The Cost of Cheap Furniture – How to Find The Best Value in Outdoor Log Furniture

Today I’m going to talk about how to get the most bang for your buck when shopping for outdoor log furniture.   It wasn’t that long ago that you could easily find quality outdoor cedar log furniture offered by quality craftsmen and companies.  It was built with care by people who had a passion for outdoor wooden furniture.  The wood of choice for most of these craftsmen is Northern White Cedar due to the unique characteristics that cedar has.  A piece of outdoor cedar furniture will survive in the open year round for 10 – 20 years depending on where you live.  While it is still possible to find well built outdoor log furniture, one must look a bit more carefully, as a lot of large corporate garden centers are looking to cash in on the unsuspecting and uninformed.  

As happens in all markets large corporate retailers are looking to make more money.  In my opinion, they do not care so much about their customers as they do about keeping their shareholders happy.  So 3 years ago our American made cedar log furniture is purchased and shipped to China.  There they are able to imitate the look but not the quality or comfort.  They build cheap furniture using brittle log furniture made of Chinese Fir.  Why should this counterfeit log furniture be a concern to you?  Let’s take a look at Chinese fir and find out.

Chinese Fir is a prized timber tree in China.  It actually isn’t a fir but is from the evergreen species.  Chinese Fir is a fine wood to use for indoor décor use.  It is actually prized in China for the smell.  Outdoors though Chinese fir becomes very brittle and can become unsafe very quickly, commonly within a year.

Imagine the top log rail of a log yard swing – the rail that supports the weight of the log swing and the people sitting in the swing seat.  If you were to sit 3 people down at once in a log swing the top rail is going to bend slightly.  With a Cedar swing the wood is soft enough to give slightly at the first weight variance.  It then snaps back into place – like a rubber band though with maybe ½” of movement.  Imagine now Chinese fir that is brittle and doesn’t like to bend.  Instead of bending these logs just break under the same weight load.

Another difference you will find is that some Chinese fir log furniture is made out of small 2” diameter logs with small tenons.  As we discussed in “What is a Mortise and Tenon” you know that the larger the tenon the stronger the log furniture.  Many of the samples we have seen of this imported Chinese fir log furniture have also had mold on the logs from where the log furniture was built using wet logs and then packaged up and shipped over.

Lastly Chinese fir furniture just does not hold up as well out in the direct elements of nature as cedar log furniture does .  I bought two Chinese fir Adirondack chairs 3 years ago for testing.  I placed one of these in a covered and screened in deck.  The other was left outside.  The Chinese fir chair that was left outdoors lasted for 8 months.  The Chinese fir chair that was placed in the screened in deck is now 3 years old and is starting to show signs of weakness.  To give a comparison I have had a cedar Adirondack chair out in the open for 7 years now and it still is strong and sturdy.  I've had cedar log furniture outdoors for the same 7 years and it also is as strong and sturdy as it was when new.  In our enclosed deck I have 9 year old cedar log furniture that as of right now I'm guessing will last another 15 to 20 years just by the way it looks now.

Which wood has the best value in outdoor log furniture?

Quality North American outdoor cedar log furniture or Chinese fir log furniture?  Let’s compare log swings and see:

American 5ft Country Garden Cedar Log Swing

• life span of 9 – 15 years 
• cost of $290 including free shipping.  
• At the minimum estimated life span we get $32.33 a year.

Imported Chinese 5ft Chinese Fir Log Swing

• life span of 1 – 2 years 
• cost of $175 at a local large retail store.  
• At the max estimated life span we get $87.50 a year.

I would say the answer is easily American made Cedar Log Furniture.

Weight limits of cedar log furniture vs Chinese fir log furniture

Now figure that both swings are 3 person swings.  Our American made cedar log swing has a weight limit of 700 lbs, the imported Chinese fir swing has a weight limit of 300 lbs.  Can you even swing with your loved one on a Chinese fir log swing safely?

What is the cost of safety to you?  To me it is quite a bit - luckily as shown I can purchase the cedar log swing and it will not only be safer but will be a better value to me long term.  It will actually save me money.

Do you care about buying American made furniture?  So do I.  I'm grateful that I am able to buy American quality cedar log furniture and it will actually save me money and will support local businesses and local craftsmen who care about quality in log furniture.  Think about the long term when you purchase.  These large corporate garden centers are betting that the American public is ignorant and will just look to the bottom dollar.

At JHE’s Log Furniture Place we care about you and we care about log furniture.  You will not find dangerous imported Chinese fir outdoor log furniture on our website.  Chances are you have a local smaller garden center who believes in buying American as well.  Now that you know the difference between Chinese fir and Cedar furniture, what the real cost of cheap furniture is, you will be able to determine for yourself what the best value is when shopping for outdoor log furniture.

Contoured Comfort Cedar Log Tete-A-Tete by Lakeland Mills, Inc

Looking for a place to relax with a special someone after a busy day?  Looking for a comfortable sitting solution for two people?   Maybe something with two chairs connected together with a table in between them.  A table that isn’t overly large but is large enough to serve multiple uses; an armrest, a place to set a cup and plate, a laptop table, etc.  JHE’s Log Furniture Place and Lakeland Mills, Inc has just the thing for you.  The Contoured Comfort Cedar Log Tete-A-Tete.

