Definition of Descriptive Terms
Wonder how we define Amish furniture? Solid oak? Here are some of the definitions we use in the site.
AMISH FURNITURE: Amish furniture is solid wood, simply styled furniture handcrafted by Amish people in the United States. Read all about our Amish collection.
ARM CHAIR: Nearly all dining chairs that we sell are available as a side chair, no armrests on the chair, or as an arm chair with arms. Unless noted otherwise, the arm chairs generally cost $ 20.00 more than those without arms.
ALL WOOD CONSTRUCTION: This furniture is manufactured from all wood but the woods may be of mixed origin. For example many rocking chairs are made of all hardwood construction but can have beech and birch or maple in the same item.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: This furniture item takes at least a half hour for an experienced person to assemble it. If you are not experienced in assembly furniture it could take you from 30 minutes to 2 hours to assemble.
BARSTOOLS: Many people get confused with the height required for barstools. Save yourself the aggravation and measure before you order. In general seating should be about 12 inches below the level of your table or bar. For example, tables are usually 30 inches tall so chair seats are 17 to 18 inches. Barstools for a kitchen counter top bar that measures 36 inches tall should be 36 - 12 = 24 inches. Regular standup bars are 42 inches tall so barstools should be 30 inches (42-12=30). A couple inches less or more is usually not a problem but 6 inches too low or too high is uncomfortable.
CHAIRS: Our Amish crafted chairs are some of the strongest chairs we have seen. The Amish design comfortable chairs and they are superb seating for those who like to spend time around the table chatting. Many of the chairs are more comfortable than average upholstered furniture. The strength of the chair is due to several factors. The design is strong, the parts are hefty, industrial strength glue is used, major under-the-seat joints are all locked with a screw and last spindles are made so they fit snugly and will not loosen as the glue dries out.
CHERRY (see SOLID CHERRY)
DIMENSIONS: All dimensions are given in inches in the format length"xdepth"x height". Therefore 24x12x35 means the furniture is 24 inches long by 12 inches deep by 35 inches high. All measurements are to the next largest inch. Therefore a table that measures 17 ½ inches is converted to 18 inches. It is essential that you measure the space for your furniture before you order. House of Oak and Sofas bears no responsibility for furniture that is the wrong size. If your space is critical ask your salesperson to check for an exact furniture measurement.
COLOR PALETTE AMISH: Our Amish oak furniture can be stained in the following colors. All stains, which serve only to color the wood, are protected with several coats of clear satin lacquer.
COLOR PALETTE IMPORT: The imported oak dining collection comes in a light and dark finish.
Light finish (L) Dark finish (R)
COLOR PALETTE SOUTH: This is the medium and light color that we sell for several of our barstool, chairs and miscellaneous pieces of furniture. Light stain is on the left, medium on the right.
GOLDEN
OAK: The most popular finish is golden oak. Probably 90% of our
furniture is sold in the golden stain. Realize that there are hundreds
of paint and stain companies and they all sell a golden shade; the problem
is that they are all different. All our Amish furniture is available
in the same golden oak stain. However, intensity of stain may differ
from one stain batch to another. A small amount of intensity variation
is acceptable as oak naturally has a great variation of light and stain
in the same piece as the open grain of oak accepts the stain readily and
is dark where as the hard tight grain accepts little stain and is lighter.
HARDWARE FOR HANGING NOT INCLUDED: For accessories or furniture that hangs on the wall this means that you need to visit your local hardware store to buy hardware for hanging.
IMPORTED FURNITURE AND ACCESSORIES: With the ongoing desire to decorate in an eclectic style, we sell furniture and especially accessories from many countries. Some furniture manufacturers use parts imported from other countries. We do our best to let customers know if the product is imported.
MINIMUM ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: This means that the furniture requires some assembly—maybe a few nuts and screws. If you have difficulty with the assembly you can call our toll-free number (888-330-4807) and we will help you over the phone.
