Sofa Furniture Buyer’s Guide Blog

Hi, I heard that furniture is oftentimes sourced and made in North and South Carolina. I was wondering how to go about finding reputable wholesale dealers that could ship furniture to me for a home.

Thanks.

Some years ago, I had to go to Hickory, NC. They had a three story shopping mall filled with nothing but furniture stores. So Hickory, NC would be a good starting point, plus, in speaking with them, they had transportation available and made weekly trips throughout the US. People would buy there and then have it shipped to their front doors at home.

I’m not real familiar with the prices of furniture, but the group that I went with said that the prices were cheap as compared to what they paid for similar pieces at home.

We had movers put some of our wood furniture into storage for several months. When we moved the furniture into our new home, we found that the movers had used 2" clear packing tape to keep drawers from sliding out in transport. When I tried to remove the tape, it either pulled some of the finish off, or left the glue residue. I would like to make the movers lick the tape off, but that option is not available. Anyone have this experience? Any solvents or techniques to salvage my furniture?

You can use a hair dryer to soften the glue before you take off the tape. And most babyoil on a cotton ball will dissolve tape goo without doing any damage.

I will be moving to TX soon and my wooden furniture will not be able to fit in my apartment. I don’t know how long I will be there, but I am planning on having my items stored in a non-climatized storage unit. I am most worried about my antique wood pieces that will not fit in my apartment.

How can I help keep moisture levels down in my unit? Are there battery opperated dehumidifiers?

What is the best way to store my wooden furniture?

Any suggestions to help eliminate the musty unit smells? How can I keep my furniture from smelling gross?

Any suggestions in general about storing furniture?

Thank you!

Of course it is best to store in a climate controlled unit, but if you can’t you should cover the antiques with a soft cover. I would scatter dryer softener sheets liberally to control the musty smells. The dryer sheets will also repel rodents. When you finally remove the items, make sure you stabilize the pieces in your home for a few months keeping them at a constant relative humidity before using or sitting on them.

Remember these antiques have lasted lots of years in adverse conditions. They will survive for a little while in storage.

I do not know of any battery operated dehumidifiers.

I have an extra room I need to turn into a guest room. The walls are yellow, and the trim/closet doors are white. I have a nice blue/yellow bedspread that matches the wall, but I need add bedroom furniture (headboard, nightstand etc.). What color furniture should I use? (Wood – light, white or black OR maybe metal?)

I’d go with white, for either metal or wood. It will look nice and clean along with the white trim. If you choose to do a natural wood, I’d keep it light.

Remember, even though white will show dirt, dark colors show the DUST!

We’ve found furniture that we like but aren’t moving into our new house for about 6-8 months as it is being built. We don’t have any room to put new furniture but don’t want it to be gone/discontinued by the time we need to buy it.

It depends. Some retailers sell "open stock" They order furniture, often by the container load, and sell it when it comes in. When it’s gone, it’s gone and they may or may not order more of the same or even keep the same manufacturer.

Others sell a manufacturer’s line and will have display models and inventory or order things just like it as sold. They will continue to sell as long as the manufacturer makes that model and/or they have some in inventory.

Others are "made to order" particularly upholstered furniture. You pick out the style and the fabric (sometimes from 1000s of options). As long as the fabric is available (average lifespan 3-5 years) they will make it for you.

The other thing to do is just ask the retailer. They may know if the style is being discontinued soon. If so, you can buy it and have them hold it for you until you are ready. This may involve a storage or warehousing charge. Or you can put down a deposit and have them let you know if this is happening during the time you’re waiting.

I’m moving into a new apartment in a couple of weeks, and I’m going to go buy a bunch of new furniture. But I’m not too sure as to what color furniture (sofa, tables, dinette, etc.) I should get. What will go good with an apartment with walls that are white, and carpet that is sort of a "dirty" white, but white nonetheless.

Right now I’m thinking the obvious black but what do you think?

Since white is a neautral color any color will go with it . That is why most rentals walls are painted white . Choose furniture that reflect your personnality. Do you like modern or country??? The main thing is that you get furniture that you like and that you are comfortable with. . Have a fun time shopping and congrats on your move.

I recently moved all of my furniture that had been in a climate-controlled storage unit for 1 year into my new apartment. My couch grew mold in the storage unit, so I threw it out. The rest of my furniture is primarily particleboard (bookcases, dressers, etc.) and some wood. What should I use to clean this furniture to make sure that there is no mold on it and that won’t destroy the furniture? Thank you!

bleach is about the only thing that kills mold
just have to be careful using it

Hi, we are buying a new set of sofa (Leather), a new dining table (glass top with steel/aluminium bottom) and a cot (wooden). We would be using it for 2 months. Later we would be going to a different place for 4 to 5 years before we get back here again and use this furniture. During this long absence we are planning to pack all the furniture and lock it up in a room till we get back (after 4 to 5 years). Please let me know how I can pack these pieces of furniture and with what material should I pack such that once we get back the furniture is still in good shape as it would be today. Your ideas and suggestions would be of great help to me.

Regards
Sangeetha

Just sheets/drop cloths to keep the dust off. I wouldn’t wrap in plastic as the leather needs to breathe. Also, don’t stack the upholstered pieces, it will collapse the padding over time. If space requires stacking the items, I’d build a simple platform (2×4’s and plywood) to place one piece above another.

It would also be a good idea to give all metal pieces a heavy coat of furniture paste wax to prevent rust/corrosion.

I am in the process of setting up a small furniture making business and I need to know how do you go about sending coffee tables etc that are not flat- packed. I would imagine that you would bubble-wrap the items and then get a freight company like Fedex to pick them up. Is it that easy? Should I consider putting these type of items in crates. The coffee tables I have made would be sent out lndividually to customers. They are not overly expensive and really not that large. But would Fedex etc accept this type of furniture without being crated.

If it is OK to send just by bubble-wrapping, what is the best way to do this to ensure the items does not get damaged?
I would also be sending out the coffee tables etc to international customers.

Me and my wife had some furniture delivered from the pottery barn a few months ago. We had two nitestands, a big dresser and a head board and they basically put the two nitestands and dresser in big boxes reinforced with plywood strips and lots of stryrofoam, all kinds of it too. And all of our furniture was delivered flawless. not so much as a smuge. I can sort of see why the delivery charge was kind of steep.

I’m looking for furniture makers/brands that make solid wood bedroom furniture without veneers, and preferably ones that use old-fashioned carpentry techniques like dovetails, mortise and tendon, etc… Also, on another note, is Broyhill a good furniture company? My sister is looking into getting the Fontana collection for her room and I wanted to check that out for her. I’m still trying to see if I can find solid hardwood furniture before I give up and go with something else that uses veneers. Thanks.

A-America has really nice solid wood furniture. We just bought a bedroom set made from New Zealand Pine….it is very nice and reasonable. www.a-america.com