Furniture Buying Guide – Dining Furniture

Choosing a new dining set and living room furniture can be a daunting process, but at Fairway Furniture our highly trained sales personnel can help you select the right range for your needs from our large selection.

From solid wood ranges to marble and glass, there is something to suit all tastes and homes. This simple guide will take you through some of the most important factors in choosing new dining furniture.

Perhaps the most important thing when selecting dining furniture is making sure you know the dimensions of the areain which you are putting the furniture. Why not sketch a plan with dimensions – it will prove invaluable when looking at ranges in our stores, where items can appear much smaller.

It is also important to think about how the furniture is going to be delivered into the room where it will be used. Use our measuring guide available on this website to check the entry dimensions of your home, so that when looking at possible ranges, you can check they will fit. Some of our ranges feature larger pieces which can be delivered in parts to allow access through smaller entrances.

It is useful to have an idea of the use to which your furniture will be put – for example, do you need a dining table that seats 6 all the time, or could you have a table that sits 4 but buy additional extensions to enable additional seating as required. This will help you in narrowing down your choice, while also making sure you select the correct pieces.

Don’t forget that popular items such as tables often come in several sizes, meaning that there is likely to be one that fits your needs. And if you want a matching sideboard, most ranges offer the bases separately from any top sections.

Where you intend to situate your new furniture can have an impact on the type of range you choose. Solid wood for example is affected greatly by its environment, so very dry rooms such as conservatories or south facing dining rooms, can cause the wood to dry out and warp, causing gaps around doors and drawers and uneven tables.

Our selectors make sure that where possible the ranges we sell are made from high quality raw materials, hopefully minimising the possibilities for any problems, but if you are very concerned about the temperature and dryness of your preferred room for you new furniture, ask our sales personnel for advice on alternative ranges, such as those featuring marble or glass, or consider placing plants or a humidifier in the room to maintain the climate to better suit your furniture.

With the increasing popularity of underfloor heating, care must be taken in selecting from ranges which will not be affected by the consistent heat. Solid wood furniture is particularly susceptible to underfloor heating, so try and avoid placing solid wood legs onto floors heated from below.

The range of finishes available on furniture has increased greatly in the past 5 years, offering you the opportunity to style your home in virtually any way.

Ranges are usually referred to as being produced in one of four main ways:

  • Solid wood
  • Veneered wood
  • Foiled finishes
  • Glass, stone or marble finishes

Solid Wood:
As the term implies, solid wood ranges are made from solid timber sourced from sustainable forests. Typically, solid wood ranges would be made of oak, ash, pine or tropical hardwoods such as acacia.

Veneered Wood:
Where wood is simply too expensive or unsuitable to use in solid form, such as mahogany or teak, it is very often used in veneer format. A veneer is created by cutting solid timber into very thin sheets, which are then bonded to other woods or manmade substances. Using veneers offers the luxury and beauty of more exotic woods at a reasonable price.

Foiled Finishes:
Sometimes, in order to present finishes which are uniform and that can be provided at lower cost, manufacturers use foiled finishes. Using digital real wood grain patterns, a thin foil is printed and bonded to a manmade substance such as MDF (medium density fibreboard) and then assembled as if it were real wood. Ranges featuring foil effects are normally offered at the budget end of our selection, but offer the beauty of real wood at a fraction of the cost.

Stone, Glass & Marble Finishes:
If a wood or wood effect finish is not what you are looking for, we offer several ranges that feature glass, stone or marble finishes, as well as ranges that use marble, glass and stone inlays. These finishes can offer a refreshingly different look, lending themselves to modern and contemporary styling.