Interior Designer Trade Pricing in Boca Raton: How SoBe Furniture Works With Design Professionals
By Frank Chacin, Creative Director at SoBe Furniture
Every week a designer calls me with the same story. The sofa for a Boca Bridges living room was ordered from a website three months ago, the fabric arrived two shades warmer than the sample, the lead time slipped twice, and the client's housewarming is in ten days. Or the sectional for a Highland Beach condo looked perfect in the rendering, arrived, and would not make the turn into the elevator. Online-only sourcing is efficient right up until the moment it is not, and in South Florida that moment usually lands on the designer.
The other story is quieter, and it bothers me more. A decorator in Delray Beach or a stager in Fort Lauderdale assumes a premium showroom is retail only, so they never ask about trade terms. They keep driving to Miami when there is a showroom on Federal Highway with several hundred pieces on the floor, a Florida warehouse, and a program built for their kind of work.
This post is for interior designers, decorators, stagers and architects working between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale: what our trade program covers, how to get set up, and how a project runs from the first walk-through to the install. The short version: call (561) 221-6111 or write to us through our contact page, tell us you are a design professional, and we take it from there.
Why Designers From Boca Raton to Weston Still Use a Local Showroom
I am not arguing against sourcing online. The question is what you do before you commit a client's money, and three things still cannot be done through a screen.
The sit test
A 24-inch seat depth and a 22-inch seat depth read the same on a spec sheet and feel completely different to a six-foot-two client in Parkland. Cushion density, back pitch and the firmness of leather versus fabric are judged with your body. When the client will use the sofa every evening for a decade, five minutes on the floor is worth more than fifty product photos.
True color under real light
South Florida light is bright, cool and relentless. A taupe leather that looks soft on a monitor can turn pink in a west-facing room in Royal Palm Yacht & Country Club. In the showroom you carry the cushion to the window, hold your paint deck and tile sample against it, and settle the question in one conversation instead of three rounds of swatches.
Timing you can plan around
Many of our furniture pieces are stocked in our Florida warehouse, which means an install can be scheduled in days rather than months. For a staging deadline, a seasonal resident landing in November, or a client who wants the living room done before the holidays, that difference decides whether the project is a success story or an apology.
The Five Things Our Trade Program Covers
Our trade program exists for verified design professionals: interior designers, decorators, architects, builders and stagers. It is a working relationship, not a loyalty card, and these are its five parts.
1. Project pricing
Enrolled professionals receive project pricing on our collection. I do not publish the terms online because they are set for the trade, not for the public, so contact us for the details. What I can say is that it applies across the floor, from Italian leather sectionals to dining rooms and bedroom sets, and that it is simple enough to explain in one phone call.
2. Custom builds to your drawings
Wall units, beds in non-standard sizes, closets and window treatments are built to fit the room, not the other way around. Bring a plan with dimensions and we price the piece to those dimensions. More on this below.
3. Sourcing beyond what is online
Our website shows what we stock and what we build. It does not show everything we can get. If you are working toward a specific look, ask us which additional European and Italian lines we can source for your project. I would rather have that conversation in person with your tear sheets on the table than list every catalog online.
4. Scheduling white-glove installs
Every delivery is white-glove: placed, assembled, packaging removed. You can book the install for the day the painters leave and walk into a finished room. Inside the tri-county area white-glove delivery is the greater of $120 or 3% of the merchandise total; outside South Florida it is quoted through a third-party service. I will not tell you delivery is free, because it is not, but you will know exactly what it costs before you present to the client.
5. Financing for your clients
Financing is available for clients who prefer to spread a larger package over time. Designers tell me it helps a client say yes to the full room instead of the sofa now and the rest "later," which usually means never. Ask us how to present it alongside your proposal.
How to Get Set Up as a Trade Client
This is the part people expect to be complicated. It is not.
What to bring
A resale certificate or a business license showing you work in design, staging, architecture or building. A portfolio is welcome but not required. To send documents ahead, use the contact page and tell us which project you are working on so the right person is ready when you arrive.
How fast it happens
Enrollment is a conversation, not a review board. Most designers are set up during their first visit and leave with project pricing on the pieces they came to see. If you call ahead with the type of project, we can have relevant pieces pulled forward and a floor person assigned to walk it with you.
How We Work With Designers on a Project
The first visit
Come with the floor plan, room measurements, photos of the space and whatever samples you already have. Our showroom at 6599 N Federal Highway has several hundred pieces on display, much of the collection is on the floor, and a walk-through takes about an hour. If you want to see a specific piece, call ahead to check it is out, because the floor rotates.
