Why Shaker Style Wood Furniture is Perfect for the Holidays

December 2, 2014December 2, 2014 Kelsey Eaton Leave a comment

What most people love about Shaker style wood furniture is that it simply feels like home. It’s comfortable, subtle, and nostalgic– bringing you back to a time when things were made slowly and with purpose. A time where furniture was always made with precision, care, and quality. It’s unassuming, and while it’s presence is always noticeable, it doesn’t demand the absolute attention of the room. For these reasons, Shaker Style wood furniture is the perfect furniture for the holiday season.

Shaker Furniture Encourages Buying with Purpose

If Black Friday Sales this year are any indication of the shifting in American values (Black Friday sales across the country plummeted while Small Business Saturday sales grew exponentially), than my belief is correct in that American people are growing tired of the craze surrounding low quality, mass produced items. They want simpler things like quality time with the family, a warm comfortable home, and beautifully crafted items to fill it.

Shaker furniture has a long, rich history of sustainability and tradition. In their prime, Shaker communities were largely self sufficient. They attempted to separate themselves from the busy outside world and create a peaceful haven that focused on growing their own food, constructing their own buildings, and manufacturing their own tools and furnishings. Every thing they did they did slowly, meticulously, and with intention.

Honesty, Utility and Simplicity in Shaker Craftsmanship

Their guiding principles of honesty, utility, and simplicity found expression in their unique craftsmanship, as furniture, boxes, and textiles. Their work is world renowned for it’s beautifully minimalist design and unyielding quality. Their work rejected excessive ornamentation and focused on overall form, proportion, and quality.

The Shaker Style wood furniture we carry at Vermont Woods Studios is carefully crafted by expert Vermont woodworkers who pride themselves on creating beautiful, high quality pieces built to last a lifetime. Their craftsmanship is a great reflection of the ever cherished Shaker wood furniture.

We hope that this holiday season, you’ll take some time to reflect on your own traditions and values. What kind of items do you want to fill your home with? What are your purchases saying about your values? We can all take a little inspiration from the Shakers, slow down a bit, and connect with what’s important this holiday season!

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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.

Gather Around a Cherry Extension Table for your Holiday Feast

November 25, 2014August 15, 2018 Kelsey Eaton Leave a comment

Last updated on August 15th, 2018 at 02:33 pm

Enhance your Holidays with a Cherry Extension Table!

Hosting a party or feast this holiday season? If so, it’s a great idea to consider an extension table for meals shared with large groups of family and friends! Our cherry extension tables are roomy, comfortable, and classically styled. They are wonderful both aesthetically and functionally, for years and years to come!

All of our Cherry extension tables are crafted in Vermont with sustainably harvested wood– making it the perfect choice for this traditional American holiday season! Our beautiful cherry extension tables are also guaranteed for life, giving you the confidence that this table will be one you share memories around for decades.

We think you’ll be proud to own one of these beautiful, traditionally crafted tables, and we think your friends and family will love it too.

Here are some of our favorites:

1) New England Shaker Round Extension Pedestal Table:

In the images above you will see our New England Shaker Round table in it’s normal form and extended. On the left is the table without extension, perfect for a small family dinner or a intimate dining experience for two. On the right you will see the table after it’s been extended, an ideal table for large parties and holiday gatherings!

2) Catalina Cherry Extension Table:

With our Catalina Cherry Extension table, you’ll have maximum flexibility when it comes to casual dining and entertaining guests at home for the holidays. In the above photos you can see this extension table in it’s normal form and when extended. On the left side you will see that the Catalina table regularly seats approximately 6 people. When extended, however, this beautiful table seats ten! This table is perfect for both diners with the family and large holiday festivities.

3) Vermont Shaker Harvest Dining Table

Our Vermont Shaker Harvest Dining Table is beautiful, charming, and the perfect addition to any home. Use as a regular dining table all year round, and extend the table when having guests. Bread board ends and gracefully tapered legs complete this timeless design. Easily add an extension leaf on one or both table ends for those special occasions, like Thanksgiving dinner, when you need a few extra place settings.

