Medullary RaysMay 13th, 2012

On many occasions when we have made a delivery there is on occasion a reference to strange silvery lines, stripes or discolouration in the oak, as a customer once commented “….. it looks as though something has been spilt on it.” we then have a lengthy discussion about Medullary Rays.

These Medullary Rays ,lines or stripes are also referred to as Pith Rays or Wood Rays and are a characteristic found in most woods but are most striking in hard woods such as Oak.

Medullary Rays

They are formed by the build up of primarily Parenchyma cells which allow the radial transmission of sap from the heart of the tree to the outer and are an essential process of Tylosis which is essentially the tree protecting itself from any foreign invaders as it expands.

Anatomy of a tree.

When the boards of timber are then cut from the trunk usually quater sawn these rays are roughly perpendicular the surface of the board giving the beautiful affect of the silvery wisps running through the grain, which just adds to the  great character of the wood.

So the next time that you see some silvery flecks, or strange silver “Tiger stripes” running through the grain, there is nothing wrong with it, in fact quite the reverse, Medullary Rays are a great sign that what you are buying is exactly what it says on the tin solid real wood that will last you for many years.


Posted in Frequently asked questions. | 1 Comment »

Anything but ordinary!May 12th, 2012

At A world of furniture we can be accused of many things, anything but ordinary! We as fully independent retailers have come across some extremely weird and wacky items over the years and this post will show just a few of them…..

Fokker Triplane

Here we have the first example of eccentricity, the Fokker Triplane, from a company called Authentic Models it is a fantastic looking bit of kit and with a wingspan of 32″ it is fairly big, this on its own you may not think is that extraordinary but when you consider that it was joined by a 4ft long Hindenburg Zeppelin, a Sopwith Camel, a Spirit of St Louis and a few other bi-planes it did take a while to remember where you were!

The next great example is ………

The Gramophone (Ancient Ipod)

Yes it’s the amazing ancient method of mixing a bad beat, I give you the Gramophone, several years ago we had a consignment from India and the mix was…… well a little different. We had several of these bad boys on there, much to the amusement of customers who had popped in store at the time when we managed to find some records for them!

Next up on the weird stock countdown….

The glass Wasp catcher

These suddenly appeared in Salisbury once and there was much mockery at the time as it was discovered that there were “a few” knocking around the place, but there must have been a heavy wasp infestation that year as they all sold so that told us!

Next on the conveyor of odd….

Cane Motorbike

These are fantastic, well I am slightly biased as I am part of the biking fraternity but this are great little gifts and I emphasise little at this stage because these are only about 30cm long and so great for a mantle or bookcase.

However we did go one better than this when someone requested a full size version of this and we dutifully told him “no problem!” the next week arrived a gargantuan packing case with a full size cane motorbike in it!

Up next….

Teak Root Spider Coffee Table

This is a great line of outdoor furniture that we currently stock, made entirely from Teak Root, there are benches, side tables, stools, sculptures and these Spider Coffee Tables.

Now as you know Teak is a hard wood and hard woods tend to be on the bloomin heavy side and these are no exception! This is certainly something a little different for the garden, anything but ordinary!

And so this trend of anything but ordinary continues, it is a little while ago now but this year as many years before we popped up to the furniture show to see the latest odds and ends and the latest trends that would be hitting the market this season and lo and behold we came across this range….

Bespoak's Industrial Oak Range

and we had to have it!! Due into the stores in the next couple of weeks it’s Bespoak’s new Industrial Oak range, and it is quite simply superb and barking mad at the same time!

Constructed out of solid oak with coal truck wheels and associated iron work to finish off the look it really is anything but ordinary a great talking point for your guests who will think your either an interior design god or just losing the plot a bit but which ever it is it will certainly get people talking!

This is just a small selection of the odd items that we have had in over the years and some of it is still current (anyone for a Triplane or root coffee table…..), I am sure that some of the guys across the stores will have their favourites too, I hope that a few find their way onto this blog post,  but it just goes to show the diversity of the products that A world of furniture are willing to stock and moreover the way that each store is encouraged to be just that little bit different and put a little individualism on the shop floor.

