Pros' Point of View

Furniture trends from Kathy Basil and Nancy.

Kathy Basil said that lilac colour is the present trends. For furniture, she said that the colour will go well with rich dark wood finishes, clear acrylic and white. But, it wouldn’t look good in a medium-toned wood.

 Bellarine Peninsula. Photo: Armelle Habib

In agreement with Kathy, Nancy also said that lilac colours are popular. But, lilac is not the only colours that are popular right now. She said bright red, deep blue, gray and chrome yellow are also popular right now.

Furniture styles now are influenced by the ‘60s style. The furniture, especially chairs are covered with big and bold prints. The materials that were use back then such as Lucite, are also being use now. The Lucite will go well with traditional elements such as Lucite coffee table combined with classic wing chairs. This style creates a retro looks furniture.

(Source: http://www.smh.com.au/)

Furniture Trends

Nowadays, the consumers’ demand of the furniture are differs. The causes are because of the trends that occur in different places and times. Age is also cause the difference in the consumer demand because of  the old and the young people live in different era and trends so their taste in the furniture will be different also. So in this chapter, the furniture design and trends will be explained briefly.

There are many different trends of furniture. One of them is the mixer between the regal glam with modern sleekness together like the picture shown above. The picture shown dramatic glamorous crystal chandeliers that put contrasted together with Swedish sleek style. This both style  really complimented each other.

The other furniture trend is the wood cabinet. Even though wood is a classic material for furniture, but if the wood furniture were to be combined together with other materials and right lighting, it can make a stunning interior look.

For this 2014, instead of a luxurious look that stands out from the stainless steel kitchen appliances and cabinets, Jenn-Air designed a white kitchen that combines all the white kitchen appliances and cabinets that come in white colour. This style creates a sleek look and went well with wooden flooring also.

(Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/)

How do the factory control the mass production of furniture in Indonesia

Nowadays, there're many factories compete to dominate the market, that's what makes the factories try to maintain or even increase the quality of their furniture. PT.Herdex Sejahtera as one of the factory that produ ce furnitures, also try to do so. They do the quality control from the material (input), the process of furnitures making until the output/outcome of the furnitures.

The aims of PT.Herdex Sejahtera are:

- to produce furnitures that are standardize towards the factory's aims

- to produce furnitures that can fulfill consumer's need

- to produce furnitures that can compete with other furnitures

- to minimalize the production cost but to maintain the furnitures quality

There're 2 types of main materials that are used for producing. The first one that they use is wood that is called German Particle Board and the other one is Melamine Face Chipboard for laminating.

  

The steps that are used to maintain the furnitures quality:

1. Quality control of raw material

    This is the process of what they did to maintain the quality of raw material:

                i.            Supplier

             ii.            Quality Check

           iii.            Stored

            iv.            Produce

    If the materials are found to be bad when they do quality check then they'll return them to the supplier

2. Quality control in producing

    This is the process of what they did when producing:

                    i.            Raw Material

                  ii.            Robotic Machine

               iii.            Measurement Control

                iv.            Cutting

                   v.            Cutting Outcome Check

                vi.            Machine Edging ( Laminated)

              vii.            Laminating Quality Check

           viii.            Finish

     If the cutting outcome or laminating outcome are found bad then they'll reprocess them.

That's the result of my case study in Indonesia. I think the way they do for quality control are quite good and appropriate already because they control the quality from the raw material till the outcome.

Stakeholder (Consumer)

I'm a busy 25-year-old woman. My annual income is just about $20.000. With that income, it's hard for me to support myself and my grandmother because she is a retiree. I had already lived with her since I'm 12 years old. Previous time, she was the one who who work to support both of us but now I'm the one who work because she's too old already. With that low income, I rent a cheap apartment with some furnitures. The furnitures I bought are cheap and quite affordable for me. Now, the living cost are getting higher and higher, I need to move to a cheaper apartment with just a 36 sqm space. Because of the small space, I can't use my old furnitures because they're too big so I buy new ones that are smaller. Then after a few days. I met my neighbour and as time gone by we become best friend. We like to visit each other house when we have free time. Someday, when I visited her house, I saw a really nice furniture. It really has a very nice and pleasant appearance. It caught my eyes the moment I saw it. Then, i asked my friend about where she buy that furniture and astonishingly she said that the cost for that furniture is just about $100. As for your information, the furniture that caught my eyes is a multifunctional sofa-bed. Because I really like it, I bought this sofa -bed too and sell my old sofa that I just used for few months. So you know that as a consumer I have a different demand towards different situation and condition.

Types of Woods for Furniture

As you can see from the previous topic, we know that the material that is used the most to make furniture is wood. There are so many types of wood that have different characteristic from each other but we can group them into 2 main groups of hardwood and softwood.

