Furniture

xTATTEREDx  · +FINE+  · *SUPERIOR*  · ≡EXCEPTIONAL≡  · ☼MASTERWORK☼

v50.14 · v0.47.05 This article is about the current version of DF. Note that some content may still need to be updated. More Info · V

The game's definition of furniture differs somewhat from what one might expect, and can vary depending on which menu you are looking at. The most blunt definition is "anything that goes on a furniture stockpile". Elaborating from that, furniture is something that

• a building or construction can be made of: (querns, grates, mechanisms..)
• is part of a building (mostly workshops, but also e.g. a well): (buckets, barrels, anvils..)
• can be "built" from the b build menu (and thus be placed in your fortress), including most "proper" furniture like beds, tables, and chairs, but also windows, millstones and coffins, among others (including gem windows).

For completeness, and to further complicate matters, there are also a few items that are made from the furniture submenu of the metalsmith's forge, but don't go in a furniture stockpile:

• chains
• cages
• pipe sections
• animal traps
• blocks

Several furniture items have additional functions, like buckets (transporting water) and barrels (containing booze and food).

An important exception to the above is bins, whose sole (but much-needed) purpose is to increase the capacity of stockpiles, reducing clutter and hauling.

Creation

Furniture can be created at a variety of workshops. All furniture has a practical use in your fortress, though it is sometimes limited to looking nice (like statues). Dwarves get good thoughts when admiring high-quality furniture.

When starting a fortress, most furniture will usually be made in your Stoneworker's Workshop and Carpenter's workshop, depending on the materials used. You can also make furniture out of metal at a Metalsmith's forge, or glass at a Glass furnace, but these usually consume rarer and more valuable materials and fuel. Some furniture can only be made from certain materials. For example, beds can only be made of wood. A few unusual types of furniture are made elsewhere, like mechanisms, traction benches, siege engine parts, and large pots

Furniture is produced at a workshop by clicking on it then "Add new task," or through the o Work orders menu

The function b build is not only used for building workshops and the like, but also for placing items like beds, tables and chairs in your fortress. Most furniture must be placed before it can be used, but a few (like bins, barrels and bags) are moved around as needed by your dwarves. As of version^v50.01 bags cannot be placed as storage through the build menu.

When you try to build a bed/door/chair and it says "Needs bed/door/chair", that means none is currently available, not that there has been a problem with producing one. Usually, brand-new items are not immediately available because some dwarf has expressed the intent of carrying them to their corresponding stockpile. If it is important that the furniture be placed as quickly as possible, you can pause the game, click on item or the workshop it is in, toggle the forbid option on and off to reset any claims on the item, then designate it for building.

Building a door from scratch

1. Go to your Stoneworker's workshop, click it and click "Add new task".
2. Click "Make rock door."
3. Wait for a dwarf to fetch some stone and carve it into a door. You need at least one dwarf with the Masonry labor enabled. The higher the Dwarf's mason skill, the faster the door will be built (it will also be of better quality). By default, all dwarves have this labor enabled and the more skilled of them are prioritized to complete there tasks.
4. Once the door is finished, go to the space you want to build the door and click the b build menu (icon with the hammer and three stone blocks).
5. Click p "Doors/hatches."
6. Click r "Door."
   1. If you don't care which of your doors is placed, click "Use closest material", otherwise go to the next step.
   2. If you wish to build more than one door, select "Keep building after placement", otherwise go to the next step.
7. Click where you want to place the door.
   1. If you get an error message saying "Needs door," that means that the door you made is not yet available and that no other door is available. Your door may not yet be constructed or may be in the process of being stored in your furniture stockpile, or the "Make rock door" job may have been cancelled for some reason (e.g. you ran out of non-economic stone).
   2. Alternatively, If an error message saying "No access to door" appears then there is an available door but the dwarves cannot find a path between it and the location you are trying to build it.
8. You can then select which type of door to place by material, or press the dropdown next to the material to select a specific door. The doors are listed in order of distance.
9. Wait for a dwarf (with the Furniture Hauling labor enabled) to come and put the door where you want it.

With the exception of mechanisms and traction benches, every other piece of stone furniture is built the same way: tables, chairs, cabinets and so on.