Lets face it (and this is coming from a male perspective…) shopping can be a little dull and if it can be spiced up a bit with some interesting bits and bobs then all the better…. now where did I put that 6ft Giraffe……

 

Posted in What's in store? | 1 Comment »

Spring clean takes another step!April 17th, 2012

Spring has sprung and there is change in the air with a big ol clean out at the Salisbury store.

Here at A world of furniture we have never been known to rest on our laurels and as the great saying goes “a change is as good as a rest” and that is certainly true here.

We are looking at some exciting new developments at the Salisbury store with a whole new floor being installed over the next week or so and so the first call of duty was to have a good ol clear out and clear the canvass for the installation to begin in earnest.

It was almost sad to start removing the racking and shift all of the furniture out leaving the unit almost devoid of anything woodlike, a shade of its former self, but to be honest it was about time, Kim and Aggie would have had a field day with the amount of detritus that was unearthed!

 

 

Posted in Staff News | 2 Comments »

Devonshire – who needs to go abroad?April 4th, 2012

Having just come back from my hols in glorious setting of the Devonshire countryside you have to ask the question – why would you want the hassle of jetting abroad?

Having chosen a great cottage (The Roundhouse near Hartland is an old mill that has been converted and it is quite simply lush, have a look at their site, get the family together and check it out)  on the North Devonshire coast in the little village of Hartland just north of Bideford (and yes sadly I did pop in to see the guys and gals of Devonshire Pine…… but they do a great cup of coffee (and cake!)  - cheers Charmaine!) it was time to set off last week to our destination and at this point you will probably say “well its no wonder that it was glorious, a heat wave in March….”.

This may be the case but who was it that coined the phrase a bad day on holiday is better than a good day at work (in my case I probably enjoy one far too much then the other) and therefore it could have been peeing it do………. well ok the trip was enhanced by the fact the temperature did not actually fall below 20 degrees all week and I came back with a tan, I am sooooo sorry if I am rubbing it in for all  all of those people that were working this particular week, having to watch the sun from behind a computer screen, desperately clinging to the hope of fair weather during their Easter break only for these dreams to be dashed when the wind turned and we seem to have slipped back into winter again – no really I mean it, I feel really guilty writing this…..

Nothing can beat the UK when holidaying, I know for most this kicks up thoughts of knotted hankies, white socks and sandals and the usual cats and dogs (where did this saying come from – in the middle east in bygone times they had it raining frogs, fish, locusts and the like – really dramatic stuff , here we get cats and dogs, I mean the others are lets face it just as far fetched but there some tenuous links to water and flying, when was the last time you saw a cat flying through the air?) anyway you get the idea that  holidaying in the UK would be as interesting as counting the pebbles in your driveway, although I have heard of an Australian that liked collecting belly button fluff, but you will have to check out our youtube video for that.

But actually when you go you realise that, especially near the coast, what a great country we live in, the walks along the North Devonshire cliffs are no exception, the views are quite literally stunning, huge breakers crashing on to wide sandy beaches, or even the rocky ones where the surfers gather to mock individuals like myself and fellow idiot/ brother in law Clyde after we had a harrowing experience with our Kayaks, they really are not designed for anything more than a ripple – near death experience number one!

But as you walk further there are even more fantastic scenes, Blackchurch rock for instance a bit of a trek to get to but well worth it,

Blackchurch Rock.

Blackchurch Rock, A quite incredible formation especially when you are stood underneath it - each of the holes is about 30ft high!

which is situated just south of the Village of  Clovelly an entirely closed off village built on the side of a cliff  or the amazing Spekes waterfall just around the headland from Hartland (near death two, turning into Spider Man to get a better view is really not the best of ideas) but even if all of this walking is not for you and kayaking does not float your boat….. (I know comedy genius!) then how about cycling, well in actual fact you probably would not want to try this either as when it was suggested that we pop down to the local at Hartland Quay I jumped at the opportunity – well the view over a pint is very nice – and so off we set.  Near death number three, not just the van driver on the tiniest of roads driving like Petter Solberg but the holy cow (it’s family friendly show….) the gradient on the way back was hellish! A pleasant cycle in the early eve was promised and it was more like doing a stage in the Tour De France – I’m sure Cldye’s got it in for me!

