Custom Sideboard in Creamy White Paint

In March 2014, a woman came into the Our Country Hearts furniture store looking for a sideboard.  She had specific dimensions and colors in mind.  Since we specialize in helping people design their own custom furniture, it wasn't hard to get an idea of what she was looking for.  In about 20 minutes we came up with this drawing:

It's a relatively straight-forward sideboard that measures 54"W x 16"D x 41"T.  It has two drawers, four raised panel doors and a 5" clearance below the bottom. It also features "4-post" construction, that is, each corner will have a post and those posts will be tapered at the bottom.  While we could have built it in Oak, Maple, or Cherry, she decided to go with Oak because she wanted to "see the grain" through the paint.  She also went online and purchased custom hardware which we had the builder put on.

It took about eight weeks to build and two more weeks for the painting to be finished, but here's the final product:

Our Country Hearts Custom Sideboard

 Close-up of the drawer & door fronts:

Adjustable shelving inside:

 

Dovetailed drawers with full-extension slides:

In short, Our Country Hearts produced a completely custom, American-made sideboard, to the customer's specifications in about 10 weeks and for only $895 + tax in March 2014.  Will prices go up?  Yes, but will our quality god down? Never!

For more information, contact us.

What is Oak is not Cherry

Customers often mistake a wood's color for it's wood type.  For instance, a lot of people think the following piece is cherry because of it's reddish color:

From Out Country Hearts Furniture Website

However, this is not the case.  This large dresser with dual armoire top is actually made out of solid oak and stained with a popular color called "Harvest".

As the photo below show, oak has a very heavy grain, while cherry's is much finer and wavier.

Oak on the left.  Cherry on the right.

As my January 9th blog post shows, oak can be stained an enormous number of different colors.  The same is true for cherry.

Here are two American-made chest of drawers that arrived at Our Country Hearts for customers:

Can you tell which one is cherry?  And which one is oak?

Look closely at the grain and you can tell that the one on the left is cherry, while the one on the right is oak.

Complicating matters even more is the fact that there are many different species of each tree and each species will have it's own unique characteristics.  At the moment, most of the oak furniture at Our Country Heart's is made from Red Oak.

2014 Upholstered Furniture TV Commercial

Upholstered furniture has become a big part of what we design & sell here, at Our Country Hearts.  So, with the help of RVSA, we just made a new 30 second TV Commerical, highlighting the Amercian-made brands we carry, such as, Norwalk, Friendship, Comfort Design, Barcalounger, and Hallagan. 

Norwalk Imagine That Sofa

People buy our products because they're comfortable, stylish, durable, and well-made.  Most of our customers have tried other brands and have come to realize that buying right the first time makes a big difference.

Here's the 30 second commercial on YouTube:

http://youtu.be/mo4XPj8KJhE

Mission Sofa & Recliner

After last week's post about the Mission Loveseat & Push-Back Chair I was anxious to get a full-size sofa and full-fledged recliner.  This week they both came in!

Solid oak Mission-style sofa in fabric, Mission-Style leather recliner and Mission-Style coffee table & end tables at Our Country Hearts.

The recliner is by Comfort Design furniture.  It's available at Our Country Hearts.  Check it out on our website.

The sofa is Amish-built and it's also available at Our Country Hearts.  Check it out on our website.

Mission Reclining Loveseat & Push-Back Chair

The warm, rugged yet clean styling of Mission furniture makes it very popular.  Our Country Hearts carries a wide range of Mission furniture, including sofas, reclining sofas, loveseats, chairs, push-back chairs, ottomans, etc.

Mission Reclining Loveseat & Push-Back Chair

Mission Loveseat measures 60"W x 35"D x 37"T

Mission Loveseat recliner has two positions - upright & flat.

Mission Push-Back Chair in Upright Position measures 34"W x 35"D x 42"T

 

Mission Push-Back Chair - Needs Ottoman

This reclining loveseat & push-back chair were purchased for a customer who already had an ottoman to pair with the chair.  Needless to say, an ottoman makes the push-back chair much more comfortable.

These pieces were ordered in golden oak with a texturized fabric.  There are dozens of wood colors and even more fabrics available.  So, you can customize this set to fit your own needs.

These pieces are made in America.  They're top quality & yet reasonably priced.  Contact Our Country Hearts for more information.

Parker Sofa & Ivy Chair by Norwalk Furniture

A lot of people complain that furniture in the Binghamton, NY, area is boring.  They complain that the only places to go are the big box type places and so everyone ends up buying the same old, imported stuff.  Well, that's not true.  Binghamton has a great furniture store inside the log cabin at Our Country Heart.

