The Importance of Quality Craftsmanship in Furniture

 

Today’s mass-produced furniture is both affordable and practical, especially for homeowners on a budget. However, spending a bit more on higher quality furniture may save you money in the long run. When it comes to buying a piece of furniture to last for years to come, quality craftsmanship is one of the most important factors. Read on to learn more about the elements of quality craftsmanship in furniture and why they matter.

Durability

Handcrafted furniture is typically made from higher quality materials than the cheaper alternatives. This boosts a piece’s durability and lessens the likelihood of breaking or falling apart. Durability is especially important with children’s furniture, like cribs, beds, and bookcases. In many cases, handcrafted furniture comes with a manufacturer’s lifetime guarantee as they’re confident your piece will last well into the future.

When shopping for new furniture, it’s important to pay close attention to durability before making a final purchase. If you’re shopping online, don’t forget to check customer reviews for any red flags. Unhappy customers frequently report issues with faulty manufacturing and broken components. In addition to reviews on furniture retailer websites, take a look at 1StopBedrooms reviews for valuable information on quality.

Personality

Commercially mass-produced furniture often lacks uniqueness or character. Most pieces are made from a template, which gives them a cookie-cutter look and feel. Today’s big name furniture retailers often create their products with profits in mind. Handcrafted furniture is made with more purpose and care, which makes the pieces look more expensive and special.

Furniture craftsmen infuse intricate, unique design elements in their pieces which can’t be found anywhere else. For example, they may incorporate upholstery only found in a foreign country or use an ancient carving technique. Additionally, handcrafted furniture tends to retain the original markings and characteristics of the materials it’s made of. If you’re looking for conversation-starting furniture, handcrafted may be your best bet.

Value

Regardless of whether you buy high-end or discount furniture, it’s a significant expense. For many people, furniture is one of the most costly items on their budget. Although handcrafted furniture is often more pricey, spending more on pieces up front could be more cost effective over the long term. Cheaper furniture tends to require more repairs and often falls apart far sooner than handcrafted pieces.

Although it may be tempting to buy more affordable furniture to save money, the money spent on repairs and replacements could have been better spent on higher-end furniture up front. Your handcrafted furniture is almost guaranteed to outlive your mass-produced pieces. It’s also an investment to share with your family and pass down to future generations. Many people view their custom furniture as works of art, and they often fetch high prices at auctions and estate sales.

Customization

Although many popular furniture manufacturers now allow for certain customization in their collections, you’re often limited in what you can choose. If you’re looking for a piece to fit an odd corner of your home, seeking out a unique type of wood, or desire unique upholstery, handcrafted furniture may better suit your needs and tastes.

A skilled furniture craftsman knows how to bring your vision to life and often has access to unique suppliers to create exactly what you’re looking for. Additionally, each craftsman has their own individual style and technique which is infused into each piece. Even if a handcrafted furniture maker creates two of the same type of table, no two pieces will be alike. Although custom furniture pieces are almost always more expensive than mass-produced products, they’re guaranteed to be one of a kind.

 

Top Furniture Brands for Luxury Bedroom Sets

Top Furniture Brands for Luxury Bedroom Sets

 

A luxurious home deserves luxurious furniture, and there’s no need to pay more than you must. Even older homes not of a modern or ornate splendor can benefit from luxury furniture, as it transforms your space from humble to impressive.

Even if you have a higher budget for your bedroom furniture and decor, there’s no need to spend more than necessary. Buying your bedroom set online will allow you to get the comfort and opulence of luxury furniture at a much cheaper price. People who want to appoint a more humble home with grandiose furniture have stricter budgets, but they still have a lot of options.

When you shop for bedroom furniture online you will come across many furniture brands and collections. The best brands for luxury furniture are outlined below, and you can find more information via 1StopBedrooms.com.

Liberty bedroom sets

The Liberty brand carries several bedroom collections that fall under the luxe umbrella. These furniture sets are of modern and contemporary styles, providing you with ultimate comfort and the feeling of a movie star.

Some of the best bedroom sets from Liberty for your luxury apartment or home are:

  • Abby Park Antique White Panel Bedroom Set with wood or upholstered headboard options
  • Thornwood Hills Rock Beaten Gray Panel Bedroom Set
  • Magnolia Manor Antique White Sleigh or Pane Bedroom Sets
  • Harbor View Poster Bed Sets

Caracole Bedroom Sets

Caracole offers many bedroom sets to choose from that are most suitable for mid-modern and contemporary homes that need a more elegant touch. The Caracole Classic line of bedroom furniture sets is the most popular, as well as their Modern Expressions bed set collection.

Magnussen

Magnussen offers a wide variety of bedroom sets in several styles suitable for a luxurious bedroom in a modern, contemporary, or mid-modern style. Tinley Park and Bellamy Peppercorn offer the most options for matched bedroom furniture.

Universal bedroom furniture sets

Universal offers bedroom sets featuring designs, textures, and colors popular for coastal-themed bedrooms. They feature collections named after mid-modern stars including Modern Brando and Modern Connery, while their Coastal Living bed sets are perfect for waterfront properties.

A.R.T. bedroom sets

This brand features 36 different bedroom sets within their featured bedroom collections. These bedroom sets are grandly appointed with upholstered headboards and footboards, ornately carved dressers and nightstands, and tall stately beds sturdy enough to stand the tests of time. The Artiste and Prossimo bedroom furniture collections are perfect for modern bedrooms, while they also offer vintage bed sets…

Hooker luxury bedroom sets

Hooker is one of the most popular brands in luxury bedroom furniture. They offer a wide variety of modern and contemporary bed sets with soft upholstered or ornately carved headboards. These bed sets are best suited to modern or mid-modern homes and bedroom styles.

