Bespoke furniture startup Mable takes décor digital

Cape Town-based bespoke furniture startup Mable was founded out of frustration.

The name comes from mebel, meaning furniture in Polish

Polish-born founder and CEO, Maria Kapala needed a living-room bookshelf in specific parameters, made from great quality material.

With the pandemic in full swing, visiting a hardware store was out of the question. 

Bespoke décor digital marketplace

Kapala is a problem-solver in the highest sense. Previously having worked with NASA in her position as a trained astrophysicist and data scientist, she began to conceptualise an online bespoke digital store that would allow its customers control of their decor decisions, from set-up to check-out.

She also brought on her husband Michal Lyczek as co-founder, bringing with him deep experience in his ongoing career as a tech entrepreneur. 

Kapala voiced her previous frustrations at struggling to find customisable furniture at affordable prices in SA in an interview with Ventureburn.

Mable (named for mebel, the word for furniture in Polish), launched in May 2021 and lets users customise their pieces by adjusting height, width and depth of the shelves with easy sliders, choosing from three configurations and selecting door colours from a pre-selected palette. 

“Our furniture can be fully customised, which is something that is not available in any big store offering, as far as I am aware. It is made from premium quality birch plywood, while most products in big home stores are made from lower quality laminated MDF boards. The key difference here is that our products will last much longer: we offer a 3-year warranty plus a 25-year warranty on our hinges. Products are very easy to assemble without the need for any tools – not even an Allen key,” explained Kapala

“Our online design tool allows customers to be creative in designing their piece to their style while ensuring it fits exactly with their needs and their homes. Even though our furniture is bespoke, the price is always displayed instantly and changes as the designs are changed, so there is no need to request a quote,” she described.

“Once someone has placed their order, the shelves are produced at our factory in Cape Town and will arrive at their door in four to six weeks, flat packed,” said Kapala. “We offer free delivery to all major cities in SA,” she stated.

As SA continues to push forward, Mable’s product versatility and digital evolution display the adaptable mindset critical for business survival during this difficult period.

Read more: CDI’s Growth Fund opens grant applications for struggling SMMEs

Read more: Woman-led edtech Ambani wins I’M IN 2021 accelerator

Featured image: Mable CEO Maria Kapala (Supplied)