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Design your own sofa at Zientte Interiors
Zientte Interiors has brought customizable furniture to Vancouver
If stock-standard furniture leaves you wishing for a more personalized alternative, Zientte Interiors’ customizable furniture might be for you
The Miami-based company, which recently opened a showroom at 18 Water Street in Vancouver’s Gastown, provides contemporary furniture and space planning expertise and also allows customers to alter any of its showroom pieces by size, shape, fabric, height of the armrests and length of the legs. “You can basically customize everything,” says Zientte’s owner Ali Moreno. You can even choose the kind of stuffing you want.
In fact, Moreno, encourages customers to really spend time with the furniture and get a feel for it. “The word ‘zientte’ means to feel,” Moreno explains, adding that many of her customers spend hours sitting and lying about on the furniture. “You would laugh so hard, they sit and lay down, bring a book or a magazine and have a coffee, and that’s what we want, we want people to feel the sofa and make sure it is the one for them.”
Imagine this Ginza sectional as your canvas! (Image: Zientte Interiors)
Moreno explains that Zientte’s furniture customization service is an iterative process in which the customer and the Zientte team talk about how the piece feels and then work to improve it. “At first it might be too tall, too deep, too soft, and then at some point they will find their sofa and they’ll say ‘Oh my god this feels perfect!'”
At that point, the customer can make any adjustments they like. “We ask them what they like about it and they might say, “Oh I love the height, but maybe I’d like it to be firmer, maybe I’d like a different colour too.” The team then works with each client to design a piece to fit their lifestyle.
“Then we go through leathers or fabrics,” says Moreno, and the customer can choose from a selection of over 80 specialty fabrics and leathers. “Our leathers are incredible,” Moreno says. “Our strength is our leathers.”
While most Zientte sofas are filled with deliciously soft goose down, Moreno explains that many people like something a bit firmer and so they might opt for a combination of memory foam and goose down.
The Prana Sofa in distressed grey leather with white acid glass coffee table. (Image: Zientte Interiors)
Just as I was starting to wonder about affordability, Moreno explained that she caters to all budgets. “We customize furniture so that we don’t break the bank, whatever their bank is! We have really reasonable pricing for the level of materials we use. So you can still afford an amazing custom-ordered piece.”
(Image: Zientte) Add some style to your home, like this Lazio pigmented leather with the Oceano armchairs and concrete ‘Triad’ tables by Elementum concrete.
Moreno boldly proclaims that Zientte is unique because it is a Latin company. “When someone comes into the store, we really help them, we listen to their story, we measure things up for them, we connect with them. It’s the Latino way!”
Zientte offers free consultations and floor plans to help customers plan their space. “We go to your house and don’t charge you for our services, consultation, floor plans etc. It’s a bit of a process, we might see one customer 4-6 times and then we become friends!” Moreno says.
Can buying furniture get any better than this? Visit Zientte’s showroom in Gastown, have a coffee, lay about on their couches and decide for yourself!
Lydia Millett hails from New Zealand and has recently moved to Canada. She has an English literature degree and a diploma in creative writing.