England Furniture Reviews Winter Care Tips for Wood Furniture

When the weather outside is cold you and your family may not being the only ones suffering. Wooden furniture has three archenemies: heat, sunlight and, low humidity . All three of them can work their hardest against your furniture during cold winter months.

england-furniture-review-winter-care-furniture-tipsHeat from nearby fireplaces, a hot air vent or radiator can be more extreme than the heat of summer. Avoid placing solid hardwood furniture directly in front of radiators or other heat sources. While the temperatures in your home is likely lower than during the summer months, some areas of your home are much warmer. Use care when placing your furniture in any given room and do not block a heat vent.

Sun damage can occur during any time of the year. Consistent, direct, intense sunlight can bleach a fine wood tabletop. To prevent such damage rotate the furniture in the room periodically. If that’s not possible rotate the individual piece (or pieces) in place and occasionally move accessory items to avoid the possibility of marks on the surface.

Indoor winter air can be extremely dry. As cold air is brought in and warmed to room temperature, its capacity to absorb is greatly multiplied. This “thirsty air” draws moisture from all kinds of sources. Consider a humidifier to keep your home’s relative humidity around 30 percent. Also keep in mind that sudden changes in humidity are not good for wood furniture. Try to keep the humidity levels as consistent as possible whenever possible.

Finally, heat, sunlight and low humidity aren’t the only culprits during winter. If you have snow, salt and/or cinders on your gloves be sure to not touch wooden furniture with them.

England Furniture Reviews Some Living Room Furniture Arrangement Tips

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How your furniture is situated in the living room should be flexible enough to handle various activities. Start your furniture arrangement plan by listing all the activities you expect to take place then list the furniture and equipment you’ll need to make sure each function is possible.

Furniture arrangement is the art of establishing working relationships between individual pieces of furniture, all within a given room’s context. There are some general guidelines that exist to help you narrow down the endless possibilities. Keep the following suggestions in mind:

  • Experiment by leaving one wall completely free of furniture. This is especially important when the wall flanks a walkway.
  • If the front door to your house opens directly into your living room consider shielding your living room by placing a standing, folding screen at right angles to the wall.
  • Arrange traffic in such a way that it does not pass between people and the television.
  • Large living rooms can feel alienating. Treat it as though it were different small spaces. Create more than one intimate seating – or activity area – within the large room.
  • Group chairs a three to four feet apart. A classic, and comfortable, seating arrangement is a sofa flanked by two comfortable, upholstered chairs. Place a table near each chair for holding refreshments, glasses, your iPad, etc.
  • Place furniture so its lines are parallel to the wall. This creates a greater sense of unity. Furniture that is placed on the diagonal creates excitement and contrast.
  • Make the most of unusual living room space by building furniture (shelves, consoles, etc.) into the room. You can’t take them with when you move, of course, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

England Furniture Reviews Some Wood Furniture Care Tips

england-furniture-wood-care-tipsEngland Furniture offers a wide selection of wooden offerings and the proper care and maintenance of these England Furniture items can help you maintain your investment for years to come. Consider the following tips when taking care of your wooden furniture.

1. Keep your furniture out of the sun!
The temperature of a summer sun coming through your window can go well beyond 140 degrees. This heat can cook fine finishes on the wood. This results in fading and it can dry out and shrink the wood, thus leading to cracks.

2. Keep wood furniture away from dry heat!
Dry heat causes wood to dry and shrink which leads to cracking so keep wooden furniture away from any source of dry head including heating units and vents. In the drier months consider using a humidifier and bring the moisture up to the 40 to 45 percent level.

3. Grab some shoe polish!
For a quick-fix touch up, use the appropriate color shoe polish on scratches and chips. Many people use this trick especially on the feet of furniture.

4. Say goodbye to rings and spots!
There are several ways to remove the white hazy ring or spot that hot coffee mugs or hot food containers leave behind. The least invasive way is to rub it with a mild abrasive, such as non-gel toothpaste mixed with baking soda or try cooking oil mixed with ashes. Rub it in a small spot with your finger or then use a soft cloth on larger areas.

5. Wood isn’t hungry!
You cannot feed furniture with polishes and oils. No matter what some may suggest, wood cannot be fed or nourished or enriched with oils and polishes. Once wooden furniture has a protective finish placed over it the wood is sealed. Oils and polishes will not penetrate through this finish.

England Furniture Sales Awards Given During October Market

England Furniture held their Sales Representative Meeting during the recent October International Furniture Market in High Point. At this meeting several England Furniture representatives were recognized for their performance during the 2014 fiscal year. Some of the factors that contributed to receiving the awards included measurable criteria such as sales volume, change from the previous reporting period and territory GP. Other possible factors including positive work ethic, ability to resolve dealer issues, and other less-definable gauges.

“All our reps deserve some level of recognition,” said Otis Sawyer, President of England, “but, when benchmarks are applied, understandably, the ones with the most impressive stats gravitate to the top.”
England Furniture is fortunate to have an excellent group of women and men who are dedicated to being the professional connection between the England Furniture factory and the retail outlets. In addition to the set sales awards, England Furniture also annually identifies the individual in their sales force who most exemplifies the values held by England Furniture founder, Arnold Dwight England. Called the “Mr. D Award,” award, this prize is arguably the most coveted award presented each October.

On occasion a Trailblazer Award is also given. This award acknowledges efforts by a sales representative who was able to grow in a territory in spite of challenging conditions. This year this amazing award went to our Northern California representative for her determination in increasing the California market.

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(From left to right): Jim Emerson, Josh Weeks, Cam Morgan, Phil Johnson, and Dolly Ponta. All winners shown with England Furniture President, Otis S. Sawyer

The 2014 England Furniture Sales Awards were awarded to:
Small Territory – Cam Morgan, North Carolina
Medium Territory – Josh Weeks, Colorado and parts of NE and WY
Large Territory – Jim Emerson, ND, SD, MN and No. Iowa
“Mr. D” Award – Phil Johnson, Kansas and Missouri and parts of Iowa and NE
Trailblazer Award – Dolly Ponta, No. California

England Furniture Showcases New Introductions at 2014 High Point Market

High Point Market is the” world’s home for home furnishings!” “Market” occurs twice a year and it represents the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world. The 2014 Fall Market runs October 18th to October 23rd.

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Market brings more than 75,000 people to High Point, North Carolina.  It includes 11.5 million sq feet of showspace, it is held in over 180 buildings, and it highlights tens of thousands of new product introductions. England Furniture is showcasing a number of exciting new England Furniture introductions.  New pieces include the Holt Collection, the Blair Collection, and the Estep Series.

Be sure to stop by and visit our England Furniture exhibition. We are located at Plaza Suites 100.