上愛上的沙發，價錢比一般家具行更便宜。但讓我最後讚嘆的是台灣師傅手藝真的很好耶! 台灣製造真是品質保證，之後更期待在沙發上跟一家人享受家居生活。

https://www.facebook.com/ChooseHandmadefurniture

巧思傢俱 +886 2 2810 3827 Ask for Ms. Chen 陳小姐

Mention “funtaiwankids” for a small discount

#手工訂製沙發 #巧思傢俱設計工坊 #社子島沙發工廠

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