THE BENEFITS OF BUYING A SOLID WOOD DINING TABLE

What Are Dining Tables Made Of?

The array of options available when buying a dining table is growing alongside our ability to manufacture products from all manner of man made materials. So there are many options to think about from traditional solid wood dining tables to, metal dining tables, stone top dining tables, glass top dining tables, concrete top dining tables, resin dining tables, laminated mdf and chipboard dining tables. wood veneered mdf or plywood dining tables or even plastic dining tables.

Choosing A Dining Table.

We all have different tastes when it comes to style, whether it’s furniture, interiors, music, art, fashion, architecture or even our choice of car. We also have different reasons for choosing different products, services, clothes, or even food. From morals and ethics to budget and availability.

The development of manufacturing and technology and the rise of the chain business has pushed many industries to one side by offering more affordable alternatives to what we traditionally expected. Once we could get our groceries, our hardware, televisions, white goods, furniture and homewares all from our local independent shops where value for money was paramount. The private owner had to offer quality produce or products or his customers would go elsewhere. As the bigger stores came and undercut the local independents they slowly folded their business’s and called it a day. The big stores then had complete monopoly on the high street and they have one goal… Profit. Value for money is dead, actual customer care and appreciation has gone. The independent business owners desire and need to satisfy and impress their customer has gone. The profit the big stores made was spent on extremely expensive marketing campaigns that brought more and more customers into their stores that made more and more profit. Eventually the costs of running these big stores vs the profit they were making closed in on each other. The profit needed to go back up….. So, the product loses quality so its cheaper to buy in from their manufacturer and the price goes up to increase the margin. The price goes up, quality goes down, profit goes up, marketing campaigns get bigger. And so it goes. Eventually we have become a nation of big chain stores with overpriced products and low quality or value for money for the consumer. Not only that but the products themselves are made from non eco friendly or ethical materials and they are travelling here in containers from the other side of the world, bringing a huge carbon footprint with them. They do not stand the test of time due to the level of quality, and they need replacing, time and time again. Every time bringing the carbon footprint from manufacturing and the carbon footprint from transport. The kicker for us is that not many customers actually enjoyed owning that cheaper lower quality product. Most people we assume would prefer to own something of quality, that is built to last forever, something with depth and character that doesn’t bring a tyrannosaurus sized carbon footprint, that is lovely to own and use.

So it goes without saying what kind of dining table we think human beings should choose. We obviously favour solid wood dining tables, that are made from sustainably sourced timber, and made to last forever, not just the length of the warranty. We also believe there is a strong relationship between human beings and nature, and there have been serious studies in Japan and the Netherlands that support the theory that our connection to nature goes so deep that our wellbeing is greatly improved when we spend our time surrounded with plants and natural materials, in the home and our place of work. Customers often say to us in our showrooms, how great it smells when they walk in, from the timber to the leather, and they love to touch the furniture as if it’s a natural reaction they cannot resist.

The design however is totally up to you. At Ashton & Coleman we make a variety of designs, but running our own workshop means we can make any wooden dining table design you like.

We encourage as many people as possible to look for smaller British independent businesses and manufacturers. Whether you choose one of our handcrafted solid wood dining tables, one of our bespoke dining tables or whether you choose another independent British manufacturer, we hope customers think ethically, morally and wisely.

Are Bespoke Solid Wood Dining Tables Easy To Look After?

This is one of those how long is a piece of string questions. The difficulty of looking after a solid wooden dining table depends on a variety of differing factors, from the type of timber, the type of finish used through to how often the table is used, who’s using it and more importantly each persons version of whether a table needs to be kept in original untouched condition or whether they like the fact that the table ages and grows in character with each mark or perceived defect, almost like the dining table has its own history or story, like it’s is somehow has a soul of its own, like it’s part of the family. This is how we see our wooden dining tables. We want our customers to live with them and grow together through life. Not to be nervous of marking it.

We always recommend covering your wooden dining table at busy times if you wish to keep it in original condition.

Are Handmade Solid Wood Dining Tables Better Than Mass Produced Dining Tables

This really depends on the company you choose to make your table. We don’t have many independent furniture manufacturers in Britain. However just because a company makes their own products in this country from natural materials, doesn’t mean the product is made with properly, with the customers value for money at heart. Without mentioning any company names, we know a few that literally screw wood together without any joints and call it furniture. Which technically speaking it is, and it will serve you for a small amount of time before you realise that it is poorly made and poorly finished with no care for the environment, the customer or their product.

Another argument is that mass produced products aren’t always poor quality, however the price you need to pay to receive high quality from mass production is far greater than using smaller independent furniture maker or manufacturer who will always go further to satisfy their customer for a more affordable price.

Our advice is to do your research, check out their showrooms, or visit their workshop if they don’t have a showroom.  If they don’t have a showroom and won’t let you visit their workshop, ask yourself why. Read reviews, read through their website to see if they have details showing manufacturing techniques that they are proud of. And think before you buy.

If you do your research, you will ultimately make the right decision for you and your budget, your ethics and your style. if you are looking for a properly made, well designed solid wooden dining table that you will love and own forever, check us out at www.ashtonandcoleman.co.uk .

What does Bespoke Actually Mean

A quick online search reveals bespoke as

‘Made for a particular customer or user’. This essentially means that we are bespoke furniture makers as every single order is made to order for a specific person even when the design is one of our standard designs without any alterations, it is still technically bespoke. This causes a problem as the majority of people assume that bespoke anything is expensive. However we pride ourselves on proving products with extremely high value for money, not expensive products. The actual cost is irrelevant if the value backs it up. Expensive suggests over priced. We pride ourselves on making solid wood furniture that has the customers best interests at the heart of the product. So in actual fat we prefer not to use the word bespoke, we prefer to use ‘handmade’ or ‘handcrafted’ to prefix furniture or furniture makers. Highlighting the quality of the product not the price.

If we are making an order for a customer who brought a design to us that is totally unique, That is nothing like our standard designs or maybe they asked us to design something for them based on a conversation that gives us a brief to work from, this is what we call a bespoke commission and clearly this type of order will have a price attached to it that is more like what people assume when they use the term ‘bespoke’ on it’s own. This is obviously due to the amount of time spent consulting and designing and procuring specific materials that we will only use for that one project. So in conclusion, bespoke is making something to order for a specific customer, but it’s not supposed to be expensive.

Our advice once again is to do your research and look for value for money.