Volume 1 • Issue 2

September 2010

Your dining room is a place where family and friends gather for special occasions. The dining room furniture you choose will show that everyone
is welcome in your home. When the room feels comfortable, looks stylish and accommodates all your guests, every meal you eat there will feel like a celebration.

Chances are the dining room furniture you buy now will be the furniture you will have for many years to come.
Knowing a few key facts will help you shop intelligently and purchase dining room furniture that will meet your needs and last for years. 

Size

Style
Next, think about the overall feel you want the room to have. To give your home a cohesive feel, choose dining room furniture which reflects the architecture of your house and the style of other rooms in your house. The materials your dining table is made of will affect this, but not all rules are hard and fast. For example, a mahogany table may feel formal, but an oak dining table or pine dining table will feel casual, even though they are also made out of wood. Lately new hardwoods such as mango and acacia wood have become popular as they present exceptional durability and style.

Enjoy your dining room set for years by choosing wisely and maintaining it properly.

Volume 1 • Issue 3

October 2010

Dining Table care
When choosing your table, consider the care that you are willing to put into it. Many wood dining tables are durable and may need only occasional furniture polish, but softer woods may be more susceptible to scratches and could benefit from use of a tablecloth. Glass dining tables may not scratch or stain, but fingerprints show up easily. Generally, any window cleaner can be used to clean glass dining tables.
Recently, stone tables, consisting primarily of granite or marble have become popular and more affordable. Caution should be used in caring for a stone dining table, just as wood tables require regular maintenance. For example, the surface of the granite on your table has been polished or sealed to create a generally non-porous surface. The stone has many natural characteristics including: veining, hairline cracks, and color variations – which make up the stone’s beauty. To maintain the beauty of granite keeping the surface free of debris or sharp objects, wiping up spills immediately and avoiding contact with chemicals (particularly acid-based materials).

The surface should be cleaned with pH neutral product or those especially formulated for use on stone. Water-based solvents are not recommended for use on dark granite, as these will remove the polish from the surface. After a period of use, apply a penetrating sealer to prevent contaminants from being absorbed into the stone. Remove stains with special absorbent poultices formulated for use on stone. Renew the surface on polished granite (granite with a high-gloss surface) by buffing with special stone polish, powder or cream. Do not use granite polish on granite with a matte finish, which has been honed rather than polished. A penetrating sealer should be used on both honed and polished granite.

Marble may be a stone, but it is porous stone and can stain easily. Treating marble surfaces the same as wood surfaces is a great rule of thumb. We recommend sealing the tops on a regular basis (every 6 to 12 months). A good quality stone sealer can be purchased from any tile/stone store or any home care store and should be applied according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. When sealed properly, marble tops can be used indoors and outdoors and can withstand any weather conditions except internal freezing. Snow or freezing rain will penetrate the table and cause cracks.

Dining Chair care
Many dining chairs come with upholstered seats, which are comfortable, but are also likely to be spilled on eventually. If you want a material that can be cleaned easily, consider buying upholstered dining chairs in fabrics such as leather, micro-suede, or cotton. Heavier fabrics like velvet look and feel luxurious, but will require more work to clean. Wood chairs can usually be cleaned with commercial furniture polish.

--March--

Let's talk about leather:
Questions & Concerns

When making a major furniture purchase, durability and price are two key factors in a person's decision of what to buy. Some people might be hesitant to buy leather furniture due to concerns about how to care for it or how it long it will last around their kids & pets.

Blacker’s stocks over 15 sets of stationary leather sofas in all sizes and colors. Our trained and professional staff will be glad to help you choose the sofa that meets all your needs. Bring in the coupon at the top of this newsletter and receive 10% off the sale price on any of our in-stock stationary leather sofas.

 Will my Leather furniture be durable? 
Leather furniture is something you buy for a lifetime. Because leather wears in and fabric wears out, you'll find that leather lasts much longer than fabric and can be a better value. In fact, leather lasts up to four times longer than fabric, having a useful life of fifteen to twenty years versus four to five with some fabrics. Since leather is a natural product, aging brings out its natural patina, making it even more beautiful over time.

And since leather furniture is something you can enjoy for years to come, this is a purchase that makes a sound investment. When treated in the right way leather is VERY durable.

Will my Leather furniture be too hard to care for?
Leather is easy to care for. Just use a soft cloth and dust weekly, use a conditioner every 6-12 months, and wipe up spills as they occur with a clean cloth. Avoid using normal cleaning supplies like soaps, detergents, solvents, etc. No special solvents or cleaners are needed to keep it looking good.

Will my Leather furniture be easily damaged by animals and kids?
Unless your dog thinks your new leather sofa is a chew toy or your cat thinks it's a scratching post, your leather furniture is as safe as any other furniture in the house. For more peace of mind, select a protected leather for your furniture, which has an extra finish applied to it. This helps protect the leather so pets and kids can sit on the sofa with none of the usual worries.

Nature has created leather's strong physical characteristics by weaving an intricate network of fibers together. Leather will not readily burn or melt, and unlike most fabrics and vinyl, it is extremely difficult to puncture. Leather will not tear and is half again as strong as any fabric -  even along the seam lines.

Leather furniture is either too cold in winter
or too hot in summer!
Leather seats in a car do get hot in summer and cold in winter, since they are generally directly exposed to temperature extremes and have heavy top treatments to protect them.

For leather furniture indoors, you'll find that it adapts to the ambient room temperature or whatever is nearest to it. In the wintertime, it will rapidly warm to your body heat, and in the summer, since it is natural and can breathe, leather stays pleasantly cool. Just keep it out of the sun (which is hard on the color, too.)

I hope you'll find this information helpful. Head on over to our blog and for some more information on they different types of leather used in the furniture industry.

Connie Wood, Buyer