Which of these tables would you use for your holiday festivities? If you loved these, you’ll find dozens more tables in our online gallery!

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Tips for Small Apartment Decorating

November 22, 2014October 23, 2018 Loryn Dion Leave a comment

Last updated on October 23rd, 2018 at 04:38 pm

Within the past few years, studies have shown that the average home size is decreasing. Towards the end of the 20^th century, new homes were all about being bigger and better. Now, new homes are all about efficiency and economics. Homeowners want homes that are efficient in space and energy so they can save a bundle on their bills. While people are still buying bigger homes, trends show that as people move closer to cities for work, average home size will continue to go down as people purchase small apartments and condos. Here are a few furniture tips if you are looking for modest furniture for your modest space.

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Our 3 Step Guide to Finding Quality Furniture

November 21, 2014August 14, 2018 Kelsey Eaton Leave a comment

Last updated on August 14th, 2018 at 03:52 pm

If high quality furniture is important to you, there are some things you should know before you shop!

Quality furniture might not on the top of your priority list if you are in you’re early twenties or thirties, but as you get older and start building a home you really treasure, finding quality furniture is an important step. Sleeping on hand-me-down mattresses and buying the cheapest furniture you can find, whether it be on Craigslist or at a yard sale or at a discount furniture store, at some point becomes unthinkable. And the hunt for real, high quality furniture becomes an important challenge.

So if you’re in the market for a new bed and maybe a new dresser or chest, or some new pieces for your dining room, how can you find pieces that are not only fairly priced, but built with quality as well? Well, with some research and years of experience in the furniture industry, we’ve come up with 3 steps to ensuring you are getting good quality furniture!

1. Know your wood types

If you are on the market for good quality wood furniture, it’s essential to know the difference between the different types of wood. Wood furniture typically falls into three different categories: solid wood, veneers, and particle board.

Quality solid wood furniture is usually more expensive than the other types, and for good reason. It’s sturdy, beautiful, and more natural in look and feel. It’s important to take care of your solid wood furniture, however, because they can sometimes be susceptible to wear and tear like scratches and water rings. Cherry, Oak, and Maple are always good choices for wood furniture as they all look lovely and are strong, solid woods.

Veneers have an inexpensive wood base covered by thin layers of better quality wood. The cheaper core means it’s less costly than a true solid wood piece. While veneers are less high quality than true solid wood, that doesn’t mean it is “bad” for furniture, though it is important to find a real veneer. Cheap, low quality furniture usually features a MDF (Medium-density fibreboard) with laminate coating on the sides that have the wood grain printed on it.

Particle Board is made from a combination of compressed woodchips and resin, often coated or veneered for furniture. It’s basically the scraps of the furniture world, making it the cheapest type of wood furniture. While it can look decent, it will not hold up for long and is not a great choice for anyone looking for true, long lasting quality.

2. Check the Joinery

Drawers and Doors provide perhaps the quickest and easiest quality check on craftsmanship. Make sure they are well fitted and adjusted properly. Drawers and doors should close easily and be flush with the cabinet front. The hardware should be substantial and adjustable in case of jostling during shipping and moving processes be sure to have your delivery crew make any necessary adjustments before they leave your home).

Dovetails: Dovetails are strong, attractive, joints that slide into one another and are noted for resistance to being pulled apart. Dovetail joints are commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front. Once glued, a wooden dovetail joint requires no mechanical fasteners. Dovetails are harder to cut than most joints, so they are usually seen on top quality furniture pieces. This type of joinery is so strong because of it’s unique shape, making it extremely difficult to pull them apart. It’s this incredible strength that makes them a staple of many top quality solid wood furniture pieces.

