Trade
October 12, 2026
6 min read
Ask ten designers where projects go sideways and eight will say the same thing: the handoff. Not the design. The paperwork, the approvals, the 'did that get ordered?' emails. A tidy furniture quote process for designers doesn't make the room prettier, but it protects your margins and your sanity.
Here's how it works with us, start to finish, and where we see projects stall.
A quote is only as good as the request. 'A gray sofa, about 90 inches' will get you a vague answer and a second round of questions. A specific model, size, fabric or leather, and finish gets you a clean number the first time.
Before you send anything, pin down the dimensions that matter: overall width, depth, and height, plus the clearances in the room. If you're building a presentation for the client at the same time, our post on presenting selections a client will approve covers how to package it.
Planning tools help here too. The free Trig Studio lets you set the exact room, place real pieces at verified sizes, and export a spec sheet. That sheet doubles as the backbone of your request.
We don't run a public checkout, and that's deliberate. Furniture at this level has options: fabrics, finishes, leg styles, configurations, lead times. A shopping cart flattens all of that into a guess.
Instead, you send us your selections, and your dedicated contact on the trade side builds the quote, with your preferred pricing applied across brands. One person, one thread. You're not hunting through five manufacturer portals to find out who's quoting what.
If you haven't set up an account yet, the details are on our trade program page.
This is where timelines usually stretch. The quote is done, and now it waits on a client who's traveling, or a spouse who wants one more opinion.
A few habits shorten it:
Made-to-order pieces especially need this up front. We explain where those weeks go in why made-to-order furniture takes weeks, and it's worth sending to a nervous client.
Once the client signs off, we place the orders. Different brands have different production schedules, so a single project may arrive in waves. That's normal. It's also why we recommend ordering in a sequence: anchor pieces first (sofas, dining tables, beds), then rugs and lighting, then accents.
A good rule: never let the longest lead-time item be the last thing ordered. We covered the planning side in planning a project timeline around furniture lead times.
Furniture arriving is not the same as furniture being finished. White-glove delivery means the pieces are brought in, placed where you want them, unpacked, and the packaging is taken away. We deliver across the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Triangle, including Cary and Wake Forest.
Tell your contact the room details ahead of time: stairs, tight turns, elevator reservations, and whether the floors are finished or still being worked on. Those details save an afternoon.
Usually it's one of three things. Specs that change after the quote. Approvals that arrive in pieces. Or delivery dates set before the order is even confirmed. None are fatal. All are avoidable with one clean thread and a shared spec sheet.
If you're a designer and want to see how this works for your next project, stop by the showroom at 1053 E. Whitaker Mill Rd, Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 7pm, or call (919) 516-8744. You can also browse all 40-plus brands we carry to start pulling selections.
For preferred pricing, yes. Trade accounts get a dedicated contact and consistent pricing across brands. Reach out through the trade page to get set up.
It depends on how specific your request is. A complete request with sizes, finishes, and fabrics moves fastest. Vague requests mean a second round.
Yes. That's one of the advantages of sourcing from a multi-brand showroom: one contact, one quote, and coordinated delivery.