Buying from American furniture stores is not just being patriotic, but makes sense, particularly if you are buying home furniture online. Even if not, furniture made in America from solid hardwoods such as maple, cherry, hickory and Oak from firms such as Nichols & Stone, Cambridge Mills and Simply Amish is of high quality wherever you buy it.

So why American, and why not import fine English furniture or French classic designs for your home? Some will prefer these of course, but it is hard to beat the solidity of American furniture made using traditional carpentry techniques with traditional American woods. Take quarter sawn oak, for example.

This comes from the same tree as ordinary oak, but the plank is sawn radially into the annual rings. If you imagine a radius drawn from the center of a cross-section of the trunk out to the bark, an hotel furniture manufacturers plank is cut across that radius while a quarter sawn oak plank is cut down the radius. It is more expensive because you get fewer planks that way, but the grain is even and the resultant plank of wood less liable to warp.

Many American furniture manufacturers and cabinet makers employ quarter sawn oak for their furniture. Another particularly American wood is the American black walnut. This is a true walnut, unlike the African walnut which is a species of mahogany. So buying American furniture means that you are also buying sustainable American woods, which is good for the environment.

Quality of Craftsmanship

When you buy from American furniture firms such as Cambridge Mills, Nichols & Stone, American Craftsman or Simply Amish, you are buying experience and craftsmanship. Their products are crafted using proper joints, not just glued and screwed together like too much of today's home furniture.

Yes, glue and screws might come up with a solid structure initially, but how long will it last? Nor just that, but if they cut corners with basic construction where else are they cutting corners? Is their wood properly cured and seasoned, or will it start warping in a few months? Has the seating on your sofa been properly upholstered, with well-tied springs and strong webbing, or will it start falling to pieces after a couple of years? Or is it actually just foam!

The quality of craftsmanship that you get from many American furniture stores can be second to none - or it can be the worst. It is up to you to select your furniture from recognized American furniture stores that are renowned for their quality and standard of craftsmanship. Stores like those mentioned above, or Southwood, Stickley, Sherrill and The Custom Shoppe - all American and all highly regarded.