Mortise & Tenon: Simple and strong, mortise and tenon joinery has been used for millenia by woodworkers around the world to join pieces of wood, usually when the pieces are at a 90° angle. The joint may be glued, pinned, or wedged to lock it in place. By inserting one element of wood into another, a mortise-and-tenon joint provides unshakable strength.

3. Make sure it’s made in the USA

Besides the fact that American made furniture has a centuries old heritage & reputation for incredible craftsmanship, furniture that’s hand made in America gets an immediate gold star for integrity, just for the fact that the wood is legally and sustainably harvested (this is often not the case with imported furniture). You can also feel good that USA made furniture is creating American jobs and sustainable economies. Another benefit: no worries about toxic finishes and glues (common in imported furniture) that might offgas in your home or be ingested by small children.

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Mid-Century Modern Dining Room: Get The Look

November 18, 2014January 17, 2019 Kelsey Eaton Leave a comment

Last updated on January 17th, 2019 at 10:04 am

Creating Your Mid-Century Modern Dining Room

Mid-Century Modern design is all about fusing the nostalgic look of the 1950s with exceptional craftsmanship and style.

If you’ve ever watched an episode of Mad Men, then you’ve seen Mid-Century Modern design at work. It’s elegant and classy with a twist of vintage to make it a fun and functional look for any room in your home.

We love the look when it is done carefully and tastefully, especially in the dining room. So if you are hoping to achieve a mid-century modern dining room, take these steps to design your space in a way that is purposeful and not too kitschy:

1) Choose Timeless Furniture & Decor:

According to Design*Sponge,

“Midcentury oftentimes connotes thoughtfully designed Modernist homes and furniture, but the fact of the matter is that there was a ton of really ugly stuff in the mid-twentieth century.”

So the first step in creating your Mid-Century Modern Dining Room is to pick out high quality items that are built to withstand the test of time, both in craftsmanship and style.

If you do a Google search or Pinterest search on Mid-Century Modern Dining Room style, a lot of what you will find is low quality, plastic furniture that will eventually go out of style (and is bad for the environment anyways).

Wood furniture with clean and crisp features makes the perfect base for your Mid-Century Modern dining room. Buffets and Sideboards are a staple of the Mid-Century Modern Dining Room, especially when crafted with clean lines and angles. Choose sleek, simplistic dining tables and geometric dining chairs for a subtly beautiful midcentury look.

2) Embrace Subtlety.

You don’t need to transform your entire space into an exact replica of a Mid-Century Dining Room from the past. Just add touches of Mid-Century to your current design and slowly integrate them until you have the perfectly designed blend! A great way to do this is to pay attention to the color palette and add splashes of these colors throughout the decor. Here’s our interpretation of the typical color palette used for a MCM Dining Room:

3. Choose your wood Wisely.

The wood you choose can effect the entire mood of your dining room. Cherry wood furniture is a bit casual and can bring a sense of brightness to the room, while Walnut creates a refined, sleek space. Reflect on how you’d like your space to feel, and shop accordingly!

4. Take inspiration from around the web.

We’ve created two Pinterest boards especially for Mid-Century Modern Furniture & Decor, we recommend browsing them and others to create a look that is perfect for you and your home!

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Quality Hardwood Furniture Buyers Guide, Part II

November 13, 2014August 20, 2018 Peggy Farabaugh Leave a comment

Last updated on August 20th, 2018 at 02:49 pm

Today’s post is Part II of our Hardwood Furniture Buyers Guide.

Hardwood Furniture Finishes

Waxes and oils, such as beeswax or mineral oil are often used as hardwood furniture finishes because they sink into the fibers and condition the wood. These finishes bring out the grain of the wood and create a soft, supple surface but they need to be reapplied periodically. Alternatively, lacquer, shellac, varnish, poly and other non-porous coatings may be applied just once, creating a water proof coating that is almost maintenance free.

Which is best for you? Well if you have young children you many not have time to be oiling furniture, so lacquer may be your best bet. On the other hand, if you adore the feel of a well-oiled natural wood surface and you don’t mind taking the time to re-oil periodically, go for the oil and wax.

