Buying furniture online can carry risks. The inability to see the piece in person can make people unsure if what they see is actually what they’re getting. When it comes to buying online, the reputation of the product or company involved matters a lot. When it comes to reliability and reputation, Amish furniture is probably at the top of the list, at least when it comes to furniture.
That reputation is well deserved. Amish furniture is well known for being handcrafted, solid wood pieces that will stand the tests of time in terms of longevity and style. While this makes them expensive, it also means purchasing Amish furniture is well worth the initial costs.
Whether it’s buying from a third party, direct from the Amish, or even discounted furniture at Amish Furniture Factory, you want to be sure you’re buying a reliable, quality product and not an imitation. People familiar with Amish furniture’s reputation may well exploit that to sell inferior goods, so it’s good to know as much as possible about the furniture.
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Hand Crafted Quality
When it comes to Amish furniture, it’s important to remember a couple important facts. One, the pieces are handcrafted using traditional tools. They are not mass produced, which is part of the point. When buying Amish furniture on the secondary market, don’t be afraid to ask where the pieces came from. With some research, it can be easy to determine if the pieces are actually Amish or not.
It also helps to know a bit about how and with what Amish furniture is made. As previously noted, the pieces are hand crafted using traditional tooling. Made from solid wood, Amish pieces eschew veneers, particle boards, and in most cases even nails, fitting the pieces together. Hand sawn wood is another good indicator.
Traditional Styles
Along with hand crafted quality and solid wood, Amish furniture is well known for incorporating classic design styles. These styles are tried and true in the world of wooden furniture, allowing such pieces to stand the tests of time for generations.
So an authentic Amish piece is very likely to be made in traditional styles that have been part of woodworking for a long, long time. That said, Amish furniture is a pretty broad category, so newer designs or custom pieces are not an unheard of situation.
Sources You Can Trust
Since going directly to the Amish to buy their furniture isn’t always practical, most pieces are likely to be bought either in a furniture store or online. In person, you have an easy opportunity to observe the furniture and determine if its quality work. For example, solid wood with hand sawn edges means quality furniture, though not necessarily Amish furniture. As for websites, you’ll have to rely on the reputation of the site and customer reviews, if available, along with whatever pictures are posted of the furniture.
This is where Amish furniture truly stands out from the crowd of mass produced, shoddier pieces. The hand crafted work is so vibrantly visible, that with careful examination of the piece, you can determine if it’s a well crafted piece. Solid fitted wood is easy to see, as are the presence of nails or veneers.
Since the quality is so visible, sites and stores trying to sell fake Amish furniture are likely to use deceptive angles and wording in the photos and descriptions. So make sure to do your research to ensure genuine Amish craftsmanship. That same quality is why imitators dislike Amish pieces, because try as they might, you can’t really hide mass production quality when comparing it to hand crafted efforts.
Actually Amish
As part of the research into furniture, it’s also worth trying to learn if the manufacturers were actually Amish in nature. This is easier in some cases or other, but will help and is another easy way to tell if the furniture is genuine.
This is also another obvious way to determine genuine Amish furniture and another fact some stores and sites might be reluctant to reveal. There is also the fact that not all Amish are wood makers, so an area with an Amish population nearby might make use of their presence to claim their pieces are genuine Amish furniture when they are not.
Stores and sites succeed or fail based on their products. That means they want to maximize sales to ensure profit. Some less than reputable sellers of furniture may try to hawk their goods as Amish furniture to improve sales.
However, with some research and understanding of what Amish furniture is and how to recognize it, you can determine for yourself if they’re telling the truth. The quality of such pieces is pretty obvious, as is their small stock. Knowing the truth means fakers don’t make money, so it’s no wonder such companies aren’t fans of people knowing more about Amish furniture and its tested quality.