Today we are going to take a closer look at the cedar log chairs and table set commonly called the log Tete-A-Tete.  This outdoor log furniture set can be found on our website under our outdoor log furniture section.  It is made by our co-owned factory Lakeland Mills, Inc.

You may be wondering why we chose the name tete-a-tete and how it is pronounced.  So let us start with some definitions and pronunciations.  Over the years I’ve heard at least a dozen variations of the pronunciation, there are however as far as I could find, three pronunciations that are correct:

1. ‘tet-ə-ˈtet
2. ‘tāt-ə-ˈtāt,
3. tēt-ə-ˌtēt.

The definition of tete-a-tete is

1. a private conversation between two people
2. a piece of furniture intended to seat two persons
3. Involving two people, intimately private

The inspiration of the design of our cedar log Tete-A-Tete came from these definitions.  Our goal was to create a comfortable piece of wooden outdoor furniture that would allow two people two sit comfortably and enjoy the day conversing amongst themselves.

To meet this goal we incorporated into the seat our extremely comfortable contoured cedar seat slats (found on many of our Contoured Comfort log furniture pieces) .  These contoured seat slats are cut out of cedar logs and are designed to conform to the natural shape of your body as you are sitting.  The result is a wooden seat that sits very comfortably due to the reduced pressure points!

We know a comfortable seat is just the start to a comfortable piece of log furniture so we moved on to the back.  We contoured the top back log so that the slats would be concaved, allowing your back to rest comfortably, again reducing pressure points.  We then adjusted the tilt of the seat and back to both be at comfortable angles.  The seat angle gives the feeling of sinking into the log tete-a-tete while the back is angled to be both relaxing while still sitting upright.

We understand that as much as a person will want to sit and relax all day in our cedar log tete-a-tete one must eventually get up.  The arms are built to be solid and strong rising upwards slightly at the front of the log tete-a-tete creating a sturdy base for your hands to assist raising the body out of the seat.

The cedar log tete-a-tete is constructed using Northern White Cedar.  Northern white cedar is naturally resistant to decay and insect damage.  Northern White Cedar is one of only a few woods that can be used for outdoor log furniture instead of pressure treated lumber because of its long life, durability, stability, and resistance to rot, insects, and fungi.  Learn more about Northern White Cedar here:  Information and Benefits of Northern White Cedar

Our cedar log tete-a-tete will come partially assembled and is easily assembled with common tools and about 15 to 20 minutes of your time.   Rust resistant zinc dichromate hardware is included as well as easy to follow directions written in English.  This is an American made product after all, made by Michigan craftsmen who care about quality and their work.



Please feel free to contact JHE’s Log Furniture Place with any questions or visit us online to purchase your Contoured Comfort Cedar Log Tete-A-Tete today.

I’m Looking at a Bunk Bed, What is a Bunkie Board?

So you have started looking at log bunk beds, congratulations!  A question that comes up a lot when our customers call in to us at JHE’s is “What is a Bunkie board, and do I really need it?”  This is a great question and I’m going to give you a great answer along with some more information on Bunkie boards.  There are many styles of Bunkie boards and we’ll cover all of the ones you will find at JHE’s Log Furniture Place.

A Bunkie Board Is…

A Bunkie board is a thin substitute for a box spring.  It is a thinner platform for the mattress to sit on so that the mattress does not slide through the cross supports on the log bunk bed.  Where a box spring can be 5” – 9” thick a Bunkie board is typically ¾” – 1”.

As the goal of the Bunkie board is to eliminate the need for a box spring it must perform the same function.  It must provide support for the mattress.  To meet this goal the mattress should be placed directly on the Bunkie board with nothing in between.

Some of the log bunk beds you will find on our site include a Bunkie board while others list the Bunkie board as optional.  We have found that some customers prefer to make their own Bunkie boards so we list the Bunkie board as optional on some of the cabin style bunk beds.

The Bunkie Board was Invented Because….

Most styles of bunk beds, including rustic bunk beds, are designed to fit into a room with standard height ceilings.  To fit them into the average size room, care has to be given to provide as much headroom as possible to the bunk below as well as to the bunk above.  Also to meet safety specifications all bunk beds must have a certain number of inches of safety rail above the top mattress.  A 3ft tall safety rail would be needed if a box spring was used on the top bunk and that would put the mattress very close to the ceiling, as well as look pretty odd, so the Bunkie board was invented.

What Styles of Bunkie Boards Do We Carry?

The first style is a standard slat kit.  Slat kits are a series of wooden slats that attach firmly to the log frame of your log bunk bed.  The slats will typically attach to the log cross supports running the width/depth of the rustic bunk bed with screws.  This will ensure that they stay on place on rustic bunk beds that have an open design.