Below are some of types of woods and their characteristics that differs them from each other:

HARDWOODS
OAK: Oak is the most widely used hardwood. There are more than 60 species of oak grown in the U.S., which can be separated into two basic varieties; white and red. The red variety is also known as black oak (a reference to its bark). Properties: Oak is a heavy, strong, light colored hardwood. It is ring porous, due to the fact that more and larger conductive vessels are laid down early in the summer, rather than later. Prominent rings and large pores give oak a course texture and prominent grain. Oak also has conspicuous medullary rays which can be seen as "flakes" in quarter sawed oak lumber. Uses: Oak is the most popular wood used to craft American and English country designs. It is also used for Gothic and William & Mary reproductions, as well as many transitional and contemporary pieces.
MAPLE: There are 115 species of maple. Only 5 commercially important species grow in the U.S. Two of the five are hard rock maple and sugar maple. Properties: Maple is so hard and resistant to shocks that it is often used for bowling alley floors. Its diffuse evenly sized pores give the wood a fine texture and even grain. Maple that has a curly grain is often used for violin backs (the pattern formed is known as fiddleback figure). Burls, leaf figure, and birds-eye figures found in maple are used extensively for veneers. The Birds eye figure in maple is said to be the result of stunted growth and is quite rare. Uses: Maple is used extensively for American colonial furniture, especially in medium and lower priced categories. It can also be stained to simulate cherry wood, which it resembles.
MAHOGANY: Mahogany, also known as Honduras mahogany is a tropical hardwood indigenous to South America, Central America and Africa. There are many different grades and species sold under this name, which vary widely in quality and price. Mahogany which comes from the Caribbean is thought to be the hardest, strongest and best quality. Logs from Africa, though highly figured, are of slightly lesser quality. Philippine mahogany has a similar color, but is not really mahogany at all. It is a much less valuable wood, being less strong, not as durable or as beautiful when finished. Properties: Mahogany is strong, with a uniform pore structure and poorly defined annual rings. It has a reddish - brown color and may display stripe, ribbon, broken stripe, rope, ripple, mottle, fiddleback or blister figures. Crotch mahogany figures are widely used and greatly valued. Mahogany is an excellent carving wood and finishes well. Uses: Mahogany is used extensively in the crafting of Georgian, Empire and Federal reproduction furniture. Mahogany is also used in styles ranging from Victorian furniture reproductions to Contemporary.
CHERRY: Cherry is grown in the Eastern half of the U.S.. It is sometimes called fruitwood. The term fruitwood is also used to describe a light brown finish on other woods. Properties: A moderately hard, strong, closed grain, light to red-brown wood, cherry resists warping and checking. It is easy to carve and polish. Uses: Cherry veneers and solids are used in a variety of styles. Cherry has been called New England mahogany and is often used to craft 18th century, Colonial and French Provincial designs.
WALNUT: Walnut is one of the most versatile and popular cabinet making woods. It grows in Europe, America and Asia. There are many different varieties. Properties: Walnut is strong, hard and durable, without being excessively heavy. It has excellent woodworking qualities, and takes finishes well. The wood is light to dark chocolate brown in color with a straight grain in the trunk. Wavy grain is present toward the roots, and   walnut stumps are often dug out and used as a source of highly figured veneer. Large burls are common. Walnut solids and veneers show a wide range of figures, including strips, burls, mottles, crotches, curls and butts. European walnut is lighter in color and slightly finer in texture than American black walnut, but otherwise comparable. Uses: Walnut is used in all types of fine cabinet work, especially 1 8th century reproductions.
ROSEWOOD: Very hard and has a dark reddish brown color. It is fragrant and close grained. It is hard to work and takes high polish. Used in musical instruments, piano cases, tool handles, art projects, veneers and furniture.
TEAK: True teak is indigenous to Southeast Asia, but similar wood species also grow in Africa. Properties & Uses: Teak is a yellow to dark brown hardwood which is extremely heavy, strong and durable. Often strongly figured, teak may show straight grain, mottled or fiddleback figures. It carves well, but because of its high value, is often used as a veneer. Scandinavian modern, and oriental furniture styles are often crafted of teak.
SOFTWOODS
PINE: Pine is a softwood which grows in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere. There are more than 100 species worldwide. Properties: Pine is a soft, white or pale yellow wood which is light weight, straight grained and lacks figure. It resists shrinking and swelling. Knotty pine is often used for decorative effect. Uses: Pine is often used for country or provincial furniture. Pickled, whitened, painted and oil finishes are often used on this wood.
ASH: There are 16 species of ash which grow in the eastern United States. Of these, the white ash is the largest and most commercially important. Properties: Ash is a hard, heavy, ring porous hardwood. It has a prominent grain that resembles oak, and a white to light brown color. Ash can be differentiated from hickory (pecan) which it also resembles, by white dots in the darker summerwood which can be seen with the naked eye. Ash burls have a twisted, interwoven figure. Uses: Ash is widely used for structural frames and steam bent furniture pieces. It is often less expensive than comparable hardwoods.
HICKORY: There are 15 species of hickory in the eastern United States, eight of which are commercially important. Properties: Hickory is one of the heaviest and hardest woods available. Pecan is a species of hickory sometimes used in furniture. It has a close grain without much figure. Uses: Wood from the hickory is used for structural parts, especially where strength and thinness are required. Decorative hickory veneers are also commonly used.
BEECH: The American beech is a single species which grows in the eastern half of the United States. Properties & Uses: Beech is a hard, strong, heavy wood with tiny pores and large conspicuous medullary rays, similar in appearance to maple. This relatively inexpensive wood has reddish brown heartwood and light sapwood. Beech is often used for frames, a variety of bent and turned parts. Quarter sliced and half round cut beech veneers are commonly used.
BIRCH: There are many species of birch. The yellow birch is the most commercially important. European birch is fine grained, rare and expensive. Properties & Uses: Birch is a hard, heavy, close grained hardwood with a light brown or reddish colored heartwood and cream or light sapwood. Birch is often rotary or flat sliced, yielding straight, curly or wavy grain patterns. It can be stained to resemble mahogany or walnut.
CEDAR: Several species of cedar grow in the southern United States, Central and South America. Properties & Uses: Cedar is a knotty softwood which has a red-brown color with light streaks. Its aromatic and moth repellent qualities have made it a popular wood for lining drawers, chests and boxes. Simple cases and storage closets are also constructed from this light, brittle wood.
REDWOOD: Indigenous to the Pacific United States, redwood trees grow to more than 300 feet tall and 2,500 years old. Properties & Uses: The best quality redwood comes from the heartwood which is resistant to deterioration due to sunlight, moisture and insects. It is used to craft outdoor furniture and decorative carvings. Redwood burls have a "cluster of eyes" figure. They are rare and valuable.
HEMLOCK: Light in weight, uniformly textured. It machines well and has low resistance to decay and nonresinous. Used for construction lumber, planks, doors, boards, paneling, sub flooring and crates.
FIR: Works easy and finishes well. Uniform in texture and nonresinous. Has low resistance to decay. Used in furniture, doors, frames, windows, plywood, veneer, general millwork and interior trim.
SPRUCE: Strong and hard. Finishes well and has low resistance to decay. Has moderate shrinkage and light in weight. Used for masts and spars for ships, aircraft, crates, boxes, general millwork and ladders.

