Home Furniture Key Terms

Use key terms to assist customers in choosing home furnishings

By Deborah Barr

Help customers keep in mind that there's more to buying home furniture than meets the eye in the showroom. People usually have to live with their furniture choices for a long time, so decisions are best made carefully. You can help by educating your customers about the things that define furniture quality and by suggesting things they need to consider. Using the key terms below can help you assist your customers in the all-important decision-making process.

Pennsylvania Dutch

Pennsylvania Dutch is a style of furniture that is purely American in origin. It is characterized by simple, practical designs and straight lines. This unique country style of furniture often bears a colorful floral motif.
Try: Visit the Connected Lines website to learn more about Pennsylvania Dutch furniture.

Case goods

Many people are not familiar with the term "case goods." Case good are defined as any furniture product that is made of wood and not upholstered. The term refers to manufacturers' typical shipping container for large items, known as a case crate.
Try: Retailers can purchase several beautiful lines of case goods directly from Heckman. To learn more about shopping wisely for case goods, visit the Bernhardt Furniture Company website.

Ebony

Ebony is a rare hardwood often used to make inlays in formal pieces of furniture. It is a strong, very dark brown wood with a distinct grain pattern. It is often stained black to make the grain stand out.
Try: To see a close-up photograph of a table with an ebony inlay, go to the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers website.

Jointery

One way to help determine furniture quality is to look closely at its jointery--sides should be joined with either dovetail or mortise and tenon construction. In a dovetail, pieces fit together like meshing gears. In mortise and tendon, one piece fits into a pocket on the other piece.
Try: Visit the J. Alexander website for information about mortise and tenon joints. To learn about dovetail joints, visit Hooker Furniture.

Upholstery

It is easy to be nearly overwhelmed by the myriad varieties of upholstery fabrics. You can make the right upholstery choice by considering two things: how heavily the furniture will be used, and whether the color and texture of the fabric are appropriate for the piece. For example, furniture that will be heavily used calls for durable, stain-resistant upholstery in a color that won't easily show dirt.
Try: Learn about both natural and synthetic upholstery fabrics at the Caroline Center Upholstery website.

Furniture hardware

Furniture hardware options can make a positive contribution to the style of a piece. Think about the drawer pulls, cabinet knobs, backplates and key pulls that adorn furniture. Make selections with the "big picture" in mind--the hardware and upholstery of your other room furnishings and the overall decor of the room.
Try: Most manufacturers offer customers a selection of hardware. You and your customers can browse furniture hardware at CoolKnobsandPulls.com and the Mobel website.