The second style is the plywood Bunkie board.  The plywood Bunkie board is typically made of 5/8” to ¾ plywood.  At first the thought of a plywood Bunkie board may sound pretty dull.  It does not have to be!  Let me share a quick rustic décor tip for the upper bunk Bunkie board.  First find a flat bed sheet with a design on it that you like, it could be a solid color, a rustic theme, camouflage etc.   Now wrap that sheet around the Bunkie board, fully covering the bottom of it, and staple the remaining sheet into the top of the Bunkie board.  Now as you lay on your log bunk bed on the bottom bunk looking up at the top bunk you will see the log cross supports and your dressed up Bunkie board instead of the dull plywood Bunkie board!

The third style is the tongue and groove Bunkie board.  The tongue and groove Bunkie boards are made out of… yes, you guessed it, tongue and groove wooden boards.    These Bunkie boards provide a bit of rustic style and charm while providing solid support for the mattress.

The fourth and last style is the wooden frame Bunkie board.  These Bunkie boards are typically made of a series of wooden slats framed together and covered in fabric to mimic the look of a box spring.

Bunkie Mattresses

You may have seen or heard of a Bunkie mattress but you haven’t been able to find them on our site.  Why is that?  The reason is because, in my opinion, they are not worth the money.  If a child was to wet the bed you can’t clean the mattress and then flip it over and use the other side.  Why not?  Well a Bunkie mattress is a mattress that has a Bunkie board built into it on one side.  Basic coil mattresses need to be flipped so that they do not get lumpy and to give the springs a rest.  This is not possible with a Bunkie mattress.

Are Bunkie Boards Uncomfortable to sleep on?

If you search the internet you will find people who say that using a Bunkie board causes the mattress to be uncomfortable and they couldn’t sleep at all on it.  You can also find people online who say a lot of other crazy things.  In my opinion the mattress you use is going to determine at least 90% of your sleep comfort.

I sleep on a Posture-Air Adjustable Air Mattress by Englander.  It is Englander’s version of the Sleep Number mattress and it is very comfortable.  During our master bathroom renovation we had the opportunity to sleep on our Rustic Lakeland Twin over Full Cedar Log Bunk Bed, which we have in one of our spare bedrooms, for a month.  We slept on a standard Englander mattress with a Bunkie board under it and after a week I could tell a difference.  We added a 4” memory foam topper to the mattress and for the rest of the month I slept like a baby.   Shortly after that we swapped the standard Englander mattress for an upgraded Columbus Pillow Top Mattress.

Our guests commonly choose to sleep in the bunk bed room because they say they like the way it sleeps.  I think it is partially that and partially because you can't help but feel younger when sleeping in a bunk bed.  And when it is a comfortably sleeping log bunk bed... well how can it get better than that?

Please feel free to contact us with any other log furniture related questions that you may have.  We at JHE’s Log Furniture Place are here to help.  Thank you.

Enjoy Your Day with a Comfortable Cedar Log Rocking Chair

There is nothing quite like the feeling of sitting in a comfortable rocking chair and just rocking back and forth.  Something about the motion is calming and relaxing for all ages.  Babies love to be rocked and many young children love to try to rock themselves.  Mothers enjoy rocking their baby to sleep.  Grandparents are often pictured fondly in the mind sitting in their favorite rocking chair as they tell you stories.

Throughout the years rocking chairs have been made in many different shapes and sizes.  The first rustic rocking chairs to appear in England in the early 1700’s were commonly used as garden chairs.  Today we are going to look at a cedar log rocking chair that can be used in the garden, on your porch, on your patio, indoors, or just about anywhere else you would like to place it.

The Contoured Comfort Cedar Log Rocking Chair, model # CF1125 made by our co-owned factory Lakeland Mills, inc, is hand built using Northern White Cedar.  Yes, the same Northern White Cedar that is nearly impervious to insects, rot, and fungi.  The same cedar that requires little maintenance, is dimensionally stable, and is as durable as it is beautiful.    You will not find any cheap and brittle Chinese Fir in the construction of this log rocking chair.  You may read more about the benefits of Northern White Cedar here: Information & Benefits of Northern White Cedar

Our cedar log porch rocker features comfortable contoured seat slats.  The seat slats contour to fit the natural shape of the body minimizing pressure points.  The slatted fan style back is also slightly concaved to provide a comfortable back rest.  The back is also angled just right, not sitting too upright, and not leaning too far back.  This log rocker was designed with comfort in mind, comfort and durability.

Our log rocking chair is constructed from time tested Mortise and Tenon construction.  You can read more about the mortise and tenon here: What is a Mortise and Tenon? The tenons used in the construction of the wooden rocking chair are large to ensure the rocking chair is strong and durable.

Assembly is very easy as the log rocking chair will come partially assembled.  The back and the seat will be fully assembled.  Figure on the rustic rocking chair taking 10 to 15 minutes to assemble.

I personally love the Contoured Comfort collection.  We have quite a few pieces on our own front porch and screened in back porch.  It is always a fun experience watching people sit in it the first time.  Seeing the look of amazement come over their face as their belief that log furniture is uncomfortable without cushions is shattered.

