A note from the property web-site www.fish4homes.com landed on my desk last week. The slide in the market has evidently turned formerly malleable (desperate) buyers into demanding divas: 36% of a group surveyed had rejected properties because “the vibe didn’t feel right” and 13% described bad feng shui as a deal-breaker. One exacting client wanted a lawn to be relaid with Astroturf, to save tiresome mowing.

Well, it’s no good fishing for sympathy here. This refusal to compromise is transforming our interiors, as more and more of us forsake the bland brands of the high street and commission our furniture, from custom-made consoles to spectacular room dividers.

Aiveen Daly’s couture-inspired chairs, sofas and lamp shades grew out of the designer’s disdain for established interiors “looks”. “I started out at the peak of the trend for sleek Italian furniture, and found it all so boring and generic,” she explains. “I saw the detailing and fabrics that were being used in fashion and decided my upholstery could go down that route.” Clothed in silks, taffetas, wools and tweeds, her creations are tailored in styles from prom queen to dominatrix. The simple beech-framed Stiletto chair (from £715, plus fabric; www.aiveendaly.com) is customised with pleats, ruching, discreet little buttons, lace-up corsetry or black patent leather with silver studs. Inspired by the shoe designer Christian Louboutin’s trademark red soles, each Daly seat has a shocking-pink underside. “Not everyone knows about that,” she says. “It’s a surprise when they get it home, to brighten their day.”

Custom-made furnishings solve the practical challenges of contemporary decoration. Tim Gosling trained as a theatre designer, and his furniture combines a dramatic use of figured woods and luxurious textures with the latest technical innovations (www.tgosling.com). A home office features a pedestal desk in rosewood, with shagreen (ray or shark skin) panels. Concealed inside one leg is a computer hard drive, with a fan unit that plugs into the USB port and wakes up when the PC is used.

“Computers are getting smaller but hotter - it’s a problem you can’t solve with slots and vents,” Gosling says. “But technology is catching up fast. That fan has only been available for six months.” Then he’s talking about cable management and floor gromits, and rather losing my . . . Anyway, his services start at £3,000 for a bespoke lectern or watch box; something as grand as a vellum cabinet will set you back at least £12,000.

To many, commissioned furniture still means traditional cabinetry and handcrafted wood. Several excellent designer/makers understand the allure of a pretty patina, but the best add a mix of textures and colours to give a contemporary feel. Toby Davies, of London-based Hunkydory, enlivens ebony cabinets with panels and drawer linings in vivid pink leather. David Linley, a past master at mixing age-old craft with modern style, produces pieces with op-art swirling marquetry accented by gold leaf, red ponyskin or padded blue-velvet drawer linings and coloured glass shelves. His opulent Vortex credenza (sideboard) costs £49,000 (www.davidlinley.com).

Jonathan Baring, a designer based in Oxfordshire, is constantly searching out timbers and veneers for his clients. “I love all sorts of wood, from beautiful bits of English oak, with lots of cat paws and colour, to exotic Indian rosewood,” he says. His desks and tables cost about £5,000. Contemporary materials that have found a place in his affections include high-gloss plastics: a pair of cube-shaped side tables with white polyester tops on black leather bases start at about £2,000 (www.jonathanbaring.co.uk ).

Buying bespoke is the best way to pick up work by talented designers at the beginning of their careers. Francisca Prieto, a Chilean graphic artist based in London, has already sold her “functional art” to the Tate and the V&A. Her 180cm-high Blossom Screen was a hit at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York last May. The three-panel room divider, made with more than 1,000 pieces of Perspex, is a delicate confection of coloured flowers that is part chinoiserie and part 1970s swimming cap, and costs £3,500. Prieto takes a fortnight to assemble each screen herself, but you can get her look for less with bespoke Blossom lights (from £350) and Asterisk coasters (£8; all from www.blankproject.co.uk ).

The sleek, hand-painted Pacasa console table (above), designed by Amanda Hutson, can be custom-made in various dimensions and finishes. Choose from mahogany, burr oak, olive, ash, zebrano, macassar, rosewood, leather, bronze, parchment, shagreen, silver resin or bright acrylic lacquer. Hutson’s turnaround times are nifty: pieces are usually ready within eight weeks. £2,227 Hutson Designs; 020 7268 7777, www.hutson-designs.com

Katherine Howlett is a textile designer who specialises in bespoke hand-printed fabrics. She composes screen-printed epics that tell her clients’ life stories and creates runners and lamp shades with simple graphic motifs that hold a special significance for them. Dining table runners start at £125. The design on this lamp shade (pictured above), drawn by hand, with gold embellishment on 300g paper, is based on a 17th-century tale of romance at the opera, and is called Peepers. £85 07905 320001, www. katherinehowlett.com

Toby Davies, of Hunkydory Furniture, trained as an actor before moving into production design, and his contemporary, custom-made pieces mix colour and texture with a theatrical flourish. This cabinet in macassar ebony has pink nappa-leather panels and stainless-steel legs. From £3,000 020 7691 0163, www.cockpitarts.com

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