Things did calm down mid week and so to the beach at Crooklets near Bude and a well deserved vegetate on the sand, well for a couple of minutes before we once again broke out the kayaks, buckets and spades and went for a paddle, built a sand castle to end all sand castles (although my niece did decide that we needed a torture pit for all the workers who misbehave… she is a bit odd!) but once again the sun was shining and it was absolutely gorgeous!

I know that we had exceptional conditions (sorry to bring this up again….) but I would rather spend a holiday in the UK, even if you get the odd day when it is a little on the wet and blustery side you would be unlucky to have this all the time you were out and about and lets face it, the wet and blustery bit would, probably, be as long as the queues at the airport, the couple of hours spent on a plane or the bit in A and E having a skin graft from 8 hours a day sat on the beach going crispier than a side of bacon!

There, that’s that sorted, now to get my back hander from the UK tourist board……….

Posted in Mutterings | No Comments »

Olympics band wagon – jump on board!March 12th, 2012

It’s not too far away now is it….. you know that Olympics thingamy, people running around the place, jumping over things and various other sporting pursuits and I feel that we should in some way be supporting the Olympics with great gusto, well everyone else is….

Now I realise that there are all kind of pitfalls, so this has to be approached with caution, just jumping on the band wagon will not do, there are a whole range of things that one must avoid so as not to upset those who are running the show, for instance I could not possibly mention London or the year of our lord 2012 in too close a proximity to A world of furniture, that would just be silly.

Nor could I refer to the aforementioned year in its own right, I have liked other years in the past and I quite like this one too so it would be nice to able to support it but this would frowned upon if done directly so to start it would have to be referred to as the “Second Year After The First Decade of the Third Millennia” a bit of a mouthful but I reckon it could work.

Now for the second problem, sporty peoples, not to say that sporty peoples are a problem, I am sure that the Olympics are full of very nice sports men and women it’s just another support thing again, I mean I couldn’t just come out with the fact that A world of furniture is a great supplier of furniture to the Olympians of this particular year, because, well we don’t – directly, but I am positive that a sporty person has probably bought some furniture from us at one time or another and I am positive that with all our customers someone must at least know a sporty person who is actually in the Olympics or (even more tenuously) must know someone that is at least working on the Olympics who went to the gym once.

I feel that the only other pitfall is the Olympics themselves, now I can mention it quite a bit (fairly good count on this blog so far…… Olympics – just squeeze another in for good measure…) but to say that we supported it in any way would send sports directors running to No Win No Fee lawyers quicker than I could type Olympics (although it did take some time so maybe they could just stroll instead..) so we have to look at that in a different way too… mmmmm this is trickier than I thought but after much deliberation I think that I have finally come up with something.

A world of furniture Furnishing the Homes of Sporty Peoples Who Are Running Around a Lot During The Second Year After The First Decade of the Third Millennia!

Ha! Who needs Saatchi and Saatchi…….

Posted in Mutterings | No Comments »

Spring has sprung…… a leak.March 4th, 2012

Well there we go, I knew that I had been too quick off the mark with the post last week “Spring has sprung” , here we are today with conditions that could not be further from the teasing spring sunshine and the promise of all things summery.

But then we are in the UK after all and I suppose that I should be grateful that we saw any sunshine at all, but I did foolishly deploy the full flavour of the new garden furniture that A world of furniture has recently acquired and this is certainly the death knell for any sun seaker.

But it was difficult to resist the temptation with such lovely garden furniture to display, Rattan tables and chairs, stools, swivel chairs, root benches and even huge parasols!

See, we really are A world of furniture and no area of your home is overlooked, we literally have furniture for anywhere that you can think of.

The garden furniture is great stuff though, completely weather proof (which is just as well with the conditions its out in at the moment, it is actually snowing again!), powder coated aluminium frames with a PU Rattan weave over the top, tempered glass table tops and each set comes complete with splash proof cream seat cushions  for each of the stools or chairs, this really is the best furniture for lounging about this summer, enjoying the sun and the BBQ…… I have done it again haven’t I……. don’t mention the sun, it’s shy.

Posted in General, What's in store? | No Comments »

Spring has sprung!February 25th, 2012

Spring has most definitely sprung and I am feeling all Summery! I know that I am probably jumping the gun as it is still only the end of Feb, but it is a glorious day and we have gone from the 3 degrees (a fine group of ladies…..) to a heart warming 16+ in only a day or so!