I also love the fact that since this eco-friendly rustic furniture collection is made of white cedar and thick durable tenons it will last us for 15+ years.  I also love the fact that this rustic rocker is made by an American company who’s employees care about the rustic furniture they are hand crafting.  See my video of the Contoured Comfort Cedar Log Rocking Chair below

Introducing Rustic Log Bathroom Vanities from our Cedar Lake Collection

In the search for a rustic log vanity you will come across many styles and collections online.  There are numerous log vanities that look great, but what a lot of our customers do not realize before purchasing is that many of the most popular log vanities online have cabinets and counter tops which are made from furniture grade plywood with a thin veneer.  You can recognize these vanities by reading the descriptions where they will state that they come with a 'Log Edge Top' or 'Slab Style Top'.  I don’t know about you but I don’t associate thin veneers with rustic furniture in my head.  I think of beefy solid wood furniture that can take a scratch and take a dent and look better for it afterwards.  We decided to redeem people's visions of solid and durable rustic vanities by taking that beefy solid wood furniture mental image and turning it into Our Cedar Lake collection of rustic bathroom vanities.  These log bathroom vanities are available in two cabin style flavors just like our rustic bedroom dressers and log chests and are built to last a lifetime.

Our rustic log bathroom vanities are available in various sizes starting at 30” wide and moving up to 72” wide.  We are also more than happy to custom build to specific sizes if the need arises.  We offer various options on the vanities so that you can customize your log bathroom vanity to look exactly the way you want it.

For our original design for our log bathroom vanities we took inspiration from log cabin homes.  The tongue and groove commonly found on the interior walls, the unique log trim found on staircases, and the thick slab wooden countertops found on bar tops.  The end result is a log vanity with a thick and solid countertop with a natural front edge.  This sturdy natural countertop sits on top of the vanity base which has sides made from wooden tongue and groove boards.  We use hand sorted and picked naturally aged hand peeled cedar logs which feature various unique natural characteristics for the log corners.  The smooth gliding drawers are available with flat drawer fronts or you can kick up the rustic style of the vanity by choosing half log drawer fronts.

For our second design style on our log bathroom vanities we took inspiration from our Cedar Lake Logger collection.  As you may have read about on our blog introducing our Cedar Lake Collection found here:  Article introducing the Cedar Lake Collection, we went all out on the Logger collection.  The same holds true with our Cedar Lake Logger Bathroom Vanities.  We went all out for a true rustic look and feel.

The Logger bathroom vanities feature half log trim made from our naturally aged cedar logs.  This trim lines all visible sides of the rustic vanity cabinet.  The same half logs will make up the drawer fronts as well.  The authentic antler drawer pulls help glide the drawers open and shut effortlessly and silently on roller bearing glides.  The log vanity top will also be a solid thick slab of wood with a natural wavy front edge.  The sides of the countertop are hand draw knifed and a splash of color will be added with a blow torch.  The countertops are then finished with a liquid glass finish.  The liquid glass finish sets off the colors of the wood and scorch marks from the torch.

The Cedar Lake Log Bathroom Vanity collection is made to last a lifetime.  No shortcuts are taken in the construction for either rustic vanity style.  When you think of rustic furniture you think of solid furniture and our goal is to have you think of JHE’s Log Furniture Place Cedar Lake collection.  A collection of rustic log furniture that has so much unique character that you can look at it again and again and see something unique, previously unnoticed, each time.

Review of the Rush Creek Log Foosball Table

We have received quite a few calls on the Rush Creek Log Foosball (table soccer) table that we have on our website - www.logfurnitureplace.com.  Everybody wants to know what the quality is like.  In deciding whether or not to carry the Rush Creek line we had looked at and handled a few pieces of their rustic game room furniture – but not the rustic foosball table.  So we ordered a log foosball table for the office so that we could give an official review and have hands on knowledge to give our customers.

I ordered the log foosball table and it arrived a few days later (typical with the Rush Creek pieces – they ship out quickly).  Upon arrival we found the log cabin foosball table to be packaged quite well in a large single box.  The box and packaging weigh about 115lbs so it was easily manageable with a hand cart/dolly.  Upon opening the box we found the table section pre-assembled with the rest of the pieces packaged together in sections.  Unpacking the pieces and laying them out took roughly 10 minutes.

The Rush Creek Log Foosball Table is made from kiln dried pine.  There is no question about it being made of pine as the sweet smell of pine will waft through the room immediately upon opening the box.  After reading through the directions I started assembly and after roughly an hour my wife and I had the log foosball table setup, leveled with the adjustable leg levelers and we were ready to play!

I have to stop and make a note here.  The Rush Creek line of cabin style rec room furniture is dry assembled before it is packaged up.  Once dry assembled lettered stickers are placed on the parts so that when assembled again by the end user all the parts will match up exactly.  We found this to be true, assembly was very easy and I was grateful for the lettered stickers.

Ordering was simple, shipping was quick, assembly was easy – how is the log foosball table itself?  I decided to not review the rustic foosball table for a while because I wanted to give it some play time.  I figured two weeks would be plenty of time.  Here we are about 6 months later and I’m finally writing the review.

After 6 months the rustic foosball table is looking and playing like it did on day 1.  It is solid and sturdy and well worth the price in my opinion.  The hollow steel rods are heavy and strong, the pine frame has been holding up like a champ to our strenuous office play matches, err product testing.  Everyone enjoys it and I am very pleased to offer it on our website complete with free shipping.

I feel the Rush Creek Log Foosball Table will make a perfection addition to any home wanting a bit of a rustic feel to it and to any cabin.  From what we have seen the table is durable enough for rental cabins.  Let your log cabin stand out from the rest, most rental cabins have basic non rustic game furniture in the rec rooms, imprint your cabin in your renter's minds with this log foosball table.

See my video review (which I made a few weeks after receiving the table but never posted until last night...)  here:

Introducing a New Rustic Furniture Collection: The Cedar Lake Collection

We are all very excited here at JHE's Log Furniture Place to exclusively debut our new collection of log furniture.  With this collection we decided our goal was to combine the best of the best while offering the collection at a competitive price.  What we have ended up with is our Cedar Lake collection, a line of log furniture that will simply take your breath away when you lay your eyes on it.
The Unique Aged Cedar Logs
We started by locally sourcing the cedar logs from friends and associates.  For the cedar logs we wanted as much character as possible so we found logs that were naturally aged.  What we were able to find were a lot of dead standing cedar trees and cedar trees that had been cut down by farmers and stored in barns.  There the trees were left to sit allowing nature herself to age the logs.  The naturally aged cedar logs are thusly rich in character and many will feature beetle marks, burls, gnarls and other rustic character.
When the logs are brought to our factory we set out hand peeling the logs.  Hand peeling is not a fancy name for a machine peeler of some sort.  Literally we dig our fingers in under the bark separating the bark up off of the log enough to get a better grip in the hand and then the bark is peeled away.  It is a very labor intensive and time consuming process, but the end result are amazingly beautiful logs that have their outer bark stripped away while having areas of cambium, or inner bark, left on.  This hand peeling process ensures that the logs keep as much of their uniqueness as possible.  The cambium also adds some color to the whitish hue that Northern White Cedar has.
After the hand peeling process the logs are brought in to the drying room, where a large wood burning furnace, or kiln, dries the logs.  During this kiln drying process a good percent of the moisture that was left in the logs is removed.  The escaping moisture is what creates the checking in the logs.  More about checking can be read in our article here:  Checking and Cracking.
The Log Beds in the Cedar Lake Collection

The log beds you will find in our Cedar Lake Collection are going to range from the classic log bed style to more unique styles.  Select skilled builders, or log furniture artisan if you will, will carefully construct each and every lodge bed.
Since all of the logs are vastly different the building process cannot be automated. The specialized builders will sort through the logs patiently and carefully while envisioning your log bed in their mind’s eye.  After they have found the complementing logs needed to create the rustic masterpiece they envision they will then lay the logs out and will start constructing your cabin style bed by hand.  Bends, beetle tracks, twigs, splits, forks, checking, arches, burls and knots – all of these natural markings on the logs come into consideration in the placement and construction of your log bed.  The most unique markings are placed in the most visible areas when possible on your log bed ensuring that your rustic bed is a unique piece of art.
This process is repeated for each and every bed in our Cedar Lake Collection, whether you choose the Original Log Bed, the Super Spindle Log Bed, the Flat Top Spindle Log Bed, the Original Canopy Bed, the Leaning Ladder Bunk Bed, the original Bunk Bed, headboards etc. etc.

