Sustainable Furniture Buying Tips: 5 Questions You Should Be Asking

March 23, 2022March 23, 2022 Megan Fulton Leave a comment

Being a sustainable company may be trendy now, but how do you know if what you’re buying is truly sustainable?

Our company was founded with the mission to save the rainforest. We are a wood furniture company that uses only sustainably harvested wood from North America. It’s been 17 years and we still guarantee that. Now it seems big name brands and celebrities are making claims of sustainability when they put their names on home goods. With so many products and brands now claiming sustainable practices, it may be hard to tell if the products you’re using really are eco-friendly.

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

4 High Quality Glass Top Dining Tables Made in USA

January 11, 2022March 7, 2022 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on March 7th, 2022 at 05:26 pm

Exeter Glass Top Dining Table with Walnut Wood Base and Chairs by Copeland Furniture — Pictured here as part of the complete Exeter Dining Set, Copeland’s Glass Top Rectangular Dining Table with a walnut base. Made in Vermont and guaranteed for life. Qualifying orders ship free!

“Every lesson I learned as a kid was at the dinner table. It is where we laughed, cried, and yelled – but most importantly, where we bonded and connected.” – Michael Symon (American chef)

A dining table is one of the most important pieces of furniture in any home. It’s where you gather and feast with family. Sit and sort though mail. Laugh. Cry. And the longer you have a table, the more memories it accumulates.

If you’re looking for a new dining table, you’ve come to the right place. All our dining tables are made in America and guaranteed to last a lifetime. Although most of our tables are built with solid wood, glass top dining tables have become an increasingly popular choice. They’re great at making a space feel bigger than it is, and the glass top is easy to care for and easy to clean.

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Where to Buy Used Vermont Made Furniture?

August 10, 2021October 27, 2021 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on October 27th, 2021 at 04:35 pm

Vermont has a reputation for building super high quality products, especially wood furniture. And that reputation has been sculpted over hundreds of years, as there are thousands of woodworkers in the state whose families have passed down woodworking skills through generations of talented craftsmen.

The quality of furniture that comes out of Vermont is so high that we even offer a lifetime guarantee on all our wood furniture. Everything we sell is built to last a lifetime and then some.

Because Vermont made wood furniture is of such high quality and holds its’ value over time, there is a surprisingly strong market for second-hand or used wood furniture that is made by Vermont craftsmen.

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Dovetail Joinery: Everything You Need to Know

October 22, 2020October 22, 2020 Riley Farabaugh

Dovetail joinery technique shown on cherry dresser drawer front

Dovetail joints have long been a symbol in woodworking for high quality craftsmanship. Their appearance on a drawer box usually indicates that the furniture is built to last for many years. And while traditional dovetails are fairly easy to recognize, many people might not know that there are actually many different types of dovetail joinery techniques.

In this article, we’ll explain the four most common types of dovetail joints, and also explain the different between English dovetails and French dovetails.

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5 of the Most Well Known American Furniture Designers

July 23, 2020March 11, 2022 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on March 11th, 2022 at 10:07 am

Vermont Woods Studios was founded on two core principles- a desire to protect the world’s forests and a reverence for high quality craftsmanship.

Over the years, we’ve added a handful of Vermont craftsmen to our offerings, all of whom design furniture and decor that is beautiful, high quality, and uniquely their own. However, it’s hard to ignore the influence that some of America’s most prolific designers have had on the furniture designs produced today.

“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants” -Isaac Newton

Here are some of the most renowned American furniture designers of all time, which continue to inspire craftsman all over the world today:

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5 Exotic Hardwoods to Avoid & Why

July 13, 2020June 30, 2022 Marina McCoy

Last updated on June 30th, 2022 at 03:27 pm

The environmental and societal cost of exotic woods is high. We choose to only source our woods from sustainably managed forests in the US. Here, some examples of the different types of wood and stains we can offer. Order wood samples.

Wood is generally an earth friendly material because it is a renewable resource, meaning it grows back naturally and isn’t finite like oil, metals, or even rocks like marble and granite. But not all species of wood are inherently sustainable.

Woods that grow locally like maple, oak, cherry, walnut, ash, pine, and others travel short distances between harvesting and processing and are taken from sustainably managed forests in the US.

But that’s not the case for many types of woods that come from different parts of the world. The term “exotic hardwoods” refers to woods that originate in other parts of the world (often tropical forests), and the impact of using these woods is high.

Did you know that the harvesting of certain species of wood is linked to organized crime, sex trafficking, corruption, human rights violations, illegal logging, species extinction and climate change?

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Adrian Pearsall: Everything You Need to Know

June 20, 2020January 11, 2022 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on January 11th, 2022 at 05:51 am

Adrian Pearsall's Compass Dining Table — Shown here, an authentic Compass Table, designed by Pearsall and built by Craft Associates in the mid 1900’s.

Adrian Pearsall may not be as widely recognized as other furniture designers like Frank Lloyd Wright or Gustav Stickley, but his contributions to the world of design have not been forgotten. After founding Craft Associates in 1952, Pearsall went on to become one of America’s most prominent furniture designers during the “Atomic Age” of mid-century modern stylings, known especially well for his use of American black walnut.

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GreenGuard Certified Furniture: Everything You Need to Know

January 3, 2020August 16, 2021 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on August 16th, 2021 at 12:47 pm

The furniture finishing industry is somewhat renowned for its use of questionable chemicals and behind-the-curtain practices. At one point in time, craftsmen used natural finishes like oil and wax or shellac.

But somewhere along the line there was a movement towards more durable, highly engineered wood finishes.

While these advancements in technology created finishes that are more durable, easier to apply, and cheaper than the traditional alternatives, they have also added some concerns about environmental sustainability and toxicity.

Just check out the standard warning that the State of California requires on many of the most common finishes sold in the US today:

WARNING: This product is known to the State of California to cause birth defects and other reproductive issues.

This movement towards chemically engineered wood finishes has created enough concern among consumers that third party testing organizations have sprung up to evaluate the safety of these finishes. One of the most common standards for verifying the safety of wood finishes is GreenGuard Certification.

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Wood Stains from Copeland Furniture

December 16, 2019October 5, 2022 Riley Farabaugh

Last updated on October 5th, 2022 at 01:49 pm

Copeland Audrey Table

If you’re not familiar with Copeland Furniture, they’re one of the leading manufacturers of modern and mid century furniture in the country. Located in Bradford, Vermont, Copeland was founded in 1976 by Tim Copeland.

Copeland offers furniture in cherry, walnut, maple, oak, and ash woods, and they use a clear, non-toxic lacquer as a wood finish.

In addition to offering furniture in several popular domestic hardwoods, Copeland also offers stained finishes on most of their collections. Here are their stain options for cherry, maple, ash, and oak (walnut is not typically stained due to its natural color).

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Wood Stains from Lyndon Furniture

December 12, 2019December 13, 2019 Riley Farabaugh

If you’re not familiar with Lyndon Furniture, they’re one of the leading furniture makers in the state of Vermont. Founded by Dave Allard in 1976, Lyndon has spent the last several decades producing some of the highest quality furniture in New England.

Most of the furniture made at Lyndon is available in cherry, maple, oak, and walnut, and they use a clear, non-toxic lacquer as a wood finish. We also offer several stain options on cherry, maple, and oak (we don’t recommend staining walnut).

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