Basic Furniture Material

Throughout history, the furniture industry has relied heavily on wood and wood-based materials. Furniture has evolved from simple utilitarian objects made to support people and inanimate objects to article that are designed and built with both functional and aesthetic characteristics and intended for display as well as utility. The origin and development of furniture can be traced to an innate human desire to provide for comfort and convenience as well to display wealth, social and political status, or power. Furniture is made from many materials, from rattan to precious metals, but from the earliest recorded history to the present, the dominant material chosen for constructing furniture is wood. Wood furniture was present in the ancient culture of China, Egypt and Greece. Historic research indicates that early Egyptian furniture was constructed from the indigenous woods of acacia, almond, fig, palm, willow and poplar and also from exotic woods of ebony, cedar, ash, beech, oak, yew, and cypress. Although much of this early furniture has not survived, the dry climate of the Egyptian pyramids has provided numerous examples of ancient wooden furniture.

The reasons for selecting wood as a preferred material for furniture are much the same now as they were thousands of years ago. Woods excels in performance, manufacturing, and appearance characteristics. From the consumer's point of view, wood has a pleasing appearance, is warm to the touch, and is strong and durable. From a manufacturer's point of view, wood has many positive attributes: a favorable strength-to-weight ratio; easily worked with a wide variety of tools to make artistic and functional shapes; easier to join to other pieces of wood or other materials to enhance or modify its natural appearance; common and available near population and manufacturing centers; and a renewable resource.

Wood continues to be overwhelming choice of customers, who often identify the most important attributes to be reliability, environment friendliness, pleasing appearance, and good value. Evidence suggest that the wood industry has an opportunity to capture environmentally informed consumer by providing certified wood that is produced according to accepted standards of environmentally sustainable management; the consumer's perception of enviromental impacts is beginning to influence the manufacturer's choice of materials.