Your Cart is Empty
Menu
Quality long-term investments are not only a thing for Wall Street bros and your retirement account. Investing in long-term payoffs can be a part of your trip to the furniture store too. While shopping for new furniture, you may not be thinking about how long your furniture will last and what materials go into the manufacturing.
It turns out materials make a big difference in the longevity of your furniture, and one of the best materials to invest in for a longer-lasting sofa, recliner, or dining room table is solid wood. But what makes for a solid wood furniture design? How do you know which brand features solid wood construction and what makes them better than other brands?
Furniture Fair carries brands that offer solid wood manufacturing, and we want to highlight some of the best natural wood brands near Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana that we carry and why they are a worthy investment. After reading this article, you will have a better idea of what is solid wood furniture and which brands are worth the investment.
So what makes solid wood a worthwhile investment? Why would I want a sofa or sectional made from natural wood instead of engineered wood or a wood veneer? It turns out that while other types of wood replacements are cheaper to manufacture, they do not hold up as long as natural wood.
Solid wood is still one of the best ways to design furniture. While furniture made from other materials is cheaper by design, it is also of more inferior quality. Solid wood furniture has fewer potential failure points and will hold up to more consistent use than other materials.
Kiln-dried wood is an especially good type of wood to get when buying your furniture. Couches and armchairs made from kiln-dried wood are less prone to warping and twisting over time due to the lower moisture content.
For dining tables, hardwoods that feature a catalyzed finish are some of the most robust tables available today. A catalyzed finish is a chemical bonding process that adds a protective layer between the wood finish and any potential liquid or food stains.
Many brands use fewer screws, relying on old-school techniques that use wood fastening to help prevent the wood from falling apart as it naturally expands and contracts with the changing seasons.
If you want furniture that will hold up to decades of use without falling apart, buying solid wood furniture is your best bet. Now, let’s look at Furniture Fair's top five dependable wood home furnishing brands.
Stickley’s motto is based on an old Flemish craftsman’s phrase, ”to the best of my ability.” Stickley has been making furniture under this motto since 1900. Gustav Stickley marked his product with the phrase to assure clients that Stickley furniture was of the finest quality, every piece made with honor, integrity, and pride.
Stickley is a brand brought out of the Arts and Crafts movement shortly after the Industrial Revolution. The furniture designed by Gustav Stickley and others was focused on building furniture for life, furniture that is passed down from generation to generation.
More than 90% of Stickley’s products are still made by artisans in upstate New York and North Carolina workshops. Honesty and integrity of construction are essential tenets of Arts & Crafts furniture and traditional building methods.
Stickley products feature “overbuilt” construction methods including, Mortise and Tenon Joinery, Splining, Dovetailed Cross Rails, tongue, and groove glue joints, pinned chair joints, ship lap planking, bracket foot construction, quadrilinear posts, and quarter rounds, just to name a few.
Since 1900, the Stickley philosophy has been “living in harmony with nature.” The company’s focus on durability, quality, efficiency, and long-term results permeates the management and manufacturing process. The business complies with strict federal, state, and local environmental regulations and is a proud member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
Stickley furniture is a brand that values legacy, quality, and craftsmanship, and its collections are some of the highest quality furniture on the market. A well-crafted piece of Stickley furniture will gather cherished memories and last through to the next generation.
Daniels Amish furniture is handcrafted in the U.S.A. In north-central Ohio, Holmes County is home to the largest Amish community today, where the experience of generations of furniture makers has been handed down to today's skilled woodworkers.
Heirloom furniture, constructed from sturdy North American hardwoods, is built to last a lifetime. Daniels Amish is so confident in their quality that they feature a limited lifetime warranty on significant essential components.
Daniel's Amish features custom furniture built with a nearly limitless selection of style, wood, finish, hardware, and size choices.
Bedroom furniture from Daniel's Amish Collection is constructed from northern hardwoods, which are incredibly strong and offer stunning natural beauty. Daniel's Amish bedroom furniture is proudly handcrafted by skilled Amish woodworkers using ages-old techniques to ensure it will last for years to come.
Every frame bed from Daniel's Amish Collection includes 12 proprietary cast aluminum brackets and sturdy 5/4 dovetailed hardwood slats. It's strong enough to last, wobble-free, for generations.
Tops, drawer fronts, and frames of all Daniel's Amish case pieces are constructed from sturdy Northern hardwoods. Sides and some larger panels are veneers over cabinet-grade Baltic Birch plywood, which is incredibly resistant to warping and splitting.
Daniels Amish is an excellent brand if you look for heirloom quality furniture with a uniquely American manufacturing history and sturdy craftsmanship, Daniels Amish is a great brand.
MAVIN has an American origin that dates back over three generations to the MAVIN Lumber Mill. Today, much like in the past, all lumber fromMAVIN products is grown and harvested locally from seedling to the final product.