Legacy Kids Bedroom Sets

Although this is a kid’s specific brand, it is worth mentioning in this article. Kids like to feel special too, and filling their room with luxury bedroom furniture is a great way to make them comfortable and self-entertaining. The Legacy Kids bed sets offer modern and contemporary luxury in kid-sized pieces like smaller dressers and mirrors, chests of drawers, vanities and benches, jewelry armoires, and twin or full-size beds.

 

How to Choose the Best Leather Furniture for Your Living Room

With its durability and classic look, leather furniture is quite popular for living room seating. Yet deciding that you want a leather seating option in your living room is just the first step. As you begin shopping, you will find a large number of options are available for those investing in leather. Here are some tips to help you choose the right leather furniture for your living room.

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Choose By Leather Type

Not all leathers are created equal, and understanding the different types will help you make the best possible decision. Here are some common types of leather:

  • Pigmented: Pigmented leather works great for growing families, as it has a shiny outer coat that resists stains. This is a lower-grade leather that has been dyed to cover color imperfections and may come in a range of modern hues.
  • Full-grain: The highest quality of leather, this type is not processed at all. It is a tough, durable leather for furniture. The high cost comes from the challenge of getting uniform color without treating the leather.
  • Aniline: Full-grain, dyed leather that is one of the softest and most supple options. This leather can fade if kept in direct sunlight.
  • Split-grain: This is the “genuine leather” you typically see in stores. It comes from the lower half of the hides, so it is less durable and somewhat softer than the full-grain option.

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To determine the type of leather you need, you must first determine where you will be using the furniture an what the conditions in your living room will be like.

Choose the Right Style

Leather is a material that lasts for decades, and as such, you want to choose a style that is fairly timeless. Also, choose a piece designed to hold up well over years of use. Nothing would be worse than investing in a piece of leather furniture, only to have the frame fall apart before the leather does.

Next, decide whether you want a large piece or an accent piece. A full leather couch can make a bold statement in your living room and provide ample seating for all your needs. On the other hand, a leather accent chair can add some warmth and a classic look to a neglected corner in your home. You can even find comfortable recliners, sectional sofas and ottomans in leather.

Choose the Right Color

When most people think of leather, they think of shades of brown and black, but leather can come in a variety of classic and trendy colors. Choose a color that matches your tastes, but remember to keep timelessness in mind. That lime green leather chair may be all the rage today, but in 20 years it might look dated. A trendy color combined with a classic design can be a pleasing compromise. Of course, for an ultra-modern look, you can choose both a contemporary frame and  a contemporary color.

Caring for the Leather

Once you have invested in a piece of leather furniture, keeping it well cared for is crucial. Properly cleaning and conditioning your leather is going to keep it beautiful and soft for many years to come. Start with a non-toxic cleaning product, then add a natural conditioning product to put moisture back into the leather. This will help your new piece of living room furniture become an heirloom in your home.

About the author:

Jim McGowen is the founder of Leather Honey, which manufactures Leather Honey Leather Conditioner, the #1 selling leather care product on Amazon.com. The company’s new product, Leather Honey Leather Cleaner, is designed to gently clean the leather before conditioning, and in between conditioner applications.

5 Tips for Decorating Your First Home

Moving into a new home offers a rare opportunity to start from scratch and create an interior design just as you like it. This is especially true if you are moving into your first home with newly purchased items.
While getting settled, you might need to come up with some creative solutions to get your home fully furnished within your budget. Here are 5 great ideas.

  • Take stock of what you have and what you want to keep. – Before you move, decide which items move with you and which are donated or given away.  Moving is a time-consuming and strenuous task, and you want to cut to a minimum the number of items you need to move.
  • Give it time. – Purchase new pieces of furniture gradually as you notice the need for them. Have patience throughout the decorating process and take the time to get a feel for what your home is lacking rather than buying on a whim.
  • Don’t turn down second-hand items immediately. – If family or friends offer you furniture and home decor items, consider the possibilities before you turn down the offer. Go through your furniture inventory and determine if a hand-me-down might be acceptable. Also, consider antique stores, flea markets, and other places that sell used furniture. Often, you will be surprised with the quality of the second-hand items you find and the charm they bring to your interior design.
  • Shop around. – Realize that shopping for furniture to fill your new home is a one-time opportunity and a great joy. Be aware that the opportunity to decorate a new home doesn’t happen very often. Research locations for purchasing furniture, and visit them all before deciding on an important purchase. Become familiar with the furniture stores, antique shops, flea markets, and other vendors in your area that might offer the perfect items for your new home.
  • You don’t have to match – Be cautious about buying complete rooms of furniture at one time. When you purchase a new bed, the salesperson may push you to take the night stand, dresser, chest, and mirror with it. Yet matching sets of any type of furniture may give a room a bland, boring look. Aim for some originality and creativity when decorating your new home.

Think about these 5 tips when decorating your first home and enjoy a process that results in the home you were dreaming of all along.

About the author:

David Larkin is CEO/President of DAL Builders, which is a general contractor in Chicago serving residential and commercial property owners since 1994.  Connect with DAL Builders on Facebook.