Tag: cherry

Real Cherry Wood Furniture 101

Peggy Farabaugh Leave a comment

Last updated on October 16th, 2017 at 05:05 pm

real cherry wood furniture
This Natural Vermont Spindle Bed is shown in real, natural cherry wood. It’s pretty new in the photo so it’s light in color. After a few months of exposure to sunlight, the furniture will darken to a rich reddish brown color.

If you’ve made your way to this post, chance are you’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to find real cherry wood furniture.  Why do you suppose real cherry is so hard to find?  Well, it’s kind of like trying to find real American made furniture right?  Both are relatively rare in this age of cheap imports and they can easily get obscured by the mass marketing of knock-offs.

Real Cherry Furniture 101

Real honest cherry furniture is still being handcrafted in Vermont and in fact, it is the wood of choice for over half of our customers.  As such we get asked a lot of questions about it.  The curiosity of our customers has made us experts in cherry wood and cherry furniture & we’re happy to share everything we’ve learned.  Here are a few articles you might be interested in:

  1. Cherry fundamentals: heartwood, sapwood, color, grain and mineral deposits
  2. Solid Cherry Wood Furniture: 3 Ways To Tell If It’s Real
  3. Natural Cherry Wood Furniture Characteristics: Color

Faux Cherry Furniture 101

real cherry wood furniture
So you’re not sure what the color of real cherry is? Well, no wonder! When I just googled “real cherry wood” these images are what came up. Quite a variation, isn’t it?  Learn how to tell cherry from it’s imitators here.

Don’t be fooled by the plethora of stores that sell faux cherry knock offs and label them as “real cherry wood”.  What you’re buying at those stores is actually rubber wood, poplar, alder or any number of 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 cherry.  Why would companies like Wayfair, Crate and Barrel, Amazon, Walmart, Overstock, Macy’s, JC Penny’s risk their reputations by engaging in such false advertising?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook.

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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.

Cherry Furniture: The Ultimate Buyers Guide

Peggy Farabaugh

Last updated on August 14th, 2018 at 03:36 pm

 

Cherry Furniture | Handmade in Vermont | Real Solid Hardwood
Dennis and Nina took this picture at Stonehurst, our new fine furniture showroom.  It’s our Vermont Shaker Moon bed, dresser and nightstands, handmade in Montpelier of natural cherry wood.

Cherry furniture is enjoying the top spot on our customer’s list of favorite wood species again this year.   It’s been the trend for several years and no doubt 2014 will be another banner year for cherry wood.  Most Vermont woodworkers are set up to offer customers a choice of at least the Top 4 American Hardwoods used in fine furniture making, that is:  cherry, maple, walnut and oak.  But cherry has always been the favorite as far back as I can remember.

In responding to customer preferences as well as the availability of high quality, sustainably harvested cherry wood, Vermont furniture makers have become America’s authority on fine cherry furniture.  We work right alongside them at Vermont Woods Studios and have been sharing their knowledge on our website, in our blog and in a variety of articles.  As we head into the furniture buying season, I thought I’d compile some of these resources and publish them as The Ultimate Buyers Guide for Cherry Furniture.

Check it out and let us know on Facebook, if you have additional questions we can add to the Guide.

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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.

Hardwood Furniture

Peggy Farabaugh Leave a comment

Last updated on October 31st, 2012 at 09:16 am

Hardwood Furniture | High Quality | American Made in Vermont
High quality, real solid hardwood furniture is expensive, no doubt about it.   But customers are still buying this cherry and walnut bedroom furniture set and other hardwood furniture pieces.  Their reasons have to do with longevity, value and beauty.

Top 3 Reasons To Buy Hardwood Furniture

High quality, real solid hardwood furniture is expensive, no doubt about it.  It’s not for everyone.  College students are more likely to find suitable furniture at IKEA- that’s for sure.  But if you landed on this blog post, you’re probably a homeowner looking to feather your nest for the long term, right?  Well we talk to people like you everyday and so we’ve learned a few things about why our customers are looking to buy hardwood furniture.

First – It’s Beautiful

Check out our cherry and walnut hardwood bedroom furniture set.  You just don’t get this kind of smooth, refined patina on pine, spruce or other soft wood furniture.  When hardwoods are sanded properly and finished with a clear, non-toxic lacquer or hand-rubbed natural oil, you can run your hands over the wood and it almost feels like skin.  No softwood, metal or plastic furniture can give the same tactile sensation that high quality, handmade hardwood furniture does.

Second – It’s Durable and Lasts a Lifetime

Hardwoods like cherry, walnut, maple and oak wood are from deciduous trees that grow slower than coniferous softwood trees like pine, spruce, larch and fir.  Thus hardwoods are typically more dense, heavy, durable and, well… hard.  They also are fairly non – resinous and close grained so they don’t leak sap and split like pine does.  If you take care of your hardwood furniture it will hold up beautifully for many years, even many generations.  We are confident enough in our hardwood furniture to back it with a lifetime guarantee.

Third – It’s a Natural, Organic Part of a Healthy Home

Many people, especially those with young children are looking for natural, organic furniture to be a part of their healthy homes.  They often talk to us about where their furniture comes from too.  Hardwood furniture that’s made in America is typically built with wood that’s sustainably harvested from well-managed American forests.  Families enjoy breaking bread over a dinner table that’s made in harmony with nature.

Bonus Reason!  It’s Economical in the Long Run

OK, I said Top 3 Reasons, but here’s a fourth that I just can’t walk away from.  In the long run, high quality hardwood furniture is cheaper to buy than other types of furniture– even IKEA’s.  Consider how many times you’ll have to buy a bedroom set or dining furniture over your lifetime if you’re always buying something cheap.  We’ve had lots of customers who tell us they’ve been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a few years while they save up to buy a high quality hardwood bed.  I can relate to that.

What are your reasons for searching for hardwood furniture?  Let us know in the comments section below or on our Facebook!

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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.