Good Furniture

How do you determine whether a piece of furniture is good? Quality furniture is comfortable and durable. We can determine the integrity of good furniture by observing four elements- the frames, the springs, the cushions and the upholstery fabric.

High quality frames are made of seasoned hardwood, kiln dried to resist warping. Dowels and corner blocks are used to join the frame which are then screwed and glued together. Legs should be an extensions of the frame and not attached with screws.

Springs systems in upholstered furniture are either hand-tied coils or sagless constructions. Normally, eight way hand tied springs are of the best construction technique. These funnel like coils are tied with twine to each of the eight adjacent coils and attached to a heavy duty webbing with steel clips underneath.This construction technique gives an even comfort and prevents the seat from any form of damages no matter how heavy the sitter may be. Good quality webbing is tightly woven and can be reinforced by steel straps under each row of springs.

Sagless springs are S-shaped, flat wavy bands of steel that are fastened to the front rail and run front to back a few inches apart. These springs have a firmer feel than coil springs and are often used in contemporary pieces which are lower to the floor.

Cushions are as important as good frames. A good frame os padded with cotton or polydacron so that the upholstery fabric never touches the wood.

Upholstery come in different grades. Grading is determined by the quality of the materials, the amount of fabric needed for a good match of the pattern and the source of the pattern design. Durability of the upholstery is an important factor to consider. Tightly woven fabrics wear better than printed fabrics. Also, different natural and synthetic fibers offer different looks and textures as well as cleanability and wearability performance.

Discount Furniture

Both my brother and I have tight budgets for the same reason. We are both going into business together, you see, so we both have to save every penny we can. We like to live large, and we entertain friends and guests, but we can't spend too much money doing it. That is why we both buy discount furniture whenever we get a chance to.

Although I love shopping for discount furnishings, my brother hates it. The difference lies in our approaches. You see, I have always seen buying discount furniture as a challenge. I can get discount leather furniture for a great price if I am willing to look in all the right places. To me, it is sort of like a puzzle. Finding furniture discount is a challenging activity that I get to engage in on the weekends. This keeps me from stressing out about money – if you make it a game, it stays fun.

The key to finding discount furniture is knowing where to look. If you are willing to look at overstock furniture, you can often find completely new and high quality items at a low price. If you have some basic woodworking skills – as I do – and know how to reupholster a chair besides, you can get even better discounts on furniture. You can get discount furniture in bad shape for almost nothing, fix it up, and have an original beautiful chair or table for your living room. Much of my of discount living room furniture was actually obtained in this way – I bought it already made, but finished it myself. It is amazing how much you can save on discount furniture if you are willing to do a little bit of work.

Of course, the best discount furniture store is the thrift store. Many people think of thrift stores as places for college kids and hobos, but the reality is that if you are willing to look carefully, you can find some high-quality pieces of furniture there. Some of the discount furniture in thrift stores just is in need of a good coat of paint and that is all. Other times, you can get by with a sanding and some minor repairs. You can also go to open-air markets and look for the items that people are selling there. The quality of the products might surprise you! I know that I have found some great pieces in some unexpected places.