MAVIN primarily manufactures dining sets and bedroom sets. Each piece is built using heritage manufacturing traditions and modern technology to give you a component that is the best of both worlds.
MAVIN tables and beds are made with solid woods with no composite materials. The extreme care in processing comes from the fact that they know each piece of wood and its characteristics since it was a tree.
During the finishing process, MAVIN applies 22 different stains and colors to multiple wood species during the finishing processes. The workers then carefully apply the highest quality conversion varnish in a dust-proof facility and let it cur, avoiding oven-baked finishes and providing a finish with five times more protection than competitors.
The unique finish provides a dense wear surface that protects the wood surface against many enemies (nail polish remover, oil-based paint, turpentine, alcohol, mustard, wine, solvents, and many more food items oils). This test would destroy 95% of the furniture finishes produced in the world today, butMAVIN finishing is designed to safeguard the beauty and integrity of heirloom quality furniture.
The heritage, values, and skills combined with MAVIN’s use of technology and lean manufacturing principles produce beautifully and efficiently made pieces of furniture made in the USA and ready for you, your children, and your grandchildren to use.
Smith Brothers has origins in furniture-making going back to 1926, and their brand is known for high-quality, solidly constructed furniture. All Smith Brothers Products are manufactured right at home in beautiful Berne, Indiana, and the company employs over 500 people to make high-quality custom furniture.
Customization doesn’t get much more detailed than with Smith Brothers. The details are up to the customer, and with Smith Brothers, those details are many. Smith Brothers manufacturers use materials like hardwood maple, steel coil springs, high-quality foam, unique textiles, and top-grain leathers in their construction.
Smith Brothers produce over 2,100 pieces of upholstery every week. The large production volume is even more impressive when you consider the 800 fabrics and leathers available. Smith Brothers leathers are selected from the finest top-grain leather and made to maximize your furniture’s comfort and style.
The Smith Brothers staff selects Smith Brothers fabrics for their durability, style, and high textile quality levels. Fabric swatch options for custom chairs feature multiple patterns, colors, and textures, giving the customer a multitude of choices.
Many Smith Brothers products have customizable features, such as custom arms, custom cushions, leg style options, and skirt options for fabric upholstered sofas. The Smith Brothers catalog features over 30 frame options.
Smith Brothers is an excellent brand for anyone who wants high-quality US-made living room furniture with exceptional support cushions and solid construction.
Napa is an Eco-friendly furniture manufacturer based out of Vernon Connecticut. The brand manufactures bedroom furniture and bedroom accessories. Napa is known for providing high-quality, solid wood construction, and heirloom quality pieces.
Napa dressers and chests have an 80 pound back for added stability and each drawer is a full-extension drawer, which means you can pull the drawer all the way open rather than halfway or three quarters open.
All Napa drawers contain reinforced corner blocks which give the drawer increased stability and ensure that the drawer will not wobble or twist after prolonged use. In addition, corner blocked drawers will not burst through from heavier objects being placed inside.
All Napa pieces are sanded and finished by hand using a delicate 17-step process that ensures additional strength and lasting beauty. With Napa finishes, your piece will look good and have the attention to detail of a handmade product.
The featured Whistler collection is constructed from exotic mango wood and all napa bed slats are made from solid Mahogany, a wood known for its strength and durability. Very few manufacturers still use Mahogany wood slats, which makes Napa stand out from the competition.
Napa does not offer custom products in their lineup and with Napa, what you see on the showroom floor is what you will get when you place an order. Napa furniture is designed to be high quality and uniform and their collections can fit many style preferences.
In addition to creating high quality solid wood furniture, Napa is also committed to sustainable timber harvesting. The company makes it a policy to always return the materials it takes from the land and is dedicated to keeping the forests they pull from alive and thriving.
Long story short, Napa is a sustainable, American brand for anyone looking to buy heirloom quality furniture that will last for a long time without breaking down. If you like quality, consistency and attention to detail, you might enjoy Napa Furniture.
Now that you know why you should invest in solid wood and are aware of the five best solid wood brands that Furniture Fair carries, you will be better equipped to find great solid wood furniture for your home.
Keep in mind that solid wood is one of the best materials for furniture construction today and that real wood furniture will hold up longer than engineered wood furniture. Don’t forget that investing in better quality now will pay off in the future when your couch, table, or recliner has outlasted cheaper and lower-quality furniture.
If you are curious about these solid wood brands, check out our brand reviews on Stickley, Daniels Amish, Winesburg, Smith Brothers, or Napa Furniture or visit our store locations in Cincinnati, Dayton, Northern Kentucky, and Louisville.
If you want to invest in locally-made furniture or furniture that is made in the USA, check out our review of the top 10 American-made furniture brands. You can invest in a quality product while supporting American manufacturing.