Care of Fine Hardwood Furniture Finishes

Fine hardwood furniture is an investment that should increase in value over time, however that depends on how well you care for it (particularly for furniture with an oil or wax finish). If you follow the furniture maker’s instructions your wood furniture should last a lifetime and more!

Oil Finish on Quality Hardwood Furniture — *This Cherry Moon Nightstand is made with cherry hardwood and finished with natural linseed oil. To keep the wood soft and supple, it is smart to re-oil it 1/month during the first year.*

Protect Against Water and Humidity

Wood is very sensitive to changes in relative humidity. As the weather changes, so does the relative humidity in your home and in the moisture content of the wood in your furniture. Fine hardwood furniture that’s coated with lacquer or poly is sealed and protected from the occasional water spill.

Replenish Oil and Wax Finishes Periodically

Oil and wax finishes must be replenished frequently during the first year. A rule of thumb is: clean and oil your wood furniture immediately upon delivery into you home. After that oil it once/week for the first month. Then oil 1/month for the first year. After that oil your furniture 1/year. This will result in a soft supple patina that will not only protect your furniture but add to it’s beauty and value over time.

Construction Details in Fine Hardwood Furniture

Joinery

Joinery speaks clearly about the craftsmanship of a piece. Be sure to inspect corners and drawers to see how they’re crafted and look for these robust and durable joints:

Mortise-and-Tenon Joint

Mortise-and-tenon joint are often used in armoires, dressers, chests, cabinets, tables, chairs, desks and bookcases. The tenon (projecting piece) on a board is inserted into the mortise (cavity) on another board, then glued. An M-T joint may be further secured with a peg inserted through both pieces.

Dovetail Joint

The dovetail joint is typically used in drawer construction. Wedge-shaped projections on one piece interlock with corresponding slots on another.

Hardwood furniture construction details — *Dovetail joints are shown attaching drawer fronts to the sides of the drawers (middle photos). Quality hardwood furniture also employs sturdy hinges and finished backs on case goods.*

Use of Veneers

Veneers have taken a bad rap over the past several decades because much of the cheap, imported furniture sold in big box stores is made with low quality plywood or fiber board, then covered with a thin wooden veneer. Although solid wood construction is often preferred by those seeking high quality hardwood furniture, there are certain furniture designs that require veneers, for example sleigh beds that have curved wooden panels.

Why Hardwood versus Softwood Furniture?

In the world of trees and lumber, hardwood is relatively rare. About 80% of all timber comes from softwoods like pine, hemlock, cedar, and spruce. Only 20% of our timber is from hardwood trees like cherry, maple, oak, walnut, mahogany, teak and beech. As such, hardwood is relatively rare and expensive so why choose it over softwood? Generally speaking hardwood is more dense than softwood and has a tighter grain making it more resistant to decay. The density also makes hardwood more difficult for craftspeople to work with, but the beauty of the grain and the patina that develops over time makes solid hardwood furniture a prized possession.

If you’re in the market for high quality furniture, what’s your favorite wood? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments section below.

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Vermont Made Home Decor: Bringing Warmth to Wood Furniture

November 9, 2014February 12, 2018 Kelsey Eaton Leave a comment

Last updated on February 12th, 2018 at 10:04 am

Vermont Made Home Decor is the perfect accessory to beautiful, natural wood furniture. While the furniture itself is comfortable and cozy, the home decor adds a layer of chic Vermont style & sophistication.

Vermont is known for its beautiful and unique artistry; from furniture to pottery to glassware, if it’s made in Vermont you can be sure that it is made with quality and elegance. The Vermont made home decor we carry is a representative sampling of some of Vermont’s most esteemed home decor brands– from Simon Pearce glassware to our newest addition of Hubbardton Forge lighting. We are thrilled to bring the best of Vermont Style home decor to the public, in one easy to shop website.

