Why Buy High-End Furniture?
“Buy it nice or buy it twice” - the oft-used catchphrase of businesses charging too much.
However, the phrase brings up a nice question: are high end things worth it? This answer is highly situational. For example, a pen enthusiast might think a several hundred-dollar fountain pen is clearly worth it. For a college student just looking to take notes, a nice two-cent Bic might be the better option. How about for furniture?
Are high-end, hand-crafted pieces of furniture “worth it”? Let’s take a look.
In the consumer market, the notion of something being high-end stems from the quality of the object. Or, rather, the perception the consumer has of the quality of the object. This “quality” can be determined by the materials used in making the object and the process used to create it (i.e. how long it took, who made it, how it was made, etc.). So, for furniture, how do we determine quality? We will cover this question in a series of blogs, and this is the first.
Let’s start with the materials.
In the woodworking community, there is a notion of “Select-Grade” and “Standard-Grade” wood. Select-grade wood is higher quality wood, and it will look better: meaning it will have less knots. Additionally, it retains a consistent shape better than standard-grade wood. This is because the moisture level of the wood is consistently-controlled when drying it. This will lead to less warping in the future, which will make the furniture last longer.
Another aspect of of wood quality comes from the supplier. Larger chains that mass-produce their wood are great, but the wood they sell lacks character. This is because large wood-distributors are often trying to stock wood that looks consistently similar. Smaller, local suppliers often offer more unique-looking wood. They might have interesting grain patterns on their wood pieces that larger stores would disregard because they look too different.
At Little Board, we always work with select-grade wood from local suppliers.
We hand-pick each of our pieces of lumber to ensure we are always working with the highest-quality and most unique woods. The quality of our materials is just one aspect of what makes Little Board custom furniture high-end. Click here to learn more about high-end furniture.