How to Tell if a Furniture Has Good Quality: A Buyer’s Guide

We all need to make sure we get the quality we pay for. When you are about to buy furniture for your home or workplace, you might want to ensure it gets ticked off your list for quite some time. You would not want to buy something, only to find yourself replacing it with another one in a couple of years. Your friends might recommend certain stores for you, which gives these stores reliability. But how can you really tell if you are buying good quality furniture? 

If you are looking for durable items, and you plan on turning them into long-term investments, you might have to do your own product inspection and testing. With shopping malls and markets booming with furniture stores and online options, it is getting a bit harder for customers to tell which options would be better than others. Luckily, we have gathered a checklist for you to tick off the next time you go to buy furniture. 

All About Wood 

1. What are the wood types?

Wood furniture tends to fall into three categories: veneers, solid wood, and particle (or composite) wood. The most expensive and good-looking type of wood is a solid one. However, it gets easily affected by water rings and scratches. Particle wood is made out of plastics, resin, and wood pulp, which makes it the cheapest on the list but the least durable one. Veneers usually have a cheap base covered by a good quality layer. They are not as expensive as solid woods but come at a higher price than the particle type. If you are aiming for value and have the budget for it, we recommend you go for solid wood or veneers for their durability. High-end furniture stores usually have both of these types. 

2. Inspect the Construction 

Quality furniture will almost always have joint construction. This means you need to make sure nothing is held together with nails, staples, or glue. The better alternatives will have thin sheets of wood between drawers or in the chest of desks, and their corners will have reinforcing blocks attached at an angle. For drawers, the best ones will have bottoms that are not stuck to the sides, giving room for contraction and expansion during seasonal changes. 

Tips: 

• For drawers and desks: Press on different corners, and check if the wooden pieces wobble. 
• For drawers: Pull drawers out. Make sure they are pulled all the way and are shut evenly. 
• For doors: Make sure they remain in an open position and do not snap back into a closing position.
• For handles or knobs: They should not jiggle or turn. 

Fabric 

1. Choices for All Lifestyles

You will need to consider your lifestyle first before picking out your fabrics. Having pets or toddlers can mean going for dark colors and stain-resistant fabrics. So if some of you are aiming to buy that white suede couch, you might need to re-think that. Go for high-quality natural fabrics like cotton blend, linen, or leather. Leather, in particular, gives an aura of sophistication and class in your home. Leather also works well with modern and contemporary designs, which seem to be the trendiest in the market. 

2. Springs

Strong sofas will usually be pushed down and sprung back into place when you press hard on them. For firm sofas, go for the traditional coiled springs; if bouncy sofas are your thing, then go for the zigzag coils. 

3. Colors

The trickiest part about colors is that when you go for bold ones, you might regret that choice years later. Your taste is bound to change, which is why we suggest you stick to neutral-colored furniture to avoid the hassle of buying new items years later. We recommend you keep the daring colors for other decorative objects. 

4. Cushions 

Your good quality cushions will need to be firm and should come with removable covers that are matching on both sides. Although reversible cushions cost more than others, they tend to last longer. Remember, cushions that are filled with shredded foam will not keep their shape and will eventually wear out. 

Tip: the best fabric will be tightly woven with many threads per square inch. Patterns should be woven in only on one side and not printed since the printing is bound to come off when it is rubbed hard. 

Sofas, Chairs, and Tables

1. The Legs

Your furniture’s legs should be wooden, heavy, and jointed to the frame and not nailed. Legs that are made out of plastic, rubber, or metal will tear up your floors, not hold up as well, and definitely do not look as nice. 

Tip: for expensive sofas, aim for the ones that have a fifth leg. These ones hold up really well, considering how heavy they are, and the fifth leg provides them with extra support. 

2. Chairs

Chair seats should feel soft and offer firm support at the same time. A chair’s quality doesn’t only determine its longevity, but its comfort level as well. If you want to add a bit off class in your home, lounge chairs by Bespoek gives a pop of elegance and luxury in your home with their handmade designs and assembled products. Chairs are for us to sit back and relax, so you need to choose them wisely.

3. Try them Out Before You Buy Them

If your store allows this option, then you should not miss out on trying your furniture before you buy it. Make sure you sit on your new sofas to see whether they are shallow or deep. Your chairs should not wobble or squeak when you sit on them. Good tables and chairs will feel heavy and well-balanced. 

Warranty 

Warranties guarantee you years of less worrying about the cost of repair. Believe it or not, but high-quality furniture will usually come with a warranty of at least one to five years. Warranted furniture is usually slightly pricey, but only because such items are highly crafted with expensive material.  

The material of your furniture will determine its longevity and ensure its long term usage. The market is filled with options for all of us, but knowing our products and being able to tell what is good from what is not is essential for our lifelong satisfaction. Be sure to buy furniture right for your lifestyle and comfort, and consider the quality of what you are paying for. 

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