If you live in Dhahran and are even slightly interested in home décor you’ve probably heard of Arabian SAS by now. It seems like everyone’s asking or talking about them these days… So because I’ve had a custom wood piece made by them, a post about this company seems quite timely and relevant!

Arabian SAS has actually been around since the late 1980s. They primarily focus on making high quality furniture out of wood – outdoor and indoor. They’ve made wooden furniture for bedrooms, dining rooms, outdoor areas, and have even made large wall units for clients.

If you’re interested in wood carvings or designs for wood moldings, they can pretty much do almost every wood related job, big or small! While they can also construct pieces with other materials, such as marble or wrought iron, they usually outsource those jobs since it’s not really their specialty. Luckily, as long as you tell them exactly what you want, they can get most things done for you!

Bilal M. Al-Baseet, Operations Manager at Arabian SAS

Since people these days, including myself, are eager to go the custom route, Arabian SAS can be a great option for those who need to translate their designs into something functional for their home. But…

Be ready to participate in this process. Nothing can get done in this part of the world if you’re impatient and not willing to put in some time to get what you want – especially when you’re going custom… 

In the designing stage of my piece, I warned Bilal at Arabian SAS about my annoying tendency to constantly follow up and ask questions. But I think that’s also why I’m so incredibly happy with the piece that I ended up with. One SAS client mentioned that he visited them almost 10 times with each piece to make sure that it was made to his liking. Some of you may not be so particular or may have a piece that just needs to be replicated, but if you need something specific (even design details), make sure to go out there and/or email them so that everyone’s happy with the finished product!

I can definitely say though that most of the people that I’ve talked to have been incredibly happy with the pieces that they’ve had made by SAS, including myself. Not only were their prices reasonable, but I felt that I got a great product, and more importantly, exactly what I wanted. The piece they made for me is actually my favorite in my house right now!

What you need to know before you walk in…

When I started the designing process with SAS, I had the pleasure of working with Bilal, one of the two English speaking managers there. He is a wonderful person to work with and can tolerate the “annoying tendencies” of his clients. Also, if you have no idea how to put your ideas into a design concept, Bilal is very good at walking you through this. If, however, he isn’t available for a conversation, you can also speak to Arafa about your design ideas.

Before I get into the really fun part of this post (pictures of their work!!), here are a few key things you should remember and know about SAS…

• SAS primarily works with Oak (more expensive and needs to be stained), Meranti (Malaysian wood that is the same quality as oak but cheaper in price – especially good for painted furniture), Mahogany, and Beechwood on indoor furniture. Outdoor furniture would be made of teak. Bilal or Arafa can talk you through the kind of wood that you might need, but it’s always good to do some research if you have a specific need.

• Most colors and types of paints are available, but maybe not many shades of those colors.

• SAS recommends that people stop by the workshop in Dammam so that you can see the materials that they use as well as examples of their work.

• Before going in, bring the piece that you want replicated, or bring a drawing or picture of what you want as well as dimensions of what you need. This is very important!

• Average waiting time is a minimum of 8 weeks. These days it’s even longer because of some of the new labor restrictions. Arabian SAS is in the process of hiring more carpenters, so the waiting time may be even longer right now. They anticipate getting back to their normal production cycles in about 2 to 3 months! 

• Also remember that once your furniture is finished, it is very difficult to get it back to the workshop for changes. You may even be expected to pay for those changes, so make sure you know what’s going on before your piece is delivered to your house. 

• You will be quoted a price after you bring in the design and the necessary materials have been discussed with either Bilal or Arafa. 

• Lastly, BE PATIENT. It takes time to create these beautiful pieces… 

What SAS can make for you!

Dining Room Furniture

Dining Room Hutch: So to start this all off, here is the piece that I had made by SAS about a year ago. I absolutely LOVE this unit. It’s beautiful, suits the size of my house, and is super functional as well. Some of you may have seen this unit in a previous post, but if you haven’t and would like to read about how it was made by SAS, you can check out my earlier post here. You can see the before and after of my dining room as well as the drawing that I made for them!

I actually cut out a space at the back of the unit so that I could mount my old mirror on the wall behind the piece. SAS was even able to get me my white marble top – exactly what I wanted! I just showed them pictures of what I was looking for.

I had glass cabinets and glass shelves put in as well as 8 LED lights throughout the unit – all taken care of by SAS

Dining Table, Chairs & Bar: Mark has had a very long and successful relationship with SAS over the past couple of decades. He’s had pieces made for his current home, as well as furniture that has been shipped off to various parts of the world for his other homes. He is incredibly passionate about the designing process and you can totally see it in his custom furniture! He is probably the biggest fan and supporter of SAS that I’ve met in Dhahran!

