A custom residential table with a custom wood finish dubbed “Bare White”.

How SouthLoft Creates Custom Wood Finishes

SouthLoft finish expert Ryan Church knows a thing or two about creating a custom wood finishes that you can’t buy off the shelf. We sat down with him to learn about the process of creating custom one-of-a-kind finishes that will elevate your furniture in any residential or commercial space.

Every custom piece of furniture starts with a vision, and the right finish brings that vision to life. We develop custom wood finishes to achieve the exact color, tone, and character our clients are looking for. From selecting the right wood species to creating and refining finish samples, our process allows us to match existing materials, develop a completely new look, or create a finish unique to a specific project. The result is a one-of-a-kind finish designed specifically for the furniture and space it will become part of.

It starts with inspiration

Understanding your vision is just the beginning of creating a custom wood finish. Knowing exactly what you want helps us immediately narrow options in order to effectively create finishes from scratch. Therefore, customers have provided us with inspiration in the form of furniture mood boards, paint colors, material samples, or textures seen throughout their space. Sometimes the inspiration is as simple as a photo of an existing piece of furniture or a color they want to match.

Whatever you are able to provide as inspiration is helpful to the process. These references give us a starting point for understanding the color, tone, warmth, and overall character you are looking for. We can then begin considering how that vision will translate to the specific wood species and furniture being used for your project.

Creating rough samples

Rough samples in-progress.

Once we have a basic understanding of your ideal custom wood finish, we create rough samples. This is where the artistry enters the process. Our finish expert Ryan begins to create and test unique blends of products based on the look we are trying to achieve.

We apply the rough mixtures to one piece of your selected material so you can easily see the subtle differences between our initial formulas. Testing the finish directly on the intended wood species is an important part of the process because the same finish can look very different depending on the characteristics of the wood. Grain pattern, natural color, and how the wood absorbs the finish can all affect the final appearance.

At this stage, we are not necessarily looking for the perfect match. Instead, these first samples help us determine which direction is closest to your vision and give us a foundation to work from as we continue refining the finish.

Learn about the materials we use for residential and commercial projects

Further refining your custom finish

Testing further refinements of white finishes. The subtle shift can be hard to see so we use another white as a reference.

After we have created rough samples, we begin the process of refining the best matching sample. From there it gets scientific—altering the formula slightly with each iteration. Small changes to the mixture can have a noticeable effect on the final color, so we carefully compare each version to determine what is bringing us closer to the desired result.

This is especially important when creating lighter or more subtle finishes. Small shifts in tone can be difficult to see when comparing similar samples, so we may use another color or reference material to help highlight the differences.

As we continue testing, each iteration gives us more information about how the finish is behaving on the selected wood. The result is a more refined sample that we can share with you to get further feedback and make sure we are moving in the right direction.

Final tweaks

Feedback in mind, we refine your custom wood finish until you are satisfied with the end result. This final stage may involve making small adjustments to the color, tone, or overall appearance of the finish based on your feedback.

Once you give final approval, we complete the process and apply the finish to your furniture. The approved sample becomes the reference for production, helping us maintain the desired appearance as the finish is applied to the finished piece. The result is more than simply selecting a stain from a color chart. It is a finish developed specifically for your project, your furniture, and the space it will occupy. You might even have the new custom finish named after your project!