At Our Country Hearts, we carry a wide range of American-made furniture.  We have
over a thousand fabrics & leathers, which we can apply to hundreds of sofas, chairs, recliners, etc.  So, when it comes time to buy a new sofas & chairs for the showroom floor at is fun.  We go through our catalogs, consider customer comments, compare fabrics, & more while making the decision.

This January we selected a Parker sofa & an Ivy chair from Norwalk Furniture.

Norwalk Brand Ivy Chair & Parker Sofa at Our Country Hearts

The Ivy chair is shown above in a cream-colored, texturized solid fabric. The details for the Ivy chair are shown here:

Norwalk brand Ivy Chair Spec Sheet

The Ivy Chair is paired with the Parker sofa because of the shape of the arm and the similarity in the legs.  We made the Parker in a dark green velvet fabric with print pillows which tie-in to the cream on the Ivy chair.  Both pieces feature exposed wooden legs.

Norwalk brand Parker Sofa Spec Sheet

The Parker Sofa is unique because it's part of Norwalk Furniture's Variations program, which means that it can be built in a tremendous number of styles & configurations.  For instance, in the page below you can see five different B&W photos of uniquely-styled Parker pieces.

These five styles are built from the sheet below, which details how the variations are created.  Starting in the top right-hand corner of this sheet, you can select a Track Arm or a Slope Arm.  Moving to the right you select a T-Cushion or Straight Cushion.  Then down to the left, choose back style - and to the right, leg style.  Finally, at the bottom are sizes.

These sizes & shapes are more easily understood when looking at them from the top down in this diagram:

 

As you can see from this last diagram, there are a multitude of Parker pieces which can be as simple as a sofa, loveseat & chair - or as complex as a sectional with chaise lounge.

The Parker Sofa & Ivy Chair make a great combination.  Please consider visiting Our Country Hearts and seeing them in person.

Leather Recliners by Comfort Design

When you think "recliner," you probably picture the quintessential fluffy, dumpy, marshmallow recliner that look something like this:

And while it's probably comfortable, it's not very attactive - nor will it be very durable.  Most of these marshmallow recliners at built in Asia with one purpose: to make it as cheaply as possible.

That's not true at Our Country Hearts.  Here we sell attractive, American-made recliners which will be both comfortable & long-lasting. 

Today we just received two great new Comfort Design recliners.

Comfort Design Classic Club Power Recliner in Cream Leather

Comfort Design Leslie II Power Dual Reclining Sofa in Harvest Leather

Both of these Comfort Design recliners feature power button activation.  This is an option - many people buy without, but once you try it, you'll never go back.  The main advantage is the controls give you the ability to stop at any postion - whereas the "normal" handle mechanism generally only stops in a few set spots.  The Leslie II comes as both a sofa and a chair, both of which can be found on our website.

Comfort Design offers their recliners in an amazing variety of fabric & leathers.  Here's a video of me flipping through the leathers:

There are even more fabrics than this!

How can they offer so much?  Because they're built & upholstered in America.  If you're looking at a reclienr elsewhere and it only comes in a couple of colors then that's a bad sign: it's probably made overseas.  And while there are good imports, there are also a lot of bad ones.

We love recliners.  When the store's empty you'll often find us snoozing in them!

Oak isn't a Color - it's a Wood with lots of Character & Stain Colors Available

A lot of people think of oak as a single color.  Well, it's not!

Oak is a wood species with lots of natural grain characteristics.  The color of that grain depends on the stain that's applied to it.  One of the most common wood stain brands is Minwax.  Here's a small sample of the stains they were selling the day I wrote this blog:

Oak Stains from Minwax Website

Our Country Hearts can use any of these stains on oak and more.

Take a look at a few examples of just how different oak furniture looks when it has different stains applied to it.

Two oak chest of drawers in different stains at Our Country Hearts.  The one on the left is Harvest stain with black pulls, while the one on the right is Provincial stain with wooden knobs.

Three oak bookcases at Our Country Hearts - each has two adjustable shelves.  From left to right the stain colors are Harvest, Provincial, and Golden Oak.

Mission mule chest in Acres stain on oak at Our Country Hearts.

Our Country Hearts specializes in top-quality, American-made, solid-wood furniture, such as the items shown above.  We're located in Endicott, NY, which is a suburb of Binghamton, making it regionally close to Ithaca, Elmira, & Scranton.  Come visit us!