AROUND HOME : Custom Carved Furniture

It’s the customer who decides whether the swirl will go to the left or the right or be sanded into oblivion. Richly carved tables, chairs, armoires, shelves, mirror frames and mantels that look like treasures trundled out of a chateau are made to order by Edmond’s Unique Furniture in Los Angeles.

Leaves and flowers curl around the edge of a table and across the top of a wall unit. Depending on the decor, pieces can be oiled, painted, varnished, bathed in gold leaf or topped with faux marble. It’s an Old World look.

Not surprisingly, the men behind the chisels are master craftsmen from Armenia: 82-year-old Simon Simonian and his son, Edmond, 48, are third- and fourth-generation furniture makers. The curious with time on their hands can stand outside the big storefront windows and watch them work. Everything they produce is handmade out of solid wood and strictly by special order. Depending on the size and complexity, any item, they promise, will be ready in three to six weeks. The more carving, the more it will cost. Prices range from around $400 for a simple mantel to $3,200 for an intricately designed armoire or concealed entertainment center with shelves and drawers.

A three-foot square table, for instance, with carved leaves and flowers, sells, unfinished, for $800. A similarly styled table 37 inches wide and six feet long sells for $1,600. (Quotes are for “nude” wood because the men stop when the piece is smoothly sanded. For an additional $300 to $500, it can be sent to another shop to be finished.)

Samples on the showroom floor are made mostly of alder, a happy choice for the carver because alder makes for easy work and stains in a wide range of wood tones. It’s possible to select other woods, such as oak, Honduras mahogany, walnut and even ebony.

Although the Simonians have distinctive, ornate style, their craftsmanship is such that if a customer brings in a picture, they can copy it precisely. Antique reproductions are among their specialties.

Edmond’s Unique Furniture is located at 5174 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles.