What to Look for in Buying Wood Furniture
Wood construction. This will ensure strength and durability. Wood not only looks great, it is strong.
Glued mortise and tenon joints. These joints secure two pieces of wood together and multiply the gluing surface area. This actually magnifies the strength of that joint.
Complete dust proofing between all drawers. This simple barrier prevents air, dust, pens and papers from passing between drawers. You shouldn't be able to take the drawers out and see one big open space.
Full-sized dovetailed drawers with smooth lacquered all-wood components. Dovetailing locks two pieces of wood together and strengthens the drawers.
Extensive corner blocking and glue blocks for added strength. Corner blocks strengthen the joints and help to ensure that furniture remains square. Drawers open and close, and the furniture holds up better. Corner blocks are literally small pieces of wood glued into strategic corners. Not rocket science maybe, but very effective (and a little time consuming).
Carefully aligned drawers and doors. Alignment ensures visible uniformity of lines on the front of the case. Take a look at the piece from a distance. Do the drawers and doors look wobbly? They shouldn't.
Satin smooth drawer interiors protect garments and other items stored within. If you rub your hand on the sides, bottom, or back of drawers and it feels like the drawer needs a shave, you'll be sure to find splinters in your socks (or underwear) sooner or later.
Smooth running waxed drawer system allows drawers to operate easily. Take a drawer out, rub (carefully) in the drawer glides. (If you cannot find a drawer glide, that is a problem in itself). Is it slick? By the way, for your present furniture you can rub paraffin in drawer glides once in a while.
Multi-step hand-worked finish adds lasting beauty. Good finishes take time, more than anything else. Most good furniture requires from 9 to 15 steps to have a finish you will love when you buy it, and love 30 years (and more) later.
The back panel of wood furniture should be nailed and screwed, not just stapled. The back panel should provide support to the entire case. Nails and screws make the back panel an integral part of the furniture, staples don't.
Hinges should be solid, secure, and strong enough to support the weight of the door. Knobs and pulls should feel substantial.
Don't dismiss a piece of furniture just because it's finished with a wood veneer. Today's veneered furniture is just as good--if not better--than its solid-wood counterpart.
Levelers on the bottoms of large pieces of furniture. Good furniture is made "square" (that's a craftsman's term). But houses settle, and some houses have been known to be made a little crooked. Levelers are a neat way to make up for all of nature's and house builders' idiosyncrasies.