Oak Bedroom Furniture

Buying oak bedroom furniture is not cheap. The euphemism that salesmen in certain fields like to use, "... an investment for the future ...", readily comes to mind. For those who can afford to buy high quality bedroom furniture made from oak, the price is worth it. Oak wood has beautiful grains, is very hard and generally resistant to attacks from insects and fungus. With only minimal care, oak wood bedroom furniture can last for many generations.

But what about those who do not have access to generous budgets for buying fine bedroom furniture? There are four different shopping strategies they can use. The first is obvious to many people - wait for bedroom furniture warehouse clearance sales. But what if you do not want to wait? Well, your friendly neighborhood bedroom furniture outlet salesman is only too happy to bend over backwards to make a sale and pad his commission. You can ask him about discontinued bedroom furniture that his store still carries in its warehouse. Ask him for the brochures of the old furniture made of oak.

But why should he give you a discount on this old bedroom furniture? Simple. The furniture is no longer in production and is difficult to sell but is still occupying valuable warehouse space. If left unsold, the shop makes no money (it may even lose money) and the salesman does not get a commission. While he may prefer to sell you something newer and more expensive, i.e. with more commission, he has a vested interest in selling to you. Remember, no competent salesman likes to let a confirmed customer get away - a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

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You will probably not be able to see the quality of the actual furniture, but real oak wood is very strong and solid. Oak is very resistant to damage, unlike MDF fiberboard. In addition, manufacturers do not make cheap bedroom furniture out of oak. Real oak wood is too expensive. So you know that what you are getting is good quality bedroom furniture, even though it is not the latest and most stylish design. On the other hand, people who buy oak bedroom furniture look for timeless designs and not the latest fashions. Still ... there is a risk and you will need to make sure the discount is steep enough to make it worth your while.

The second strategy for buying discount bedroom furniture made from oak is well known to the younger generation - shop for bedroom furniture online from retailers like Amazon and Targets. However, unlike shopping for cheap furniture, you cannot just click and pay. You will need to spend some time to confirm that the oak bedroom furniture being advertised is real solid oak and not MDF with an oak veneer.

The third strategy is to buy unfinished bedroom furniture. Whereas unfinished pine and cherry wood bedroom furniture may be more expensive than the finished versions, unfinished bedroom furniture made from oak is normally a bit cheaper than the finished version. The difference comes from the scent - freshly-cut pine and cherry wood releases unique fragrances. That means they have a unique quality and can be sold for a higher price when unfinished. But oak is different.

If you choose to buy unfinished oak bedroom furniture, you may need to finish it yourself. Obviously, the situation varies by manufacturer. One manufacturer may make furniture that is already sanded smooth, but not stained or waxed. Another may make furniture that is completely unpolished. That means you will have to polish the surfaces smooth yourself. Before you recoil in horror at the thought, please remember that we are living in modern times and have cheap power tools available. For example, you can just buy a cheap Dremel Rotary Tool and its sanding attachments for around $40 from Amazon and you can finish polishing smooth an entire bedroom furniture collection of bed, wardrobe and nightstand in one day. You can then stain and varnish your new furniture the next day.

The fourth strategy is to look for garage sales where you can buy used bedroom furniture made of oak. Even if the wood is damaged, it can be worth buying. Better yet, look for pieces of furniture which show moderate damage and obviously have to be repaired. Certain types of damage look much worse than they really are, and can be remarkably cheap to fix. Obvious examples would be wobbly legs, broken hinges and certain types of split boards. Of course, it helps if you have a brother-in-law who is an avid DIY-er or a father-in-law who is a skilled carpenter, but there are modern tools like the Kreg Jig which make it relatively easy to join two pieces of wood together, for example when you need to re-attach the leg of side-table back to the table-top.

As you can tell, the third and fourth strategies to buying deeply discounted oak bedroom furniture needs some degree of work from you. On the other hand, modern power tools make the work relatively easy compared to the time of your father or grandfather. Having some DIY skills allows you to afford luxury bedroom furniture that would otherwise be out of reach for you.

Is it worthwhile to do so much additional work just to buy oak bedroom furniture? That depends on you, but "good" and "cheap" do not exist in the same universe. If you want long-lasting quality bedroom furniture that you can turn into a family heirloom, you need to pay for it. You either spend money, or you spend time and sweat.