Come prepared.

When Twin Falls furniture maker Phil Auth sits down with a potential client for the first time, he plans to talk for 45 minutes to an hour. In that meeting, they discuss measurements, design, wood types, color and any other factors that will affect the piece. Auth also gives a ballpark price estimate.

Communicate your desires.

If you know what you want, bring a picture or a sketch — even if you’re not sure exactly what you want the finished piece to look like.

“Most people have an idea, they just can’t communicate it real well,” Auth said. “There’s been times when I’ve been talking to someone for half an hour and it’s like whoops, we’re not on the same page there,”Auth said.

To avoid miscommunication, bring pictures of furniture for inspiration. Researching woods and finish types will also make the conversation easier, Gooding craftsman Trampas Robinson said, but it isn’t necessary.

Not sure what you want, or open to suggestions?Good furniture builders will have pictures of their work and other furniture to give you ideas. Let the builder into your house to get an idea of the atmosphere.

Shop around.

Different custom furniture builders have different styles. Russ Bork of Gooding-based Wood River Veneer specializes in veneer (as the name suggests), while Robinson likes to use reclaimed wood from old barns for pieces with a lot of character. Lyle Peterson of Twin Falls likes to make furniture from alder and stain it to look like more expensive woods, such as maple or cherry, and Jeff Lohr of Filer uses both metal and wood in his furniture.

Look at their Web sites or ask to see portfolios to get an idea of their styles.

Be patient.

Custom furniture takes a while to make — anywhere from four weeks if it’s small to a few months if it’s a large piece and the builder has a long customer queue.

Don’t want to wait for months?Late winter and early spring are the best times to place an order, Robinson said. The holiday season is the busiest, but after December his shop is a lot more quiet.

Think outside the wood box.

Furniture isn’t the only thing you can commission. Robinson has made a bone-shaped box for a family dog’s ashes and two guitar cases for his band mate’s collectible guitars, and has gotten inquiries about carving images into gun stocks. Bork’s company made more than 70 wood doors for a house in upstate New York, and has concealed steel beams with wood covers.

Pay your bill.

If you want custom quality, you gotta pay for it. Expect to pay a down payment of at least half the price. And changing your mind about a commissioned purchase makes you a real schmuck.

Robinson recently built a large poker table for a Boise State University fan with the Bronco logo on it. The buyer backed out after he felt the table took too long to build, however, and now Robinson is stuck with a $2,500 table. He’s trying to find a diehard poker-playing Bronco fan to buy the finished piece.

— Melissa Davlin