This may sound like an easy question to answer, simple when you need one…. well if only life were that simple of course.
From my nearly a decade of experience of making furniture, I have learnt a few things that will help guide you along the road to picking the ultimate time of year to buy your dining room table, and the reasons why.
Question: When is the most common time to buy a dining room table?
This tends to be around October to November. This is based on the history of my business. I assume that everyone wants a table in time for Christmas. I don’t know if people have been eating off the floor or camping tables for the rest of the year!! But suddenly there is a big rush at this time of year. So you can follow the crowd and buy in time for Christmas or you can have a table during the spring and summer and enjoy it for the whole year before the festive season.
Question: When should I buy my scaffolding board dining room table?
Now most people just buy their table when they need it, and this makes sense of course. But in actual fact there are a number of things to think of when buying your table. As the table here at Little Devon Furniture Company are made from reclaimed wood they are really affected by the seasons, temperature, weather etc. Scaffolding boards that come to me, have been on building sites for years. This gives them the character and story that works so well and what people enjoy. So the best time to buy your table whether that is round dining room table or a classic rectangular dining room table is during the warmer months of the year, i.e the summer, but why?
Question: Why should I buy my table during the summer? The reason for this is that the wood should be nice and dry which is super important. I store mine in a dry area, but scaffolding boards have come from living outside so they need time to dry. This allows the table to minimise the amount of movement within it.
Question: Can’t I just buy it in the winter and put it in my house?
The answer is of course yes you can, but you run the risk of the table moving (not like a ghost) but up and down. This could cause bowing in the table especially at the edges and ends. Ending up with a product that suddenly is not fit for purpose.
Question: Why does this happen?
This is because during the winter months houses have their heating on and the outside temperature of where the wood is stored is so different to a 18-20 degree house that the wood can change shape. The wood for Little Devon furniture Company is stored in a dry barn, but that is only the temperature of the outside, this of course can be anywhere between 0-12 degrees during the winter. When the wood is made into a table and then delivered to your house that change in temperature can cause the table to change shape. If you buy the table in the summer then it has time to gradually adjust to your environment and will not bow or move hardly at all.
Question: Are your tables locally sourced and made
You bet. This is the main selling point of our furniture. Who doesn’t love a locally made product, the clamour for them is really high right now. Having a table that is made down the road from where you live has much more of a story to it than buying off the shelf from anywhere. All the timber comes from with 15 miles of the workshop. It is collected and chosen by me which allows me to be picky and find the best looking wood. Then it is all made by hand in the workshop on Dartmoor Np.
Question: Who is Tim?
Tim is the owner and founder of Little Devon Furniture Company. For the past 8 years he has been making all the furniture that goes out to customers. A lover the using reclaimed materials and trying to repurpose everything that comes through the door, it is a match made in heaven.
