Isn’t it great being able to enjoy a solid and well-made piece of furniture such as a finely made hardwood table? Furniture comes in a variety of styles, sizes, materials but also different qualities. If you happen to be wondering what differentiates good quality furniture from a bad one an easy answer would be durability or price, yet many other factors need to be taken into account. With many mass-producers of furniture such as fast & easy to construct furniture, there has been a decrease in the purchasing of long-lasting high-quality furniture due to its price and difficulty of transportation.
Quality properly defines a product in many areas such as materials, craftsmanship, expected durability and so on. Let me delve deeper into the topic of furniture quality so you may know more how to define a good piece of furniture from a bad one.
Material Quality:
Solid or hardwood will always be much better than pressed wood and other less durable materials. Pressed wood is more prone to absorbing water and sagging while hardwood can be even resistant to more humid areas than other types of wood. The quality of the materials used to craft the furniture severely affects the quality of the finished product. Aside from material quality, there are many other important factors to keep in mind. A low-quality wood table will not always be less resistant than a high-quality one, as craftsmanship and other important areas need to be taken into consideration.
Craftsmanship Quality:
What defines craftsmanship quality on a piece of furniture? Its answer is quite simple because the craftsmanship of a piece can easily be identified if you know what to look for. For example, a furniture piece that often creaks whenever you sit or stand or even wobbles may show signs of low craftsmanship as a solid made one shouldn’t make much noise if any. Badly made furniture can easily break down due to stress in areas that aren’t properly built so it is expected for them to last much less than one made by a professional. Along with craftsmanship quality there comes a variety of important matters that you can consider such as:
- The finished product’s joints:
Joints are what combines big pieces to make it whole, yet joints aren’t always made properly or resistant enough. Be sure to which areas the furniture connects to as joints, as these areas will receive more stress than others depending on what the furniture is for. For example, a chair could have its armrests being supported by the chair’s back or below the cushion and depending on where this pressure is located can give you an idea of the product’s lifespan. Joints can come as staples, easy-to-fit woodwork, nails, screws or even glue, so be sure you inspect the joints of any furniture you are about to buy.
- Carefully inspect the furniture’s finish:
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Shoddy craftsmanship is notorious for leaving badly made furniture finishes, which can give you an idea of the quality of the craftsman’s work. This is extremely important when choosing tables as these receive more of a beating than other pieces of furniture. Carefully examine to see if you find any bumps along the way, which if any could mean that the varnish wasn’t applied properly. You can always test a furniture finish by drawing a line with your fingernail and check afterward if it left a mark, if there is one then the finish isn’t good and probably the overall quality isn’t either.
- Keep an eye on the upholstery quality:
Low-quality materials could be used in other areas of furniture other than wood or metal and one of those is the fabric’s quality. Fabrics come in a variety of materials such as wool, cotton, linen, velvet and many others. Many fabrics are mixed in with synthetics which can help in increasing the fabric’s resistance to fire and other hazards, yet too many synthetics into a piece of fabric can also hinder its quality. Synthetics aren’t always a bad choice because if any of your family members suffer from allergies then it could be very useful to employ more synthetic options as these don’t accumulate as much dust as others.