ORDERING INFORMATION:
- At the present time you can order by phone by calling 888-330-4807
- by e-mail to orders@houseofoak.com
- by postal mail.
- We currently accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express credit cards. You can also make payment by mailing a personal check to pay for your order.
- Make sure that you read the information on Dimensions before you order any piece of furniture. Although we will replace any broken or damaged furniture, we can not replace furniture that is the wrong size. Most of our furniture is custom ordered and built for you so our delivery time from order to shipping is 30 to 60 days. Some Amish lines can go up to 90 days. This may seem like a long time to wait but our expanding customer base proves that in the long run people think the wait is worth it. If you want items to ship as they are ready, rather than as one unit, please make this request.
PACKING CHARGE: Most of our solid wood furniture comes to us blanket-wrapped on trucks. The Amish builders in particular do not carton the furniture. We offer delivery service in our own trucks in Ohio, Virginia, District of Columbia, parts of Maryland and West Virginia. All other shipments must be made by common carrier so large items must be cartoned or crated. This charge is added to protect your investment. In general when items are shipped by truck freight, as opposed to small package service such as UPS of FedEx, there will be an extra packing charge. Of course whenever possible, you can save all trucking or shipping charges by picking your furniture up at either of our stores in Dalton, Ohio or Harrisonburg, Virginia.
SOLID CHERRY: A limited amount of our furniture is available in cherry wood. The cost is usually about 50% more than oak. We suggest that you try to come to our store to determine the color of stain when ordering cherry.
One of the cherry colors -
Cherry Stains Palette
SOLID OAK CONSTRUCTION: Solid oak construction generally means that all exterior parts of the furniture that are visible without opening doors or drawers are made out of solid oak. Most of the oak used by the Amish is red oak but white oak and other types of oak are more prevalent from other companies and especially imports.
SOLID WOOD AND VENEER CONSTRUCTION: This description means that some parts of the furniture are solid, usually the most important framing and facing pieces, but in the interest of lower cost most side and top flat panels are oak veneer over some type of engineered wood product like MDF board similar to what is used under all Formica kitchen counters. Veneer is not laminate. Veneer is a thin piece of real wood but laminate is simply a picture of wood. We do not sell any laminate products on our web site at this time but if we should in the future we will certainly be open with that fact and explain why.
TABLE INFORMATION: Our deluxe Amish-crafted dining tables have some added features that give them more value. The tables are finished with a water resistant finish that will protect the wood from rings developing when water glasses are set on the table. The finish is so hard and impervious that it will usually resist finger nail polish remover. In addition the oval, round and queen anne shaped tops feature solid oak aprons, the strip of wood that runs underneath the table near the edge, which are steam bent to the shape of the table. All extension tables feature a gear driven mechanism which allows the table to be opened and closed easily. You also can choose from four different edge styles for your table top. The standard edge is a smooth rounded rolled edge. The queen anne edge is a more dressy shaped edge. The thumbnail edge has a sharp groove in it and even though it is a classic look we sell less of it because most people feel the groove is a dirt trap. Finally the shaker edge is a angle bevel that fits the style perfectly. The standard edge is the number one seller but the queen anne edge is often used in combination with the tulip pedestal for a dressier less clunky look.
TRUCK FREIGHT REQUIRED: When truck freight is required we will get the best price possible. If you are willing to pick up your order at the nearest truck terminal in your city you can save money. However, if you do need home delivery, then we will quote the shipping including delivery to your door.
UNFINISHED: Some of our manufacturers will ship us furniture unfinished so the customer can stain it themselves. We do not recommend this as a cost saving factor but only so you can custom stain to match an exact color. Unfinished furniture needs to be stained and finished within a week of receiving your order so the wood does not dry excessively.
WALNUT: We also carry a limited amount of furniture made from solid walnut. The cost of this furniture is about 50 percent higher than oak.