The Log Chests, Rustic Dressers and Cabin Style Nightstands in the Cedar Lake Collection
We decided to create two lines of rustic chests, log dressers and log nightstands in our Cedar Lake Collection.  Both lines feature solid construction with smooth rolling drawers.  Both lines are built to become your family’s rustic heirlooms. Both lines feature solid tops with a natural edge.  Solid?!  Yes, solid…
We looked around at a lot of the cedar furniture being sold, and found that the most popular and best selling rustic cedar furniture lines use plywood with veneer for the sides and the tops.  The tops are typically a thinner piece of furniture grade plywood with a log edging to make it appear thick.  These tops look great… but rustic furniture to me should be real.  It should be solid, it should be built to withstand lifetimes of use and abuse.  So we decided to go with a real top, a thick and solid top that will last lifetimes.  The tops feature natural edges on two sides.  These natural edges are often wavy and add a lot of character to the furniture.  The two non natural edges are hand draw knifed and can be lightly fired with a blow torch, if desired, to add even more color and unique character.
The Cedar Lake Logger line is a heavy, extremely rustic, naturally beautiful line.  As you will soon see we built this line with no holds barred.
The logger line features drawers with strong and durable full-extension drawer glides.  Yes, I said full-extension.  These smooth and silent roller bearing glides open effortlessly and allow you to pull the drawer open completely.  We continued with the logger line and built half log drawer fronts – not the typical one log makes a drawer – no, we combined multiple logs to create uniquely beautiful drawer fronts.  The drawers turned out so good that we decided to create the sides of the logger chests, dressers and nightstands with logs also.  Now you can see why we called this line the logger line!  For the drawer pulls we decided to use authentic drawer handles to accentuate the look of the log trim.
We stood back and were pleased and satisfied with the result of our logger collection.  We then brought others in to get opinions and soon found that although everyone appreciated the unique look, not everyone would want a no-holds barred piece of rustic furniture in their home.  Thus we created the second line of rustic case goods in our Cedar Lake collection.
The second line features the same thick and solid natural edge tops, the same solid construction, but we toned down the look by creating the sides of the rustic dressers, cabin style chests and rustic night stands with tongue and groove.  The tongue and groove sides give a cabin wall look.  We then used our extremely rustic logs on the corners for legs and decided to offer the drawer fronts in a flat front style or a half log style.  For the drawer slides we switched to smooth gliding euro-glides.   Now everyone was happy and we could move on to designing dining room and living room furniture!
Log Dining Tables, Half Log Benches, and Comfortable Rustic Log Dining Chairs
With the rustic dining room furniture we decided to start with the dining chairs.  We figured what point is it to have a nice solid log dining table if you don’t have a comfortable chair to sit in at it?  We used this same thought in our outdoor log furniture collection - the Contoured Comfort collection.  Our outdoor log furniture is known for comfort, for the ability to hug and curve the natural contours of your body.  We were not going to stop until we had duplicated this sense of comfort in a rustic elegant dining chair.
Yes, we know a lot of companies are charging more for upgrading their dining chair to a comfortable log dining chair.  I don’t like to nickel and dime our customers.  You know what you want, why should you have to upgrade and upgrade just to get it?  It should come standard in my opinion.  So our log dining chairs come standard with a comfortable seat.  Not only a comfortable seat, I should also mention that we spent a lot of time on the comfort of the back as well.  You can lean back in your chair and relax after eating your meal, or while trying to mask your face while holding pocket aces, all comfortably and naturally.
Now that we had the comfortable log dining chairs it was time to create the center piece of the dining room, the dining table.  A dining table top goes through a lot of abuse, unintentional or intentional a dining table top needs to be solid and durable.
Here again we found a lot of cabin dining tables using a thin wood with veneer with a log edging to give the appearance of being thick.  I’m sure these tables are fine for showpieces – for those with dining rooms that will only be used for the Holidays.  But why not have a rustic dining table that is not only an elegantly beautiful showpiece, but also a strong and durable log dining table as well?  Thus we drew design after design, constructed prototype after prototype, trying to hit that fine line of beauty and rustic.
What we ended up with, funnily enough, is the same style of top that we use on our rustic dressers and chests.  The natural edge gives a natural beauty, like looking at a tree.  The thick and solid top can take beatings from kids without worry.  Any dents in the top will only add to the rustic look of the dining table without taking away from the rustic sophistication.
Cedar Lake Collection Log Sofas, Rustic Easy Chairs and Other Log Living Room furniture
The living room was quite a bit easier to design.  We had learned our lesson with the dining tables and knew we could use the same tops for our log coffee tables.  We also wanted to add a second option of table styles in the living room though, so we gathered inspiration from our logger line of bedroom furniture.  We took half logs and joined them together side by side creating a flat top and a unique log bottom.
Our rustic living room seating includes log sofas, log futons, log easy chairs and log love seats.  We wanted to set our cabin style living room furniture apart from all the others.  What we decided to do was to add to the classic rustic log style by adding leather capped arms.  These softly padded arm pieces are added to the tops of the arms with nailhead trim, adding an elegant sophisticated look to your cabin furniture.
Comfort is, in my opinion, the most important feature in a piece of furniture.  Especially living room furniture where one tends to sit the most.  Thus we spent a great amount of time designing the seat cushion supports, finding the most comfortable angle of the back, and of course creating the most comfortable yet durable cushions.  I'm quite pleased to say that though our log living room furniture looks rustic... it seats luxuriously

Lounge in a Contoured Log Chair and Relax With Nature

With spring fast approaching we are all looking forward  to being able to sit outside with friends and family, or with a good book.  Sitting outside with a nice breeze and the sun splashing a warmth across your skin.  The sweet smell of nature in the air, the soft scent of fresh blooms blossoming and the clean smell of freshly cut grass.  Birds twittering hello as you sit in your Contoured Comfort log chair lounging in the comfort of your own yard, or your own porch.  We know how valuable being able to get away to relax is.  With this in mind we created our Contoured Comfort log lounge chairs, log love seats and log settees to be extra comfortable.  In our opinion, and many others, we ended up with the most comfortable log furniture you can sit in.  What sets our line of rustic log furniture apart is our seat slats are contoured to conform to the natural shape of your body for maximum comfort and support.

We carefully hand make each rustic lounge chair using Northern White Cedar Logs – no brittle and weak imported Chinese fir logs found here!  Don’t be fooled by cheap and often uncomfortable look-a-likes.  Made from Northern White Cedar our CF1126 Contoured Comfort Log Lounge Chair is naturally resistant to rot and insect damage.

All of our logs are kiln dried thus most of the checking (cracking) will have already occurred.  Checking occurs when the logs dry and the cells shrink causing the wood to split.  We stress test all of our dried logs before putting them into production to ensure that the cracks have not weakened the logs.  Read more about checking and cracking in our article here.  Checking gives cedar log furniture its natural rustic beauty.

Our American made outdoor log chair is made by my family’s company, Lakeland Mills, Inc, in Michigan.  Our heavy duty rustic wood chairs and log furniture are built to last year after year.  We believe in supplying a quality product, a product you will be proud display, a rustic product you will love to call your own.

