From Switches to Spaces: How Building a Custom Keyboard is Like Designing a Custom Home

Aug 29, 2025

In the world of architecture, we often compare designing a home to crafting a tailored suit, made to fit, feel, and function exactly for the person who wears it. But there’s another, more unexpected comparison that resonates with designers and tech enthusiasts alike: building a custom mechanical keyboard. Yes, you read that right. Surprisingly, the meticulous and personal process of building a custom keyboard has more in common with architectural design than you might think. Our office manager, Lindsey, knows a thing or two about these custom keyboards and details the comparison below:

Form Follows Function

Whether it’s a 60% compact keyboard or a sprawling open-plan living room, both begin with a single question: What do you need it to do?

In keyboard building, every choice from layout to key switches and key caps reflects how the user types, games, or programs. Similarly, every home we design starts with understanding how our clients live. Are they entertainers? Remote workers? A growing family? A custom home should facilitate the life they want to live.

In both cases, form follows function and when done well, the results are seamless.

Every Component Matters

A great custom keyboard isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about how the baseplate, circuit board, switches, keycaps and even stabilizers come together to create a feeling: a sound, the weight, tactile feedback that feels just right.

Likewise, in custom home design, the experience isn’t defined by a single room or element. It’s the interaction of materials, light, layout and flow. Every small detail, door hardware, cabinet depth, window orientation, all contributes to the whole. Quality is in the sum of its parts.

Choose-Your-Own Aesthetic

The visual personality of a keyboard can range from minimalist to maximalist. A fully matte black aluminum keyboard? Retro beige keycaps? Ceramic keys? RGB light under glow? It’s entirely up to the builder.

Designing a custom home offers the same freedom. Contemporary? Farmhouse? Industrial with a hint of Scandinavian charm? The style is all yours, just with a few more square feet involved.

In both worlds, aesthetic choices are a form of self-expression.

Theres a Sound, and a Feel

One of the most fun (and just a bit nerdy) aspects of keyboard building is the sound test. People who custom build keyboards obsess over whether their board “thocks” or “clacks,” whether the keystroke is buttery smooth, or crisp and tactile.

Sound in architecture is critical too. From the way the hardwood floors absorb your footsteps, to the acoustics of a vaulted ceiling, the aural experience of a home is subtle, but powerful. The right materials and insulation choices can make a house feel calm or chaotic.

Don’t even get us started on door hinges that “click” just right…

It’s Personal, and Worth the Wait

A prebuilt keyboard is like a spec home: fast, easy, and decent for general use.

But it isn’t really “yours.”

Custom keyboards (and homes) take longer. They involve choice, trade-offs, and collaboration. There are moments of indecision and sometimes…backorders.

But when it all comes together, you don’t just get a product. You get something that was made just for you, by people who understand the balance between function, beauty, and craft.

To sum it all up, whether you are soldering a circuit board or placing a window to frame a perfect sunset, both disciplines are built on the same foundation: intentional design. As architects, we’re constantly inspired by how people interact with the objects and spaces around them. Even a custom keyboard, small in scale, but rich in detail, reminds us that design is everywhere, and great design always starts with understanding how something should work, feel, and live. And if you ask me, I love a good classic style keyboard that feels nostalgic, but timeless. Larger keys, and a soft, but present clacky sound. Just a small way to make my space intentionally “mine.”