Decorate your entire home with Vermont made home decor for a look that is as eclectic as it is sleek and charming. Start with the custom crafted wood furniture, and complement it with hand blown glass, hand-painted pottery, luxurious linens, and beautifully handcrafted lighting. Each element of Vermont made home decor is unique in it’s style and it’s story, and we are excited to tell you more about them…

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Hardwood Furniture Buyers Guide, Part I

November 8, 2014August 20, 2018 Peggy Farabaugh 2 Comments

Last updated on August 20th, 2018 at 02:49 pm

Hardwood Dining Table and Chairs | Cherry — This hardwood dining table, buffet and chair set is made of American black cherry wood. Mortise and tenon joints are used as well as dovetails in the drawers of the buffet.

Shopping for top quality hardwood furniture? We encourage customers to take their time and learn to enjoy the details that make fine wood furniture an heirloom you family will cherish for generations. This short guide tells you what to look for in your fine wood furniture, including types of hardwoods, joinery and finishes.

America’s Top Hardwood Choices for Fine Furniture

The American Hardwood Information Center lists 23 different species of American hardwoods including alder, ash, aspen, basswood, beech, cottonwood, hickory, sassafras and elm. The following are time tested favorites for American made hardwood furniture.

American Black Cherry

Cherry wood is a reddish brown hardwood with a smooth, fine grain. It’s perhaps the most prized furniture hardwood in America. People are often surprised to learn that natural cherry wood furniture changes colors over time– quite a bit actually. It starts out as a light-toned wood and darkens as it is exposed to light.

Top Quality Hardwoods include American Cherry, Maple, Walnut, Oak — *These top quality hardwoods are favorites in the world of American made furniture: Cherry, Maple, Walnut and Oak.*

Sugar or Hard Maple

Sugar Maple Wood (aka: hard maple) is usually light reddish brown in the center or heartwood but sometimes considerably darker (dark maple is often mistaken for cherry wood). Maple sapwood is typically white with a slight reddish-brown tinge. Maple is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock. It has a fine, uniform texture with generally straight grain, but variations such as curly, wavy, rippled, birdseye, tiger, flame or fiddleback grain occur and are often selected for specialty custom artisan furniture.

Oak

Oak has been the wood of choice for many of America’s most beloved mission and craftsman-style furniture makers, like Gustav Stickley, Greene and Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oak is a solid, sturdy and very durable hardwood with generally uniform coarse texture and prominent rays in the grain. Oak wood may darken slightly over time, taking on more amber tones however the change is very subtle, unlike the significant color change with cherry wood.

Black walnut is North America's only chocolate brown hardwood — This hardwood bed, night stand and chest set is made of black walnut wood. Black walnut is North America’s only chocolate brown hardwood. It’s relatively rare and typically carries a 20-40% price premium.

American Black Walnut

Black walnut wood is the only dark North American wood. It’s prized by woodworkers for it’s strength, grain and color which is a rich chocolate brown– with occasional purple tones. There are over 20 species of walnut trees but it is the Eastern Black Walnut tree (aka: American Walnut) that is native to North America and is used for our American made walnut furniture.

If real top quality American hardwoods are important to you, be aware that imposters are everywhere. Much of the “maple”, “walnut”, “oak” and “real cherry furniture” on the market today is actually made from cheaper woods like rubberwood, poplar, alder or other fast-growing wood alternatives. They are often illegally clear-cut from the world’s rapidly disappearing rainforests, then bleached, texturized and stained to look like American hardwoods. When considering a purchase of wood furniture from large “American furniture companies” like Bassett, Broyhill, Lane, Lazy Boy, Kincaid, Ethan Allan, Thomasville, Pennsylvania House, Drexel, Heritage, American Drew and Pottery Barn– be sure to ask what the wood species is and where it was grown. You may be surprised by the response.

If you’re in the market for solid hardwood furniture, what’s your favorite wood? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments section below.

