As we continue our series on the various types of flooring available, today’s focus will be hardwood flooring. Our previous flooring article, Flooring – Carpet, covered some of the benefits of this popular flooring option. Hardwood floors have been around for a long time. We’re […]

How you finish furniture has everything to do with how it will ultimately look as well as how long it will last. Naturally, some finishes are more durable than others while some provide more of an elegant luster to the furniture. The best finish for […]

Don’t throw that old furniture out just yet. Even if it does seem tired, old-fashioned and feels like you’ve had it forever. Have you considered reupholstering the furniture? Try not to dismiss the idea too quickly without giving it some serious thought. Sure, it can […]

Whether you’re a die-hard do-it-yourselfer or just purchased unfinished furniture that you’re planning to modify to your exact preference, finishing furniture can provide the ultimate satisfaction. Determining which finish is the best to cap off all of your hard work is an important decision which […]

Lacquer is an age-old, almost ancient finishing material. It’s a varnish that has origins in artistic applications. Asian cultures were the first to truly cultivate and maximize lacquer’s potential. What resulted from the years of tinkering with the material was lacquerware, an ornate way of […]

As the old adage goes, “There are work horses and there are show ponies.” With most well-known cliches, this one is often applicable to many facets of life. The exotic hardwoods are undoubtedly the show-offs. Many exotic hardwoods are rare, but being rare isn’t exactly […]

While the design standards for toilets have definitely improved over the years, this is not what word commode originally meant. The term commode comes from the French word for “convenient”. Let’s face it, when you consider the purpose of the the word’s modern meaning, convenient […]

Tambour, like many terms, is a word that can represent a number of different concepts; a couple of which have practical furniture applications. One well-known use of the term is for a type of embroidery. Fabric is tightly stretched over a frame that has two […]

Cambric is a stiff fabric that is made up of tightly woven cotton or linen and is designed to have a glossy top side. The elaborate manufacturing process (which has been replaced with simpler, more modern applications) has made authentic cambric difficult to find. Most […]

Truly an artform, marquetry is the use of veneer pieces to form pictures, patterns or other designs to cover a pre-existing structure. The structure in this case is fine furniture. Parquetry, perhaps the cousin of marquetry, is a technique in which the veneers are arranged […]