If you’ve never custom ordered furniture before, the idea can feel a little intimidating. Where do you start? How many decisions do you have to make? How long does it take? What if you choose the wrong finish?
Here’s the truth — custom ordering solid wood Amish furniture at O’Reilly’s Amish Furniture on Nashville’s Highway 100 is one of the most enjoyable parts of the entire experience. Our team has walked thousands of customers through the process over the years, and the reaction at the end is almost always the same: that was easier than I expected and more fun than I anticipated. This guide walks you through every step so you know exactly what to expect.
Why custom ordering is possible at O’Reilly’s
The reason O’Reilly’s can offer virtually unlimited custom options is simple — our solid wood Amish furniture is bench-built to order. That means nothing is pre-made, nothing sits in a warehouse waiting to be sold, and every piece is built from scratch by skilled Amish craftsmen in Ohio only after you place your order.
Bench-built construction is the traditional way furniture was always made — by a single craftsman or a small team, building one piece at a time by hand. It’s slower than factory production, which is precisely why the quality is so dramatically better. And because every piece starts from scratch when you order it, every detail of that piece is yours to decide.
Step one: Visit our Highway 100 showroom
The custom ordering process starts with a visit to our showroom on Highway 100 in Nashville. Before you come in, it helps to bring a few things — the dimensions of the room or wall space you’re working with, photos of your existing furniture and décor if you have them, and any inspiration images you’ve collected. None of these are required, but they give our team a useful starting point.
When you arrive, our team will sit down with you and ask questions about your space, your style, and what you’re looking for. This isn’t a sales pitch — it’s a genuine conversation aimed at understanding exactly what you want so we can help you get it. Gary O’Reilly has been having this conversation with customers since 1972, and the approach has never changed: listen carefully, ask the right questions, and find a way to say yes.
Step two: Choose your wood species
The first and most foundational decision in the custom furniture process is choosing your wood species. At O’Reilly’s, we offer six solid American hardwoods — oak, maple, cherry, walnut, elm, hickory, and quarter-sawn white oak — each with its own distinct grain pattern, color range, and character.
Oak is a classic choice — durable, versatile, and available in a range of tones from light to medium. Maple offers a clean, smooth surface that works beautifully in contemporary settings. Cherry develops a rich, warm patina over time that deepens and becomes more beautiful with age. Walnut is bold and dark — a sophisticated choice for statement pieces. Elm has a dramatic, flowing grain that makes every piece genuinely one of a kind. Hickory is one of the hardest American hardwoods available and brings bold color variation and character. Quarter-sawn white oak features a distinctive ray pattern that gives furniture a refined, contemporary elegance.
Our team will show you samples of each species side by side and help you find the one that’s right for your home and your personal style. If you bring photos of your existing furniture or décor, the choice often becomes immediately obvious.
Step three: Choose your finish
Once you’ve chosen your wood species, the next decision is your finish. O’Reilly’s offers over 100 hand-rubbed, pre-catalyzed finish options — ranging from light, barely-there natural tones to rich, deeply stained colors and everything in between.
Our finishes are hand-rubbed and pre-catalyzed, which means two things. First, they’re applied by hand by skilled craftsmen who take real pride in every surface they finish — the result is a depth and warmth that a factory-sprayed finish simply cannot replicate. Second, pre-catalyzed varnish creates a hard, durable surface that resists water spills, scratches, and the wear and tear of daily family life without requiring constant maintenance.
The best way to choose a finish is to see the samples in person on real wood — which is exactly what our team will walk you through at our Highway 100 showroom. Bring a paint chip from your walls or a fabric swatch from your room and we’ll help you narrow it down quickly.
Step four: Choose your hardware
With over 400 hardware options available spanning every style from classic traditional to sleek contemporary to warm farmhouse, the hardware selection is one of the most personal and enjoyable parts of the custom ordering process.
Hardware is the jewelry of your furniture — the finishing touch that ties the whole piece together and expresses your personal style in every detail. Our team will walk you through the options once your wood species and finish are chosen, because seeing all three elements together makes the right hardware choice feel completely natural. Whether you want something that whispers quietly in the background or makes a deliberate design statement, the right option is in our collection.
Step five: Choose your size
Because every piece is bench-built to order, custom sizing is available on virtually every furniture piece we carry. Bring your room dimensions and tell our team exactly what you need — and our Amish craftsmen will build your furniture to fit your space perfectly. No awkward gaps, no furniture that’s a few inches too wide, no compromises of any kind.
What happens after you place your order
Once every detail is decided and your order is placed, our Amish craftsmen in Ohio get to work building your piece from scratch. Build times vary depending on the piece and the current workload of our craftsmen — our team will give you a realistic timeline when you place your order.
When your custom piece is ready, our delivery team delivers throughout Middle Tennessee, brings your furniture into the right room, sets everything up exactly where you want it, and hauls away your old pieces at no additional charge.
The entire process — from the first conversation in our showroom to the day your custom piece arrives — is designed to be as enjoyable and stress-free as possible. And the result is a piece of solid wood Amish furniture built exactly the way you want it, from solid American hardwood, by craftsmen who take genuine pride in every piece they build.
