Wooden furniture is a home essential. Whether you are re-doing your furniture, renovating a home or moving into a new abode, you will need to pick out wooden furniture pieces. If you’re shopping yourself for your home or even shopping online, it’s helpful to know what qualifies as premium-quality furniture. Here’s a guide to help you do exactly that:
Source of the wood
Wood can be natural or artificially engineered. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. This factor will hugely affect the durability of your furniture. Typically, premium furniture that has the potential to last for years is made from natural wood derived from trees. This can be hardwood such as oak wood, teak, mahogany etc or solid wood such as mango wood, acacia, Sheesham. Since this is naturally derived, the sheen of furniture made from this type of wood is also class apart.
Engineered wood, on the other hand, includes MDF or fibreboard, particleboard, plywood, veneer etc. While these are popular and cheaper, their durability and resistance to humidity etc. is nowhere close to natural wood’s. If you’re looking for wooden furniture for a short period of time and don’t want to spend much, you can go for this type of wood. If, however, you see your furniture as an investment and want heirloom furniture, you should definitely opt for natural wood, particularly solid wood. Jodhpur-based Duraster offers affordable and premium furniture collections in this category.
Finishing of the wood
Good quality natural wood will definitely contain some imperfections as shown in the image below. This is normal and is part of the wood’s surface. If your wooden furniture shows an unnatural sheen or an overly smooth surface, it might be cause for concern, and you should verify it. As part of finishing, also check for any dull spots or rough edges. Usually, natural wood will contain a stain and that’s considered a favourable factor. This type of stain adds texture and character to your furniture. So don’t shy away from it.
Below is the process of staining and finishing and ask your vendor questions to ensure that everything is up to the mark:
Step # 1: Rubbing
Rubbing is the process of smoothing the raw wood surface to remove the imperfections and rawness of the wood to give your furniture a lustrous view and feel. It gives your furniture an even sheen with our practice of using up to 400 sanding paper in the process.
Step # 2: Staining
Staining is a necessary step not just to provide the smooth texture and colour but to protect your furniture from light, dust and other damages. TIFC follows all the international standards in the process and uses the best in quality Indian Stains to do so.
Step # 3: Sealing
Sealing the wood is the next step. This is meant to provide your furniture the life it deserves, that is, a long and healthy life. This process is repeated twice in our factories to ensure proper protection from moisture.
Step # 4: Lacquering
Lacquering is the final step. This adds durability, attraction and pleasing touch to your furniture. It is the finishing that takes away the hearts and that is just what this process does to the texture, wood grains, patterns and to overall look.
Stability and smoothness
Although ensuring the stability of furniture and whether it functions properly is difficult to do online but you can always ask for photos and videos. Even after you have received the furniture at home, check if the drawers and cabinets are smooth to use. They shouldn’t get stuck while opening and shutting. The same goes for doors. Further, also check if the furniture stands without any kind of wobbling.
These elements are part of the construction of the wood. Even if the vendor has procured premium quality wood, it should be constructed properly to achieve perfection and the desired results.
Warranty
A credible brand will always offer you a warranty on their furniture. It should be for a minimum of one year and can go up to five years. A warranty ensures that the brand is confident of its products and are willing to give you the service you expect even after the purchase is over. Solid wood furniture brand Duraster offers a one-year warranty on its products. The warranty ensures that if there are any problems with the quality of the materials or workmanship, they will adjust, repair or replace to the customer’s satisfaction.
Conclusion
Wooden furniture is usually purchased with the long-term intent in mind. You should definitely take your time to inspect the quality of wooden furniture before investing in it. A surefire way of receiving top-notch quality is by going for a brand that is credible, trustable and offers exceptional customer service. Once that is done, you can account for the above four factors to ensure that you do not compromise on quality.
