If you are in the capital city of Bucharest and visit the Peasant Museum you will understand that the furniture was always an expression of our popular art. Not forgetting their utility purpose, the woodcrafts are not only well “designed” to fit the house’s décor, but are also a reflection of the local nature and the local culture. Being from the Carpathian Mountains or the Danube plains, from Moldavia or Transylvania, the woodcrafts decorations (geometrical, with notches, with rosette as symbols of the sun or the cycle life etc.) or paintings (with images coming the nature) are telling different and still the same story about genuine talent and love for fine woodwork.

Since you are in Bucharest, don’t forget the Palace of Parliament, the second largest administrative building in the world, erected in the communist-era under the slogan “all made in Romania”. You will find here another “special delivery” from local craftsmen who seems to say – “woood you like massive furniture made from precious hardwoods with elaborate handmade decoration/sculpture? Yes, we can make anything from wood!”

“We can do it” is still the motto of the modern craftsmen, working in a small workshop or in the old-established companies. But into a capitalistic environment, they had to listen more the market voice. It wasn’t an easy process. The local producers were losing more than half of their internal market in front of the imports, mainly based on wood-panel products which made them more affordable for a consumer with a low purchasing power. With the price as the main driver, the Romanian market is still beyond 50% from the European average of the annual furniture consumption per capita.

Learning the local market needs and adapting to the western trends, as technologies and design, the industry has succeeded a strong revival. For example, in 2011, was already reached the returning point to the pre-crisis level, but with a workforce 30% smaller. On the internal side, the real impulse was coming from real estate market boom, lately from the appetite for new residence and office building. Step by step, the industry was catching the synergies with construction, but also with tourism, the HoReCa sector blooming as an important consumer of the local furniture. On external side, the producers have also catch up with the outsource wave, understanding that the furniture parts account more and more intra-EU furniture trade. For example, Romania has become one of the Italy’s preferred partner, especially in segments like upholstered and seating.

That helped to a higher specialisation of Romanians who rank 3rd exporter at EU level (and 6th in the world wood frame upholstered chairs (excluding chair beds). Obviously, the relationship with foreign partners couldn’t miss the old Romanian specialisation, the furniture for living and dining rooms. Romanian high-value furniture items are still well-appreciated on the western sophisticated markets, EU (mainly Germany, France and Italy) being now destination for a large part of this segment of furniture (in the communist-era, the US being one the most important market).

As a conclusion, we could mention that, according to a CSIL research, Europe is the headquarters for 84 out of the world’s Top 200 furniture manufacturers, these top manufacturers being (in order of importance) German, Italian, Swedish, French, British, Polish, Finnish, Dutch, Austrian, Danish, Lithuanian, Spanish and Romanian.