Nothing is perfect. But details matter to us.

Part of the appeal of "Craftsman" style furniture is that it is not as precise and "perfect" as, say, a grand piano or something made out of crisp maple.
The natural characteristics of the wood (grain patterns, knots, and sometimes even knots missing or bark edge) are certainly part of this appeal. And those things are purposefully featured in this simplistic style of furniture. Distressing furniture to make it look damaged or imperfect is also the "in" thing to do.

However, certain inconsistencies or lackadaisical practices in the manufacture, or assembly, of the furniture irk us. Below are some examples of what we try to avoid in a Thirteen Pine finished product.

Not only is this table frame not mitred, so you end up seeing the end grain of one board (which we could get over because some of our stuff may be the same), but the real problem is the screws that are installed through the face of the frame. There are other ways, that don't take much more time to do, to secure legs to a table.

Again, with the screws showing right on the front of this leg. Even though we are all trying to save you money compared to what the big brand furniture stores charge, we are all charging you enough money that we should all be able to take a little time to do this better.

This is the frame of a table that incorporates a butt-joint (white area). You can see the shadow line that is being produced by the two sides of the frame not lining up flush. Again, it is fine to use this kind of joint and some of our stuff is built the same way. But to charge this kind of money for a joint that is not flush or properly lined up, not sanded down, or is simply twisted is just not what we're going for at Thirteen Pine.

The legs of this table are protruding up through the table surface. This may just be "the style" this company was going for, and they have sold a ton of these. To us, this is unsightly and simply a result of "building something fast". It results in varying heights of the surface components which can be undesirable for a table where people will set drinks. There are better ways. They may take a little longer to do but there is enough profit margin and customer satisfaction to justify the extra effort - in our opinion.

There are some items that are literally meant to be built in a "rough, thrown-together" fashion. And we have some shelves, home decor items, and outdoor items that are done in this way. We just don't think that every piece should be done this way. Keep in mind that the companies that built the things in these pictures are good companies that, overall, do quality work. Many of them are selling more furniture than we are (for now). There is enough business for all of us out there, so we are not attempting to get you not to buy from one of these other companies. We are merely pointing out some detail issues that bother us and, in case they would bother you too, we are offering our time to you in bringing you pieces that are a step above. And sometimes at even better prices.

Much of the furniture we offer, as well as the offerings of these other companies, can be built by the average handy homeowner with minimal tools or experience. So it is our contention that to make it worth your hard earned money, not to mention our time & investment to exist as a furniture company, we should at least try to do it better than the minimum standards.

 

 

* Images used on this page were obtained on the internet and their use herein falls under 17 USC Section 107 -Fair Use since:
1) The images are reproduced for criticism, comment, and teaching purposes.
2) Use of the images does not affect the original company's commercial viability (since the companies are not named).
3) The images here are a "transformative work" and no longer resemble the originals.
4) Only part of the original images are used herein.
5) Use of these images are in a good faith effort to inform the community, and even the respective companies, of the quality work we can all be a part of. If any company has any issues with us using these images here and for these purposes, we will gladly remove them if simply asked to do so. There is no need to involve lawyers or use threats. Getting upset and causing an unneccesary stink through legal action may result in legal-to-do blog posts and reviews about your company's behavior being posted on the world wide web. A much better solution to the problem would be to just make sure you are a company that takes the time to provide the quality your customers are paying for since, as mentioned above, there is plenty of work for all of us.

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