How can you be sure when buying good quality wood furniture? It is not really that difficult and you can learn to judge the quality by looking at the finish and how the furniture is constructed.
The sort of wood that is used has a great bearing on how long your furniture lasts. It can be made of hardwood, softwood, or even engineered wood.
Usually good quality furniture is made out of hardwood coming from deciduous trees such as oak, maples, mahogany, teak, walnut, cherry and birch. The wood will have been air dried and then kiln dried making sure all the moisture is removed.
Coniferous trees such as pine, fir, redwood and cedars produce soft wood. It is possible to find quality furniture in these woods too, but these woods are definitely more prone to scratches and dents.
Modern furniture made today is very rarely built of all wood.Plywood and engineered wood is used extensively mainly because it provides strength and helps prevent splitting or warping. It can make robust, long lasting and highly attractive furniture when used with high quality veneers.
The way in which a piece is made can contribute greatly to its beauty, functionality and also how long it will last. The joinery and sturdiness of furniture will tell you a great deal about its quality.
Tenon and Mortise, also dovetails are two of the oldest methods of joining together furniture and also make the strongest and best looking joints. Good joints may also have dowels or screws, but should never be stapled. Any adhesive that is used should not show outside the joint.
Corner blocks are usually added for the strength and stability of the furniture. These should not be visible from the outside, but bolt together on both sides of the interior corners.
A good quality office desk or chest of drawers will have dust panels or maybe thin sheets of wood between the drawers in the body of the chest or desk. This not only makes them stronger structurally but keeps dust apart from clothing or papers.
Back panels that face the wall are generally attached with screws, this helps to ensure the lateral stability. Backs and unexposed parts should be smooth sanded and fitted together really well. This is a very important feature as only well constructed furniture will have these details.
Drawers should fit well and glide smoothly in and out of the cabinet. They should have stops to stop the drawer from being pulled out too far. Glides in office furniture such as desks, filing cabinets and computer desks are extremely important to the functionality of the piece.
Sanding is the first step in the important finishing process, and a prize piece will be so smooth so that when you run your hand over it there should be no rough patches. Sanding across the wood grain will also produces unattractive results like dark lines across the surface. Wood that has not been sanded properly will not stain evenly.
A good stain will really enhance the natural beauty of wood and add extra colour to it. Expert staining should be even, without any dark spots. The sides plus the ends should be of the same tone.
Finishes range from high gloss to matte. A high quality finish is satin smooth and completely free of rough spots etc. You should look for depth and richness in the finish, this will come from several coats of finish with sanding between each coat. A high quality piece should also be finished on the back and even on the underside as well to reduce the chances of swelling or shrinking.
I good quality piece of furniture, whether it be for office furniture or a special item of furniture your home will most definitely turn out to be an investment and will certainly outlive much of the mass produced furniture that it manufactured today.