Tear sheets and pricing
Before you leave we put together a list of the pieces you shortlisted with dimensions, finishes, lead times and your project pricing. For a living room that might be the Versini Italian leather sectional, a pair of accent chairs and a coffee table. For a dining room, the Moon walnut and ceramic extension table, which opens from 71 to 103 inches, with the chairs you pick to go with it.
The client presentation
Our Shop the Look page is a presentation tool I built with this meeting in mind. It shows real rooms photographed in real homes, and every piece in the photo is tagged with its price, so you can walk a client through a complete living room or bedroom on an iPad without opening twelve tabs. Many designers also bring the client to the showroom for the final sit test, which closes the decision faster than any rendering.
The order
Once the client signs off, we confirm stock, lock the lead times and schedule the delivery window. Stocked pieces ship from the Florida warehouse. Custom and special-order pieces get a dated timeline up front so you can plan the rest of the install around them.
Delivery and follow-through
Our white-glove team places and assembles the furniture, and your showroom contact stays your contact after the install. When the next phase comes up, whether it is the guest suite or the pillows and decor that finish the sofa you specified, you are talking to someone who already knows the project.
Custom and Made-to-Fit Pieces for Designers
Standard sizes solve most rooms. South Florida homes are not always standard rooms. New construction in Boca Bridges comes with 14-foot media walls, Highland Beach condos with odd columns and low soffits, older Boca Raton homes with primary bedrooms drawn before king beds were the norm.
Custom wall units
Our custom wall units are built to the exact wall, with the TV opening, cabinet storage, lighting and finish specified by you. Bring the elevation and we price to it. It is the piece designers most often tell me they could not find anywhere else at this quality.
Custom beds, including XL and family beds
The SoBe Grand custom platform bed is a good example of how I think about bedrooms: a padded headboard that can extend well past the mattress, built in the width and finish the room calls for. We also build XL and family beds for clients who want a sleeping surface larger than a standard king. These are made to order, so they belong early in the project timeline, not at the end.
Closets and window treatments
Modular closet systems and made-to-measure window treatments are built the same way, from your dimensions, so the finished suite feels planned rather than assembled from parts bought in four places. We have furnished and designed thousands of South Florida homes since 2007, and a good share of that work was built to a drawing.
Visit the Showroom, or Call Me First
The fastest way to find out whether we are a fit for your practice is to come see the floor. SoBe Furniture is at 6599 N Federal Highway in Boca Raton, on the west side of US-1 about a mile north of Yamato Road and north of Mizner Park. Walk-ins are welcome, parking on site is free, and we are open seven days a week: Monday to Saturday 10 AM to 7 PM, Sunday 11 AM to 6 PM. Design help is on the floor every day.
If you would rather start by phone, call (561) 221-6111 and tell us you are a design professional. If you prefer to write, use our contact page, attach the floor plan or photos, and we can have pieces pulled forward for your visit. Either way, the conversation about project pricing, custom builds and which additional lines we can source starts the same way: by asking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do interior designers get trade pricing at SoBe Furniture in Boca Raton?
Yes. Verified design professionals, including interior designers, decorators, architects, builders and stagers, receive project pricing through our trade program. We do not publish the terms online; call (561) 221-6111 or use the contact page and we will walk you through them.
What do I need to enroll in the trade program?
A resale certificate or a business license showing you work in design, staging, architecture or building. Most designers are enrolled during their first visit. You can also send documents ahead through the contact page.
Where can I buy furniture for clients in Boca Raton?
Our showroom at 6599 N Federal Highway in Boca Raton has several hundred pieces on display, with Italian-crafted sofas, sectionals, dining and bedroom furniture plus custom wall units and beds built to order. Designers can walk in seven days a week or call ahead so pieces are ready to review.
Can my client see and test the furniture before we order?
Yes. Much of our collection is on the showroom floor, and we encourage designers to bring clients for the sit test and to check color under real light. Call ahead if you want to be sure a specific piece is out that day.
Can you source brands that are not on your website?
Often, yes. We work with additional European and Italian lines that we do not list online. Bring your tear sheets or a description of the look and ask us which lines we can source for your project.
Do you build custom pieces to my drawings?
Yes. Custom wall units, custom beds including XL and family sizes, modular closets and window treatments are built to your dimensions and finishes. They are made to order, so plan them early in the schedule.
How is delivery handled for a designer install?
Every delivery is white-glove: placed, assembled and packaging removed, scheduled for the window you choose. Inside the tri-county area it is the greater of $120 or 3% of the merchandise total; outside South Florida it is quoted through a third-party service.
Is financing available for my clients?
Yes. Financing is available for clients who want to spread a larger purchase over time. Ask your showroom contact how to present it alongside your proposal.