Mennonite Furniture Studios American Hardwood Heirloom Furniture

How To Obtain High Quality & Lasting Value In Your Dining Room Chairs

Understand which features You should demand and which ones You should avoid in order to get the best value from Your next quality bedroom cabinet purchase:

• What To Insist On: – Find out exactly what to look for in a true ‘Heirloom Quality’ Chair that will beautifully accommodate Your needs, and be easily maintained to last for generations.
• What To Avoid: – Find out how to look for, identify, and avoid common furniture manufacturers cost-cutting steps that will simply not bear the burden of normal use in Your home.

Things To Know When Buying Your Chairs

With modern glues and furniture finishes, there is absolutely no reason why modern seating should not be better than the very best chairs, benches or stools of the past. However, many chairs that you will find in your local furniture chain-store are mass produced to budget and are not built to last. Share some time to note with us some features of a superior chair, bench or stool:

Avoid This – Things To Reject When Choosing Your Quality Hardwood Dining Chairs

A Comfortable Seat Or A Pain In The Back!: A dining chair, bench, or even a stool should be built to provide hours of comfortable relaxation:

• Wooden Seats – Look for a thick comfortably contoured hardwood seat, and sufficient back support to promote a good posture while seated. You’ll find that many seats provide insufficient support in the lower back area, or have parts of the back-rest that dig into you. Reject any chair that looks pretty but will not be comfortable for You!
• Upholstered Seats – Check that upholstered seat cushions are comfortable, and can also be removed for cleaning.

Stable Seating: Find a flat floor and make sure that the chair, bench or stool sits in a stable position on the floor, on all 4 legs. If there is any rocking on a flat floor this is a sign of poor craftsmanship, poor materials, or both – so reject this chair manufacturer immediately!

Look Underneath The Seat: Is this furniture piece nicely finished underneath? If the bottom side is poorly finished, or otherwise ugly, this means that the manufacturer has “cut corners” to save money wherever possible. This is a sure sign that other chair components and / or the finish are also likely to be sub-standard, and this particular piece represents a poor “investment” that will degrade and become problematic in use.

Avoid Weak Arms: Arm-Chair Arms must be strongly supported. Look for 3 arm support posts on each side of a Windsor Chair (rather than 2). As with back posts & spindles, side arm posts should penetrate right through the seat for maximum strength. On a Square Frame Chair make sure that the arms are rigidly joined to the leg posts. If they flex or creak when you put your weight on them reject the chair. Avoid any chair which does not comply with these guidelines because you can be sure that costs will also have been cut in other places too.

Avoid Finishes That Are Not Guaranteed To Be Water Resistant: A quality finish will protect the natural beauty of Your chair for future generations to enjoy. A finish that cannot withstand water and common household chemicals is also likely to wear off easily with use.

Insist On Solid American Hardwood Throughout: Beware of the terms “all wood”, “solid all wood”, and “veneers” Avoid soft tropical woods and particleboard components that will split or crack when subjected to weight.