What To Look Out for When Purchasing Antique Dining Tables & Case Pieces

January 31, 2011 BY Carrocel Interiors | Leave a response

When purchasing fine furniture for your home, it's important to know what you're getting and that what you are paying for is worth the money. Today's furniture market is littered with misrepresentation, ambiguous terminology, and even deceit in some cases. Given these unfortunate facts, understanding what to look out for when purchasing furniture is more relevant than ever before. You want to feel confident with your purchase and happy that you have a new piece of furniture without any regret or buyer's remorse. So, I've come up with a few pointers to keep in mind to help guide you in your search for quality furniture. Construction The construction of a piece is the most important thing to inspect. Ideally, the piece should be made from ...

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Carrocel At Home

January 6, 2011 BY Carrocel Interiors | Leave a response

We have some beautiful pictures of our work in our customers' homes! Check them out here: Here are some previews... ...

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European Beech vs. North American Beech Wood

December 10, 2010 BY Carrocel Interiors | Leave a response

European beech is a wonderful wood. All of our newly made chairs are made in Italy from European beech and so this makes it an important topic for us and our customers alike. For starters, it's necessary to make the distinction between North American and European beech as they are different despite originating from the same family. In fact, there are several differences between the two, however, for our purposes we'll simply focus on their properties and uses. They are both classified as hardwoods but their appearance and workability are not quite the same. For instance, North American beech is mostly a reddish brown and has a considerable colour variation between boards. The grain is usually very straight, closed, and much coarser ...

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Furniture Woods

November 15, 2010 BY Carrocel Interiors | Leave a response

Today and in the next coming days, we will be exploring the most commonly used woods in fine furniture. From dark to light woods, these posts will offer useful information on the origins, purposes, and characteristics of the woods used in fine furniture. So, let's begin. Mahogany Perhaps the most widely known wood for furniture, mahogany is our starting point. Even if you don't know much about wood furniture, chances are you've at least heard of mahogany. As previously blogged about, mahogany is part of the dark-coloured hardwood category of woods. True mahoganies belong to the genus Swietenia which are found in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. Mahogany also, however, can originate in Africa in which they belong to the genus ...

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Wood Types

October 26, 2010 BY Carrocel Interiors | 1 Comment on Wood Types

When working with wood or buying wood furniture, it's best to know what you're working with or spending your money on. Understanding whether you are dealing with a hard or soft wood can dictate the wood's appropriate purpose, how they take to stain or lacquer, and how durable it is. Here I put together a brief explanation of wood basics. In the next post we will visit specific wood types and their roles in furniture. Hardwoods vs. Softwoods Solid woods fit into two categories: hardwood and softwood. A hardwood is extracted from a broad-leafed tree (i.e., no needles) and include mahogany, oak, teak, birch, walnut, ash, beech, poplar, rosewood, elm, etc. Not to get too scientific, but specifically hardwood trees are angiosperms (plants that ...

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