The sky is an actual blue colour, I know, shocking to discover, but more peculiar than this, there is a strange yellow orb in the blueness, it seems to hover there making all who bathe in its glowy brilliance feel a kind of fuzzy warmness wash over them.

Someone here referred to it as “the sun” I told them not to be so daft as this is a mythological beast found only in the foot hills of Ye Olde London village, a lowly creature with a magical power over society darlings and MP’s but also a fondness of dishing out cash to those unscrupulous enough to take it…..

So BBQ’s at the ready, make sure the paddling pool is on stand by, that the gazebo is primed and ready to rock because “here comes the summer, here comes the summer……….”

 

 

Yes it is The Undertones……

Posted in General, Mutterings | 2 Comments »

What, no snow……?February 5th, 2012

Well that was disappointing, we all looked gleefully skyward yesterday here at the Chandlers Ford emporium with the expectation of white stuff falling from the heavens, but even at closing time it was still only just the slightest bit of drizzle.

“That’s all right,” I said to the crew, “they said that it would be coming in over night…” now I know this all seems a little on the juvenile side, but there is nothing needed more than a good ol dusting of snow to bring out the kid in you.

And so with that thought spinning through our minds we headed off home with big grins on our faces with imaginings of sledding around the car park, giant snowmen and general tomfoolery that could be partaken of in the morning.

That was until this morning came around, I felt absolutely devastated to find that all we had to greet us was a dull, grey, wet and chilly Sunday morning without even the slightest hint of anything that would even resemble snowyness,.

It was as though I had been thrust through time and become a nine year old again, you know, when you saw the lovely fluffy stuff coming down when you started school in the morn but by the time you had first break the sun had come out and melted it all….. bugger!

To compound our rather dampened spirits there is news of  places only a few miles away where they are having a wail of a time!

Just where is the justice in that I ask you, here we are with our sleds to hand and not a flake in sight……. that’s it, I am going into the warehouse for a big sulk……

Posted in General, Mutterings | No Comments »

Furniture for TreesJanuary 28th, 2012

Sounds a bit odd doesn’t it, it seems that it should really it should be the other way round,  you grow trees, they reach maturity, they are felled and then furniture is produced – simples as the now infamous Meerkat would say.

But if this is where the cycle ends then that is not great for the furniture industry or for the environment and begs the question, just who does take responsibility for replanting and sustainability?

A world of furniture has always worked hard to make sure that we gather as many different and varying products as possible, to give the customer as much choice as we can, but also to source them at the best price, but we have always tried to gather the majority of these products from companies who source their timbers from renewable sources.

We thought that the easiest way was to make sure that as many companies as possible could provide us with the FSC certification for their timber source.

But, as a couple of reports have found over the last couple of years this certification is not always 100% reliable and upon realising this we felt that if we were to really put back in as much as we take out to lessen our impact on the environment we should really look to take some direct action.

This where the Furniture for Trees slogan really starts to make logical sense, the more furniture we sell, the more money is given to the Forestry Commission to help them in the replanting of as many different types of tree as possible, from Pine to Oak, Elm to Beech, there is a big push to revive tired forests and woodland, and so far we have assisted the Forestry Commission in the planting of over 40,000 trees, not too shabby eh?

On top of this we felt that there were other areas that we could also help and the last 2 or so years we have also been helping with another part of the environment – bees…..

I know it does seem a little at odds with replenishing flagging timber stocks but the bee population has been in sharp decline in the UK over the last decade and an especially sharp drop in numbers in the last two and it is not just fruit trees that need pollination, there are a few nut bearing trees that also require it and bees are the best pollinators in the business.

But it is not just about the tree regrowth, when felling trees much of the ground surrounding them suffers too and most wild flowers need a healthy bee population to grow in large numbers, this in turn encourages other wild life to thrive in amongst woodland and so it is about the ecology as a whole rather than the just the trees themselves and so it made sense to support this too.

We grow to sell and sell to grow……..

Tags:
Posted in Staff News | 1 Comment »

A world of furniture Facebook PageJanuary 28th, 2012

We have our very own Facebook fan page, how cool is that!! All you have to do is click on this image, hit the like button and you will gain further insights into A world of furniture and a whole plethora of different ranges, accessories or just to catch up on the latest gossip as it happens.

Tags: ,
Posted in General | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries