Posted By Ruby Oak on January 19, 2010
For a limited period, spend £1,000 on already heavily-discounted oak furniture and get an oak mirror included. Also, you can buy these mirrors at great prices this month at OakFurnitureLand UK:
Use Voucher Code ‘winter’ to get an extra 5% off everything until January 31.
Posted By Ruby Oak on January 3, 2010
Oak office furniture is a popular choice for the office. It is an attractive wood that blends in with both a classic and a contemporary interior. Known for its durability and strength, it is also easy to create a design around oak furniture as it can be matched with almost any colour and complement both fabric and leather chairs and sofas. For a harmonised look it is advised to buy oak office desks from the same range and of similar quality and shade as your bookshelves, oak office coffee tables and other main furniture in the office.
Solid oak furniture is today predominantly used in the home office and materials like veneers are usually the preferred choice for the office.
Characteristics of oak
Oak is a slow growing tree that takes about 150-200 years to reach maturity and this is reflected in the comparably high price of solid oak furniture. Oak is a hardwood and much more durable than a soft wood like pine that scratches easily. You have probably noticed that oak is available in a wide range of shades and this is because there are around 400 species of oak tree, which can be divided in two main groups – the red and the white oak.
Buying oak office furniture
Both veneer and solid oak furniture will be available in various qualities. If you are buying solid wood then look out for non-genuine features like drawer bases and cabinet backs that may be of poorer quality or perhaps made of Chinese oak, which is not an oak tree but looks very similar.
As mentioned above the vast majority of oak office furniture made for business is either made of veneered wood or even more likely mfc – a melamine faced chipboard. So what is the difference?
Oak veneer furniture can be made of either a chipboard or MDF core, which is then covered with a thin layer of real wood. This process produces beautiful furniture with a real wood look and feel. However, they can be rather expensive and the surface can scratch easily, which makes them more suitable for a boardroom or the executive office than the general office.
Mfc furniture is cheaper to produce and therefore results in more affordable furniture. Chipboard is covered with a thin layer of melamine, a decorative paper of oak wood effect, which is then laminated to create a surface that resembles real wood and is generally hard wearing but can mark with heavy use.
So choosing the right oak furniture for your office is not just about price and quality, in many cases the melamine products are the most suitable; and great designs make them desirable and the preferred choice by many.
Whatever oak product you choose, you will find that they are all subject to various qualities dependent on the materials and manufacturing process used. You are therefore advised to buy the furniture from a reputable office furniture dealer who can offer personal service and furniture covered by a genuine warranty.
Posted By Ruby Oak on December 14, 2009
Oak is one of the most common types of wood that is used to make furniture in many countries of the world where it grows, or where the timber has been imported. The term is used to refer to trees from the quercus genus. Oak is a type of hardwood that is preferred by a lot of people who appreciate its durability and strength.
If you study the history of oak furniture, you will find that it was favoured also due to its high resistance to parasites and fungi. The bark of the oak tree has an unpleasant taste that is disagreeable not only to humans but also to many animals and insects.
Oak furniture history dates back to mediaeval times in Britain and Europe. This was after the emergence of a status middle class during the 16th and 17th centuries in England as more wealthy families were created. At that time, having a home was a symbol of status hence merchants started spending a lot of time on creating long-lasting furniture and furnishings. Oak furniture in the home was prestigious, because quality timber was quite difficult to source at that time, and it was prized highly.
During the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, pine furniture became popular with those of lower social status as it was considerably less expensive than oak. Pine is a softer wood and is not as durable as oak.
The rise of the numbers of craftsmen was evidence enough that there was an enormous demand for oak furniture; people wanted to furnish every room in their houses with oak from the smallest stool to large wardrobes in the bedrooms, as well as for the dining room, with a large table, numerous chairs and a sideboard or dresser.
Oak was in plentiful supply across England, growing naturally in forests. It was an available resource for craftsmen to experiment on new designs of furniture. Since the Middle Ages, oak furniture has remained one of the most desirable timbers, although it has become more expensive partly due to scarcity (the trees take many years to mature). Another contributing factor is the substantial amount of time, and the significant degree of craftsmanship employed in the production of designs that bring colour and life into homes.
