How can you be sure when you are buying good quality wood furniture? It is not really that difficult and you are able to learn to judge the quality by looking at the finish and how the furniture is constructed.
The type of wood that is used has a great bearing on how long your furniture will last. It can often be made of hardwood, softwood, or even engineered wood.
Usually good quality furniture is made out of hardwood from deciduous trees such as oak, maple, mahogany, teak, walnut, cherry and birch. The wood will be air dried and then kiln dried to make sure all the moisture is removed.
Coniferous trees such as pine, fir, redwood and cedars produce soft wood. It is however possible to find good 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 often used extensively mainly because it provides strength and also helps prevent splitting or warping. It can make for sturdy, long lasting and highly attractive furniture when used with quality veneers.
The method in which a piece is made can contribute a large amount to its beauty, functionality and also how long it will last. The joinery and sturdiness of a piece of furniture will tell you a lot about its quality.
Tenon and Mortise, also dovetails are the two oldest methods of joining together furniture and also make the strongest and best looking joints. Good joints may also have dowels or screws, but will never use staples. Any glue used should never show outside the joint.
Corner blocks are more often than not added for the strength and stability of the furniture. These should not visible from the outside, but bolt together 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 grime apart from clothing or papers.
Back panels that are facing the wall are generally attached with screws in order to help ensure the lateral stability. Backs and unexposed parts should be smooth sanded and fitted really well. This is a very important feature as only well made furniture will have these details.
Drawers must always fit well and glide effortlessly in and out of the cabinet. They must also have stops to stop the drawer from being pulled out too far. Glides in office furniture such as desks, cabinets and computer desks are very important to the functionality of the piece.
Sanding is the really the first step in the important finishing process, and a good 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 also produces unattractive results like dark lines across the surface. Wood that has not been sanded properly will not take the stain evenly.
A good quality stain will enhance the natural beauty of wood and add more colour to it. High quality staining should be even, without dark spots. The sides and of course the ends should be of the same shade.
Finishes will range from high gloss to matte. A high quality finish is satin smooth plus it it completely free of rough spots etc. You should look for depth plus richness in the finish, which will come from several coats of finish with sanding between each coat. A high quality piece is also finished on the back and even on the underside as well to reduce 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.