What is different in Residential Furniture compared to Commercial Furniture?
We have all been to a hotel or doctor’s office and sat on their furniture. Typically it feels firmer than what is made for regular homes. Kathy does a lot of commercial projects, and work with furniture made to last in a commercial facility. Please Kathy, tell us more about commercial furniture.
Is the firmness the main difference between residential furniture and commercial furniture?
It is one of the differences. Most commercial facilities want their furniture to last a long time so they use a much denser foam in the seat cores to gain many years of use. Many of these areas are not designed for relaxation, but for sitting a shorter time. Also, there is an assortment of people, sizes and ages, so they try to accommodate many people. Do they use different construction as well?
Yes, that is also important. They may have clients who use things very gently, but they might also be kids jumping on the pieces (every hotel knows we do this), so extra support systems are used to guarantee many year of use for their investment. What about the types of covering that they use?
This is what is really important as the durability of the foam and frames are key, but the fabrics are what everyone see. It is important to be able to clean them for years of use. Lots of the fabrics today are cleanable with bleach water which will get tough stains out as well as sanitize more easily. These types of fabrics are being brought into the residential lineups as well, so you can have them at home and enjoy the easy maintenance also. Many manufacturers also offer a moisture protection under the fabrics to protect the foam cores against spills.
Many manufacturers also offer a moisture protection under the fabrics to protect the foam cores against spills. Is there anything different in the styles that are offered?
There are many different styles. Some manufacturers do strictly residential but many offer a commercial line as well, where they add more heavy duty framing, denser foams, moisture protection and commercial fabrics, which works well to work with one manufacturer to get everything the project might need!
All of these changes will affect the price of course, because you have upgraded the product to a higher quality. Many of our manufacturers already build a pretty heavy duty frames and have coil springs construction in their normal line, because they know Life Happens. They are offering commercial type fabrics as well. If you are already buying a quality piece, there really isn’t much cost difference. Some manufactures are still able to get you a soft feeling seat and a stronger under carriage frame design. If you want to know more about commercial furniture, dining room sets, bedroom furniture and more. Come in and talk to us and we will show you what is offered for the needs you have.
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