I love the detailing on both the chair as well as the legs of this amazing dining table!

The glass was incorporated into the design of the bar, and put together by SAS. The glass even lights up at night!

Living Room Furniture

Bench: Maggie converted an old headboard into this stunning bench – it looks so regal! I love how innovative she is with her designs. If you love this piece and want to see what else she’s done, check out my post on Maggie’s home and garden here.

Maggie converted this old headboard into a bench! I love how innovative this idea is 🙂

TV Unit: When Lyuda went to SAS, she took in a picture of a unit that looked very similar to this one. While SAS was able to replicate it for the most part, they didn’t get all the design details quite right… But honestly, I really couldn’t tell – I thought it looked great in her space.

Wall Unit: SAS made Stephanie a gorgeous white wall unit for her TV and for her cute little accessories. Not only does it look beautiful, but stores a lot of those living room necessities that you just need to hide sometimes. Even though this unit is quite large, I love how it makes her room look bright and comfortable!

Totally loving these accessories!

Wall Unit: Jill also had a gorgeous white wall unit made for her home. I think this is where you can really start to appreciate the work that SAS does, and the beauty of having something made specifically for your home. While you generally have two white wall units made by the same company, you can see the differences in design, fixtures and even color. I’ll admit it takes a bit of time and effort to get your custom furniture to fit your home life, but I think it’s worth it in the end if you get results like this!

So pretty!

Wall Unit, Dining Room & Entryway Furniture: Martha not only had a beautiful wall unit made, but has had SAS make several pieces for her home. Her entire dining set as well as all of the bigger furniture pieces in her entryway were made by SAS years ago, and are still holding up really well. I love how you can see the wood grains through the stains she picked!

Bedroom Furniture

Bed frame: I would love to sleep in this bed! Erlina had SAS make this super chic white bed, including the upholstered headboard. She got the material from Abayat, and it was then outsourced to another company through SAS. It’s great how they just take care of this stuff as long as you show them a picture of what you want. What takes this bed over the top for me is the beautiful Arabesque design on the frame. Totally custom and stunning!

Office & Work Space Furniture

Office Desk: Aicha had this gorgeous “Pottery Barn-esque” table made by SAS as well as many other awesome pieces for her home. This was actually the first example of SAS’s work that I ever saw – thanks to Aicha’s willingness to share her love of their work. I was totally sold based off seeing this desk!

Garage Work Space Desk: And if that wasn’t enough, Aicha even had a desk made for her and her husband in their garage! It’s a totally different look than the office desk, but so very appropriate for the space.

There’s a lacquer finish on the table and a glass top to protect the surface. I’m so obsessed with this color!

Kitchen Accessories & Shelving

Kitchen Shelving & Storage: You know that dead space that some of us have in our kitchens, next to the fridge? Well Aicha had this cute little shelving and storage unit made to solve that problem!

Pot Rack/Hanger: Mark decided that he’d prefer his storage up above. This piece is yet another one of his many SAS custom builds.

Outdoor Furniture & Accessories

Patio Set, Planters & Outside Entrance: Mark has not one but TWO patio sets in his Dhahran house, made by SAS. The first set he had made, he felt was a little bit of a design fail, but the second was perfect – it’s even managed to last through the Saudi heat! While the design of the chairs is the same as the ones inside his house, the chairs and the table outside were made of teak to withstand the weather. The other outside wood pieces are also made of teak, including his GORGEOUS planters (I just want all of them) and his adorable entrance.

I think I may need to steal this idea…

Curb appeal anyone?

While I can’t promise that you’ll always be able to get SAS on the phone or via email – even I have difficulty at times – I do suggest that you visit if you can. Like I said, you have to be patient and willing to put in time. But I wouldn’t encourage it if I didn’t think it was all worth it in the end!

Contact Information

Bilal Al Baseet or Mr. Arafa

TEL.: 966 13 838 0420, FAX : 966 3 8380249

E-mail: arabian_sas@engineer.com

Directions to Workshop

1. Take Dammam-Jubail hwy
2. Exit right on King Saud exit
3. After exiting to the right, immediately get in the far left lane
4.Turn left on Omar Ibn Abdulaziz
5. Keep going straight, you will see shops on left and right of the street… then you’ll see a big empty sand area on your left, turn left right after the sand area
6. follow that road in and around to the left
7. make the second right before Al Haddad Mercedes (small street that is easy to miss)
8. Arabian SAS is on the right side

FYI – This is very close to the shop, but may not be totally exact. It’s on the street that the pin is on, but could be a couple stores up or down. But it should very clearly say Arabian SAS on the workshop on the right!