Your outdoor wood chair will ship partially assembled with some basic and easy assembly required.  Read our article on how simple our outdoor log furniture is to assemble here: Outdoor Log Furniture Assembly Instructions.  Complete in the box you will find rust resistant zinc dichromate hardware and easy to follow instructions.

Remember, you can always find time to get away and relax when you don’t have to go farther than your own home.

Relieve the Stress of Your Day with a Log Yard Swing

Looking to relax and relieve some of the day’s stress, but are not sure where to go?  With our log yard swing you don’t need to go any farther than your own yard.  Relax in our log swing which features contoured seat slats for the utmost in sitting comfort.  The seat slats conform to the natural shape of your body for maximum comfort and support. Lean back and swing your stress away on a rustic swing that was designed from the ground up to be as comfortable as it is durable.

We carefully hand make each rustic yard swing using Northern White Cedar Logs – no brittle and weak imported Chinese fir logs found here!  Don’t be fooled by cheap look-a-likes.  Made from Northern White Cedar our CF1128 Contoured Comfort Log Yard Swing is naturally resistant to rot and insect damage.

All logs are kiln dried thus most of the checking (cracking) will have already occurred.  Checking occurs when the logs dry and the cells shrink causing the wood to split.  We stress test all of our dried logs before putting them into production to ensure that the cracks have not weakened the logs.  Read more about checking and cracking in our article here.  Checking gives cedar log furniture its natural rustic beauty.

Our American Made log swing is made by my family’s company, Lakeland Mills, Inc, in Michigan.  Our heavy duty log swing weighs around 160lbs not 100lbs or less like many of the imported fir swings you may find.  Featuring a 5 ft comfortable sitting surface it will easily accommodate and support 3 average size people with ease.

Your rustic swing will ship partially assembled with some basic and easy assembly required.  Read our article on how simple our outdoor log furniture is to assemble  here: Outdoor Log Furniture Assembly Instructions.  Complete in the box you will find rust resistant zinc dichromate hardware and easy to follow instructions.

Remember, you can always find time to get away and relax when you don’t have to go farther than your own home.

How To Take Care of Your Copper Sink

Are you worried about purchasing a copper sink because you think there will be a lot of work involved in taking care of it?  Don’t worry, so are a lot of other people.  By now you have read my blog on ‘How to Find and Choose a Quality Copper Sink’ so you know how to find and pick out a quality copper sink.  If not I highly suggest that you take a minute and read that blog…. All done?  Great!  Let’s dig in and find out how to care for your quality copper sink.

How To Maintain Your Quality Copper Sink

I’m going to start out with a quick statement: I’m going to stop saying quality copper sink now because you know the difference between copper sinks – all references to copper sinks = quality copper sinks.
You are going to love this next sentence… When it comes to the general maintenance of a copper sink, the less you do to the sink the better.  Copper sinks do not require polishing or scrubbing.  Due to the tempering of the copper to a patina finish, your copper sink will feature an aged, weathered look.  No need to polish the sink because the weathered look is the desired look.  Now there are a few things you can do to keep your copper sink looking its best.

1. Copper Sink Wax:  Copper sink wax is an easy to use sprayable wax which helps alleviate a lot of the cleaning requirements.  The sprayable waxes you will want to use will spray a natural bee’s wax.  The surface protecting wax will clean, protect, preserve and restore the luster of your copper sink.

How often should you apply the copper sink wax?  The best way to tell is to watch the sink, whenever water stops beading on the surface it is time to spray it again.
No copper wax on hand? No worries, here are a few more tips:

1. Rinsing:  After you are finished using your copper sink, give it a quick rinse.
2. Wipe the Copper Sink Out:  Do you live in an area that has a lot of mineral content in the water?  If you have hard harsh water it is a good idea to wipe the sink out.  Hard water, if left to sit on your copper sink’s surface for too long, can cause spots to form.
3. If you ever need more than a rinse to clean your copper sink just use a soft cloth and a very mild cleaner.  Anything abrasive can scratch the copper sink which isn’t good, but a scratch isn’t the end of the world.

My Copper Sink Got A Scratch!

The fact that copper sinks looks more beautiful with age is amazing enough, but the idea that copper sinks can heal themselves is almost unbelievable! It is true though.  If you happen to scratch your copper sink, don’t worry, just sit back and do nothing.

Due to coppers ‘living finish’, the copper sink will heal itself.  Just maintain your copper sink as we instructed above.  In time the scratches on the sink will fade out and disappear.

Do Copper Sinks Dull with Age?

Copper improves with age, unlike many other things which will dull and lose their luster with age.  As time goes by your patina finish, that beautiful weathered look will deepen and become richer.  The more use your copper sink gets, the faster it will age.

Amazing Fact

Copper is a natural antibacterial.  Unlike stainless steel sinks, copper sinks actually fight bacteria.  It has recently been proved that bacteria can only live on copper sinks for a few hours.  Bacteria can live on stainless steel for several days!  Your copper sink can be thought of as self cleaning as far as germs go.

With all of the wonderful qualities that copper sinks possess, it is hard to believe that everyone would not want a copper sink!  Copper sinks require little maintenance, they improve with age, they are antibacterial, and they heal themselves.  Along with adding a beautiful unique look to any bathroom, kitchen or bar copper sinks are the easiest type of sink to maintain.

