What to look for in second-hand furniture

I love buying second-hand furniture - finding something you love at a good price and knowing you’re being environmentally friendly is a win-win. But how do you know your furniture is decent quality? I’ve put together some tips on what to look for when buying furniture second-hand.

Solid wood frame

Really good quality chairs and sofas have a solid wood frame (rather than engineered wood). Durable hardwoods like oak, beech, ash and maple are commonly used for quality pieces as they are dense, strong and durable (i.e. they can withstand being sat on every day, and they keep glued joints from loosening). Often when a chair is fully upholstered, the ‘show wood’ (the visible part of the wood) will be a durable hardwood while the hidden internal frame may be made of a cheaper wood.

If you can, take a look at where the back legs meet the seat. In a good quality chair, the back legs and back rail of the chair will be made from one piece of wood. 

Cracks and breaks

Older hardwood frames may have cracks or breaks in them which isn’t necessarily an issue. An experienced upholsterer or furniture repairer can fix most cracks and breaks and give the frame a new lease of life. 

Engineered wood frames

A lot of modern chair and sofa frames produced cheaply for mass market are made from engineered wood such as plywood, particleboard and Oriented Strand Board. If the frame feels solid, with no wobbles or cracks, it may well have a lot of life left in it. If there is a significant crack or break to the frame, I would walk away and leave this piece to the furniture gods. Even by fixing the break, the frame will be weakened and likely to break in the same place again. 

Upholstery and fillings

When buying second-hand, I always try and look past the fabric and even the filling - these can all be replaced by an upholsterer who can strip a chair/sofa back to its frame and build it up again to your exact requirements.