Thursday, January 29, 2009

Beware of Cheap Wood When Buying Rustic Furniture

By Woody Z Kilespowski

While you are buying country furniture, you need to be diligent. This is something a lot of people dive into without much knowledge and it comes back to bite them. The only thing about this is that there are a lot of little things you need to know when you are looking at this type of furniture and unless you have that knowledge, you could be walking away someone elses problem.

Country furniture is composed mostly of wood. That being the case, unless you are educated on wear and other related conditions of wood, you better not go shopping alone. Bring someone with you or do some serious reading and research on the topic to make sure you have an idea as to what to look for.

If furniture is made shoddy, it will not have quality corner blocking. Corner blocking should be very evident in the construction and ensures that your item is supported properly and put together well. Without it, your item very well may fall apart at any moment there is pressure or weight put on an unsupported area.

Something that you are going to want to immediately check is the rear construction of the furniture. Quality items will feature screws and nails in the back that make the backing an integral part of your furniture. If the item is put together with staples, forget about it and move onto the next item.

While the finish on the piece may not be in the best shape if you are buying a used piece, it still should have been well done. A proper finish is done over time and takes as many as 15 steps to complete. Regardless of what the piece currently looks like, the wood itself is probably preserved if this was done. It will take some recovery but you will be able to have a piece as good as new. If you are buying a new piece and this should already be done and if it is not, look elsewhere.

A small feature that not many people will check because they are assuming that it is done correctly is the alignment of the drawers and railing system. Now we all know what assuming does right? Again, an easy short cut as if they do not take their time and do this properly, they can be misaligned resulting in the drawers coming off of their track and ruining your clothing if it gets caught in the tracking or under the rolling wheel.

Is your house completely level? A weird question to ask when considering buying a piece of furniture, but it is very relevant. If you purchase a piece of furniture that does not have quality levelers on it, you are risking putting down a beautiful piece that will be on a slant and possibly making it unsafe. Check for this one final detail. If it doesn't have it, it's not the end of the world as you can either ask them to put them on or possibly do it yourself.

Buying furniture isn't as easy as it first seemed is it? It's really a joy, but you do need to know what to look for so that you don't fall victim of an inferior piece or something that is just plain junk. Do the homework and bring a friend that knows his business and before you know it, you will have a great piece of country furniture that you can be proud of. - 16759

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