How to Find and Choose a Quality Copper Sink

Yesterday we talked about how eco-friendly copper sinks are.  Today we are going debunk a myth about copper sinks and talk about what to look for when purchasing a copper sink.  With so many choices available it is very easy to make a mistake depending on what your end result goals are.   Let’s begin by myth busting a common misconception.

Copper sinks are time consuming to clean and are difficult to take care of.  WRONG!

Copper sinks, by which we mean quality copper sinks made from 99.9% of copper like you will find on our site www.logfurnitureplace.com, are easy to care for.  A lot of people think of copper pots and pans and how difficult they were to keep clean.  Before the non stick Teflon you had copper in the bottoms of your pans.  These copper pots and copper pans had to be scrubbed and polished regularly.

That is a lot of work, too much work in today’s fast paced world.  I can only imagine how people look back and remember how difficult and time consuming it was scrubbing and polishing their copper pots and pans and wonder, “why would I want to spend so much time scrubbing and polishing a beautiful copper sink?”.  I wouldn’t and I don’t blame you if you wouldn’t.  But here is some great news – quality copper sinks require little to no maintenance at all!  How is this possible? Well I’m getting a bit off track so we will talk about that on another day.  Today we are talking about finding a quality copper sink.

Step 1: Finding a Quality Copper Sink

So how do you know your copper sink is of a good quality?  Make sure your copper sink is made of 99.9% copper.  A lot of cheaper copper sinks are only made of 90% copper and these you will have to scrub and polish.  If in the care description it states that you need to wipe out the copper sink after each use, just keep on looking.  It may be the cheapest bathroom copper sink you have found, but how much is your time worth?  Can you imagine washing your hands, and then having to stop and wipe the bowl dry afterwards?  Can you imagine your family and guests having to do the same thing?  It doesn’t make for a fun time for most people.

Step 2: Construction of a Quality Copper Sink

Construction is something you should look at in a copper sink.  “Duhh”, you may think.  But we are not talking about looking something over to make sure there aren’t any holes where there shouldn’t be or any other basic construction aspect.  You need to look a bit deeper at the construction.  Think ahead for when the copper sink will be in use.

Hand-rolled Corners and Edges

A good quality copper sink will feature hand rolled corners and seams.  Why is this important?  Well picture a copper sink (or look at the image below) that does not have a rolled corner and seam.  Imagine how much dirt, grime, food, etc. would get stuck in the small, tight corners and seams.  With a rolled seam and rolled corners you will not have this problem.  There are no tight corners for the dirt and grime to get stuck in.  The hand rolled corners and seam feature promotes proper drainage and easy cleaning.  Simply rinse the sink and walk away.

Hand-Rolled Corners and Seam

Non Rolled Corner and Seam

Reinforcements and Supports

A good quality large kitchen sink will also have hidden reinforced corners under the sink.  Look at the image below.

Notice the difference?  On the left is a good quality Premier Copper Product single bowl farmhouse apron kitchen copper sink.   On the right is a low cost, low quality “similar” product.  The sink on the left has three 14 gauge supports that provide stability in the middle of the apron and at the corners.  This feature will keep the apron straight for the lifetime of the product.  Since copper is a soft metal, a straight apron that remains straight over time is a difficult task that is only accomplished by a skilled artisan and maintained by proper support.

Troughed

Quality copper kitchen sinks will also be troughed to provide proper drainage to the drain.  A copper sink with a flat bottom (like the cheaper sink on the right) will have to be wiped dry after each use to keep the cheaper 90% copper sink from rusting.

Step 3: Considering the Gauge of your Copper Sink

The gauge of the copper used in the construction of a copper sink is an important consideration.  A thicker gauge will hold up better during regular use and will be less susceptible to dents or scratches.  You do not want a cheaper copper sink that is constructed by cutting corners using thinner materials for the sinks and supports.

Step 4: Tempered Patinas

The natural rich look you will find on quality copper sinks is achieved by heat-setting, or tempering, the copper to a patina finish.  The patina is a living finish that will endlessly regenerate throughout the life of the product with regular use and simple maintenance.  Poorly manufactured copper sinks achieve color with chemical treatments and sealants that are not easily maintained over time.

Step 5:  The Last Consideration

The term “handmade” can mean many things.  Most of the companies making lesser quality copper sinks will promote the term “handmade” to disguise poor or inconsistent manufacturing techniques.  Purchasing a copper sink that is manufactured by a known and trusted copper sink manufacturer may cost a bit more up front, but will save you time, trouble, and more than likely more money in the end.

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.  In the area of copper sinks this is very true.  However, just because a sink may be priced a few hundred dollars more than another does not necessarily make it better.  Some may try to disguise their poor construction and cheaper materials by raising the price to portray the thought “You are spending so much more on this copper sink, it must be the best”.  Look at the sink and compare it to our steps above.  If it has everything mentioned in the steps above then it will be a great quality copper sink and you will enjoy not only a lifetime of use out of it, but a lifetime of comments from friends and family about how beautiful your copper sink is.