When furnishing a hotel, a restaurant, or a large villa, decisions differ from those made when buying furniture for a private home. This is not due to a difference in taste, but because quantity, wear and tear, and timelines impose requirements that are irrelevant for private purchases. The following points, based on experience, often only become apparent when they lead to costly consequences.
Availability for Reorder Before Selection
The most important question precedes the question of appearance: Will this model still be available in two years? In a restaurant, chairs break; in a hotel, side tables disappear. Those who choose a discontinued model will later have to replace not just one piece, but the entire room. Before making a selection, clarify how long the series will be carried and whether reorders will match in color.
Quantities and Color Batch
For upholstered furniture and fabrics: goods from one order come from one dye batch. Two orders placed months apart can visibly differ, especially with light colors. If you need 40 chairs, order 42, not 40. The two reserve pieces are cheaper than a later partial delivery that doesn't match.
Wear and Tear: The Number to Ask For
For upholstery fabrics, there is a comparative value: the Martindale abrasion cycles. As a rough guide, 15,000 cycles are considered suitable for residential use, from 25,000 upwards it is referred to as heavy-duty, and in the contract sector, 40,000 and more are common. The number alone does not make a good fabric, but a fabric below 25,000 cycles does not belong in a hotel lobby.
Similar considerations apply to tabletops. Solid wood ages beautifully, but visibly. Ceramic and natural stone withstand heat and moisture better, but are susceptible to edge damage.
Do Not Clarify Fire Protection Post-Factum
For publicly accessible spaces, requirements for the fire behavior of upholstery and curtains apply depending on the country and use. This is not a formality: a piece of furniture already delivered cannot be retrofitted. Those planning a project should obtain the requirements from the planner or fire protection expert before ordering, not afterwards.
Delivery Time is the Actual Bottleneck
For individual pieces, stock availability is decisive; for project quantities, it is almost always production. For larger quantities, do not count on the standard delivery time, but request a binding commitment for the specific quantity. And plan the buffer not at the end, but in the middle: an opening date does not shift, but a delivery might.
Consider Delivery and Assembly
The question of how a 3.20 m long sofa gets to the fourth floor is too often only asked on the day of delivery. Door widths, staircase radii, elevator dimensions, and delivery time windows belong in the order, not in a phone call afterwards. For freight shipments, it must also be clarified whether delivery is to the point of use or to the curb.
For projects of this kind, we offer personal consultation and prepare quotes for quantities. Our furniture and lighting, including pieces by Eichholtz, provide an overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many spare pieces should be ordered for contract projects?
For upholstered furniture, approximately a five percent surcharge, but at least two pieces, so that replacements come from the same dye batch.
What Martindale value is suitable for hotels?
In the contract sector, 40,000 abrasion cycles and more are common. A fabric below 25,000 does not belong in heavily used areas.
What should be considered when delivering large furniture?
Clarify door widths, staircase radii, elevator dimensions, and time windows in advance, and specify whether delivery is to the point of use or to the curb.