Wood Furniture Buying For New Grads
Escaping college (hopefully with a degree) begins a new adventure in life; finding work and a place to stay. Whether you're moving into a house or an apartment, getting furniture that suits you is one of the big financial investments that sneaks up on first-time spenders. As you look through your furniture options, look past simple design preferences and into the sturdy, survivable benefits of solid wood.
Solid Wood Is Your Friend
It may be tempting to experiment with metals and plastics that are designed into modern shapes and styles, but solid wood may be a better investment for a first-time buyer.
If your furniture is dented or scratched relatively quickly, it's easier to repair on solid wood pieces. A few buffs with sandpaper and a bit of paint can cover up many problems, and you're less likely to have a foundation weakness that could bring the entire set down. Dents may lead to cracks in plastics or reconstituted waferboard.
Reconstituted boards are not a good idea for furniture that you want to last. The boards are made out of chipped or ground pieces of wood that are brought together to form a new piece, and while this may be good for the recycling system, there is a lot of weakness to come from the material. Impact may knock away some of the material, and water damage can severely weaken the wood pieces within.
Look At Drawers To Determine The Quality
There are a lot of brand names and quality opinions that you may hear from friends and family, but there are a few ways to determine the quality on your own by looking at the drawers. Simply flip the drawers upside down and look at the joined wood pieces.
If you see staples, you're not working with a high-quality piece of furniture. Many high-priced brands may justify their costs by the design or ease of assembly, but if you want something sturdy, there had better be a few screws or wood nails driven into the corners.
Even if the drawer is nailed together, make sure to feel for any bumps or grooves. Poor quality woodcraft may have nails that were inserted at an incorrect angle, which can eventually split if too much pressure is placed on the drawer. If you think that you'd be able to fix the nailing problem, try to ask for a discount due to the poor woodcraft.
Get in contact with furniture stores (such as Home Furniture Co., Inc) and look for quality, solid wood furniture to begin planning your first major furniture purchases with furniture you can rely on.