Pine furniture is financially more accessible to the people on a budget as it grows to maturity much more quickly and forest replanting is ongoing. Whereas today oak furniture is made using nuts, bolts and screws, traditionally, it was made using age-old techniques with features like ‘dovetail’ joints which gave the item of furniture lasting, natural strength.
Posted By Ruby Oak on December 24, 2009
Old or shabby oak furniture can be restored to its original condition – and be made to look new if that’s your intention. Restoration of furniture should not be a difficult task because most of the techniques are simple to learn and apply.
For example, ridges or ‘bumps’ are a common feature in most solid furniture. Grooves are usually caused by compression of bruised wood fibres. Restoring the fibres to their normal size and shape, you end up fixing the teeth and the restoration of furniture.
For successful fibre furniture restoration repair, you must remove the finish area or better still, the bite of the region, using a pin to create a space for moisture to penetrate and reach the fibre. Then place a damp cloth over the area with a metal cup on top to help prevent damage to the United Nations torn areas. Using an iron, provided the region with the heat by putting the iron on the metal cap when it heats the tissue and release the steam evenly on the fibres eventually causing the wood to swell to its normal shape. Finally, polish and wax the area after the filling with paint. Restoration of oak furniture in May involving the provision of furniture with your love at least once or twice a year by anointing with beeswax polish with a soft cloth and wipe with a lint-free cloth piece deep free. Similarly, you can use Danish oil to bring the process of restoration of pine furniture on the thirst pine furniture.
To complete the restoration of furniture because of scratches that do not go deep into the wood, you must use an editing oil stain colour on the ruled surface. This helps to disguise the region since oil colour can fill the scratch. After that, you can polish the wax and the surface evenly. When you want to restore the furniture in oak because of the watermark, you can repair the affected area, with no change, but also in the condition in which they appear white or whitish. If the rings are dark, then it means that the water must be penetrated through the wood finish and require finishing. For the white spots, you can soak a cloth in methylated spirits and wipe the place out, if it fails, the use of camphor oil instead of rubbing with isopropyl alcohol gently until the stain disappears or, better yet, you can use turpentine instead of the two if both fail because some stains can be very stubborn.
The same technique works when you want to do as pine furniture restoration. Sticks of wax can also be used for repairing scratches. Simply heat the blade of a knife, and gently stir the wax in the area in strips. However, be advised that the wax does not last long, it is brilliant. You can then apply a thin layer of paint thinner, wax or shellac to finish yet. Note that the success of these suggestions for restoration of furniture in oak and tricks on how to depend largely on the final or wooden furniture has been moved.
Posted By admin on January 3, 2010
You spend most of your evenings in your bedroom shouldn’t your bedroom furniture matter too? To make the most of this personal space, take care to choose just the right style. Selecting furniture as a set is an easy way to instantly create the look and feel you want.
Cold wintry nights, hot summer evenings, it doesn’t matter when you have the right bedroom décor. When you choose the right bedroom furniture you are going to be cozy and comfortable no matter what.
A fireplace isn’t necessary for a warm evening in bed on a cold winter’s night. If you’ve got a bit of a romantic sensibility try an antique finished, heirloom quality Asian fruitwood style bedroom set to provide a warm look. Pile on a goose down comforter on the bed and you’re prepared for some warm evenings inside. Need to beat the heat? A minimalist contemporary look with a platform bed in a light wood finish will give a room a light and airy feel. Exchange the wood finish for all black and you’ve got a more contemporary minimalist feel.
Whether it’s contemporary or antique, minimalist or dramatic, whatever style suits you there’s a bedroom set to create just the right look. To make things dramatic you can opt for a poster bedroom set or a canopy set. Even within four poster bedroom sets the options are limitless. The design can be simple or ornately carved and grand. Add a canopy and create an elegant look with a design inspired from the hamlets and villages of Europe.
When you buy bedroom furniture as a set it’s easy and convenient to create the look you want. It will also help you pull that look together faster because you won’t be searching high and low for the various pieces. Buying a bedroom set can often save you money because you’re not trying to pair several individual expensive pieces. Try buying from an online furniture store for even more deals.
Once you have the look you are after personalize it with some unique pieces. It doesn’t take much to add your personal signature to the room. An ornate lamp, a woven rug or special wall art can add those finishing touches to a room.
The right basics and a few personal touches and your room can be anything you want it to be.