Building a bed from scratch

1. Go to your Carpenter's workshop, click it and click "Add new task".
2. Click "Make bed".
3. Wait for a dwarf to get some wood and build the bed out of it. You need at least one dwarf with the Carpentry labor enabled. The higher the Dwarf's carpenter skill, the better. By default, all dwarves have this labor enabled and the more skilled of them have priority for those tasks.
4. Once the bed has been constructed, go to the space you want to build the bed and click b Build.
5. Click f "Furniture."
6. Click b "Bed."
   1. If you don't care which of your beds is placed, click "Use closest material", otherwise go to the next step.
   2. If you wish to build more than one bed, select "Keep building after placement", otherwise go to the next step.
7. Click where you want to place the bed.
   1. If you get an error message saying "Needs bed," that means that the bed you made is not yet available and that no other bed is available. Your bed may not yet be constructed or may be in the process of being stored in your furniture stockpile, or the "Make wooden bed" job may have been cancelled for some reason (e.g. you ran out of wood).
   2. Alternatively, If an error message saying "No access to bed" appears then there is an available bed but the dwarves cannot find a path between it and the location you are trying to build it
8. You can then select which type of bed to place by material, or press the dropdown next to the material to select a specific bed. The beds are listed in order of distance.
9. Wait for a dwarf (with the Furniture Hauling labor enabled) to come and put the bed where you want it.

Every other piece of wooden furniture is built the same way. Barrels and bins, in particular are useful to a growing fortress. Keeping an extra bucket around is a good idea.

Material requirements

• Stone and wood furniture is made from 1 stone or log.
• Most metal furniture requires 3 bars to forge (including pipe sections), except for chains, animal traps, buckets, and blocks, which require 1.
• Glass furniture requires one bag of sand for green glass, one bag of sand plus one unit of pearlash for clear glass, and one unit of rough rock crystal plus one unit of pearlash for crystal glass.

How do I move furniture?

Moving a piece of furniture is as easy as positioning it in the first place.

1. Click the piece of furniture.
2. Click the crossed out house icon to designate it for removal.
3. Unpause the game, and wait for a dwarf with the Furniture Hauling labor to pull it loose.
4. Choose to b build the furniture in its new location. You may have to wait for it to be hauled away and into a stockpile before you can do so.
5. Wait for a Furniture Hauling dwarf to install the furniture once again.

Note that the Furniture Hauling labor both places furniture you choose to build at a location, and moves furniture to a designated Furniture stockpile.

List of furniture, siege ammo, and other items used in buildings

Furniture/Siege ammo			Other items used in b buildings
Anvil Armor stand Ballista arrowhead Ballista arrow Ballista parts Barrel Bed Bin Bucket	Cabinet Catapult parts Chair / Throne Chest / Box / Bag Coffin Door Floodgate Grate Hatch cover	Mechanism Millstone Pipe section Quern Statue Table Traction bench Weapon rack Window	Animal trap Blocks Bars Cage Ropes & Chains Enormous corkscrew Logs Stones Glass Gems

Furniture types with multiple names

Some types of furniture are given distinct names depending upon the material used. All such items are treated equivalently--they are built using the same menu, and they fulfill the same room requirements. For instance, a noble that requires two chests will be perfectly content with any combination of chests, coffers, and boxes, all of which are "Chests" in the build menu but are counted as "boxes" in the stocks screen.

Build menu	Build key	Stocks screen	Names
			Wood	Metal	Stone	Glass	Cloth	Leather	Ceramic
Chest	bfh	Boxes	Chest	Chest	Coffer	Box	Bag*	Bag*	—
Chair	bfr	Thrones	Chair	Throne	Throne	Throne	—	—	—
Burial	bfx	Coffins	Casket	Sarcophagus	Coffin	Coffin	—	—	—
Door	bpr	Doors	Door	Door	Door	Portal	—	—	—
Cage	brg	Cages	Cage	Cage	—	Terrarium	—	—	—
Rope/Chain	brh	Chains	—	Chain	—	—	Rope	—	—
		Pipe section	Pipe section	Pipe section	—	Tube	—	—	—
		Blocks	Blocks	Blocks	Blocks	Blocks	—	—	Bricks

*Bags can no longer be placed as containers.^v50.01

Old furniture.

V · T · E Buildings
Workshops • Furnaces
Furniture	Animal trap • Anvil • Armor stand • Bed • Blocks • Box (chest • coffer) • Bucket • Cabinet • Cage (aquarium • terrarium) • Coffin (casket • sarcophagus) • Restraint • Slab • Statue • Table • Throne (chair) • Weapon rack
Tools	Altar • Bookcase • Display (display case • pedestal) • Hive • Nest box
Access	Bars • Bridge • Door (portal) • Floodgate • Grate • Hatch • Road • Window
Constructions	Floor • Fortification • Ramp • Stairs • Wall
Machine and trap parts	Axle • Gear assembly • Lever • Mechanism • Millstone • Pipe section • Pressure plate • Roller • Screw pump • Support • Trap • Water wheel • Windmill
Other buildings	Archery target • Vermin catcher's shop • Siege engine • Trade depot • Wagon • Well
Related articles	Design strategies • Bedroom design • Furniture industry