When you shop custom, you're not just buying a piece of furniture, a new accessory, or a renovated room: you're purchasing a service. It's a real relationship: you express what you want, and the maker presents possibilities based on his his or her skills. When you contact an artisan about a custom Victorian settee, the process begins with custom design services, and might require custom antique restoration and repair services, or possibly even custom reproduction services. By investing in custom, you receive traditional goods and services from actual human beings whose services are unparalleled in the modern commercial marketplace.