How To Pick Quality Log Home Furniture

Rustic furniture is a great look, and buying the right piece can mean decades, even generations of use. To tell if you've got a winner, look for these twelve things.

1) Northern white cedar is the best wood for log furniture. Eastern white cedar is a lesser alternative; the texture of the wood tends to be much "hairier" and the wood has more knots, making it difficult to work with. Hickory is a nice choice, but furniture builders tend to use thinner pieces. If seeing the grain of the wood isn't for you, Cypress is a good, long-lasting wood. Avoid pine log furniture if you're really going after quality.

2) Absolutely avoid furniture that is stapled or glued. Even pieces with butted up or nailed parts are less desirable. Ideally, every piece of wood has a mortise and tenon connection. Here's one way to find out how a piece was built: Pull out the drawers cabinets and dressers. The corners should be not stapled or glued, but built so the wood dovetails.

3) Shake the footboards of beds to see if they squeak. The squeaking is caused by metal hardware, and well-made log beds don't make that sound.

4) Take a close look at the wood: Handmade log furniture pieces should still show where the branches of the tree were.

5) For chairs, tables or anything else with dowels, be sure the dowels are at least 1.25 inches thick.

6) Avoid flat-seated chairs. They'll be uncomfortable to sit in.

7) Cabinet grade plywood is actually best for the backs and tops of furniture. It has better resistance to moisture, cracking and warping than hardwood.

8) Pull any drawers out completely and look at the glides. You want to find full extension, ball bearing glides, not plastic ones.

9) If your getting a custom made dresser, ask for the bottom pieces of wood in the drawers to be aromatic cedar.

10) All logs that the furniture is made of should be at least 3 inches thick. The point of log furniture is to look sturdy, and you're paying enough to expect something that isn't going to break.

11) Don't be turned off by imperfections in the wood. It is okay to see a few wormholes, or to have one leg of a chair be a bit thicker than the other legs.

12) Generally, avoid large log furniture companies, as they tend to be more production lines than craftmen. Small shops that have been in business at least ten years are more likely to build the beautiful, durable log furniture you're looking for.

How To Build A Log Cabin