What To Look For When Buying Furniture

Posted on: 24 February 2015

When your are looking to buy wooden furniture, you need to look for signs of quality. While you can save some money upfront by buying discount furniture, you may end up paying more in the end to replace your furniture simply because it breaks down too soon. Avoid the hassle by purchasing  quality furniture. Although you will be out more money initially, you will save money in the end and may even have furniture that you can pass on to your children some day. 

Use these two signs to identify quality furniture. 

Dovetailing

There are many ways to make a joint in furniture. There are a lot of different screws and fasteners that you can make use of for a quick and convenient way to make a joint. Some furniture manufacturers will use a brad nailer. Brads look like large, heavy-duty staples for wood. They don't make a solid joint, but they are fast. If you are looking for long-lasting durability, you want to avoid these fasteners. 

While dovetailing has been around for centuries, it is one of the best ways to make a solid joint. You can recognize dovetailing by interlocking triangles that are shaped like a dove's tail (thus the name). Once you interlock and glue these joints, they become very solid. Dovetailing is a joint that can last for decades even if subjected to hard wear. 

The Type of Wood

You can make furniture from nearly any type of wood, but as for buying a long-lasting piece of furniture, you need to make sure you get durable wood. For centuries, oak has been renowned for its durability -- it has a tight grain and is not easily broken. Oak is also more affordable than other more exotic woods like mahogany or teak. While oak is not as inexpensive as other woods like pine or birch,  it is worth the price since you are buying quality for your money. 

One type of wood you want to avoid is medium-density fiberboard, or MDF. Fiberboard consists of little chips of wood that are glued together to make pieces of usable material. MDF can be covered with a thin strip of wood called a veneer. While this can mimic the look of real wood, it will never be as solid as the real thing. 

Buying furniture is all about saving money. You can save money initially or in the long run. It is better to save up to buy quality furniture than to make an impulse buy that you will regret later. Trust Design Center Furniture to buy your furniture in Yorba Linda, CA.

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