Next up: Quality Hardwood Furniture Buyers Guide, Part II: all about fine furniture finishes, joinery & solid wood vs veneers.

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The Ultimate Guide to Solid Wood Bed Styles

November 3, 2014November 13, 2018 Kelsey Eaton

Last updated on November 13th, 2018 at 10:47 pm

Hundreds of Solid Wood Beds with Unique Features; Which Bed Style is Best For Your Bedroom?

We have over 70 beds in our online gallery with countless option choices. This gives our customers the ability to customize their bed to fit their bedroom style! The heart of a bedroom is, of course, the bed. No matter it’s style, size, age, or wood type– the framework consisting of a headboard, foot board, rails and slats is the absolute foundation of your dream bedroom. Let our guide help you choose a bed style that is right for your space:

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Hardwood Flooring Bargains: The Real Cost

November 1, 2014October 3, 2022 Peggy Farabaugh 1 Comment

Last updated on October 3rd, 2022 at 03:19 pm

Buying new hardwood flooring? Tips for buying sustainably harvested wood. — *Buying new hardwood flooring? Ask if it’s made from legal sustainably harvested wood.*

As a sustainable wood furniture company, we don’t usually have much to say about hardwood flooring. But recent news & events in this area are so compelling I thought our readers would be interested to hear a few details.

Hardwood Flooring, Lumber Liquidators and the Forest — A report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reveals that Lumber Liquidators (America’s largest retailer of hardwood flooring) is under investigation by federal authorities for possible violations of the Lacey Act – a law banning the illegal harvest and trade of wood and timber products.

Hardwood Flooring and the Future of the Forest

Every year about 7.5 billion square feet of flooring is purchased in the USA (Freedonia). If it takes roughly 1 acre of forest to produce 500 sq ft of flooring (UN Report by TimberGreen) then by my calculations it would take about 15 million acres to produce 7.5 billion sq ft of flooring (the amount sold annually in the USA). By comparison, the state of Vermont is 5.9 million acres so each year an area of forest about 2.5 times the size of Vermont is logged to supply the American wood flooring industry. Granted, my calculation is mushy and imprecise but even so, it begs the question: where is all that hardwood flooring come from?

Where Does Your Hardwood Flooring Come From?

We always encourage people to buy American made wood furniture because we know that environmental, health, safety and quality standards are high here in The States. The same is true for American made wood flooring, but that integrity built into American made wood products makes them more expensive than imports. So, not surprisingly about half of the hardwood flooring in America is imported.

The Siberian Tiger's Fate Rests with Lumber Liquidators? — *The Siberian Tiger’s Fate Rests with you, the consumer and global timber companies like Lumber Liquidators.*

The Trouble with Imported Wood

The imported wood products industry is now controlled to a large extent by organized crime. A recent report Liquidating the Forests: Hardwood Flooring, Organized Crime, and the World’s Last Siberian Tigers reveals that “demand for hardwood flooring and furniture in the United States, European Union, Japan, and China is fueling corruption and making the world’s last temperate hardwood forests into a major epicenter for illegal logging… Organized criminal groups send out logging brigades to steal valuable hardwoods from protected areas” thus decimating the last remaining habitats for iconic species like the Siberian tiger (in fact all species of big cats are now critically endangered as are all species of big apes, such as gorillas, chimps and orangutans).

Consumers Will Ultimately Decide the Fate of the Forest

As consumers we need to ask ourselves whether we want to buy the cheapest wood products we can without regard to the legality or sustainability of their origins. Think about it. How could it be that hardwood flooring from the rainforest of South America or the Russian Far East is half the price of local hardwood flooring?

What You Can Do To Help

Maybe you’re not in the market for hardwood furniture or flooring but you still want to help protect the forest and it’s inhabitants. Help support the folks at Sierra Club as they support the Lacey Act which seeks to eliminate trafficking in illegal wood products and penalize those who import illegally harvested wood products and wildlife. Sign it today!

References

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