FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…
(FAQ) A listing of frequently asked questions and answers
- Why don’t you display pricing?
- Is the furniture really made by the Amish?
- Where is the furniture built?
- What is the best way to care for the furniture?
- How are the drawers constructed?
- What is the standard drawer slide?
- What type of table slides are available?
- What is the difference between woods?
- Is it really solid wood?
- What does term Quartersawn mean?
- Do you do custom work?
- How long does it take to get my order?
Why don’t you display pricing?
The reason is that there are so many factors involved in influencing the price of a piece of Simply Amish furniture. The choice of wood, the choice of finish, what options are chosen, and where you live all factor into the final price. To get a price it is best to go to our Local Dealer lookup page (www.simplyamish.com/local-dealer/) and contact them for a price on the items you are interested in.
Is the furniture really made by the Amish?
Yes…each piece of Simply Amish furniture is built by Amish communities in the Midwest of the United States. Each builder is carefully selected to meet specific guidelines and quality standards, and our builders gladly stand behind their work and sign each piece of furniture upon completion.
Where is the furniture built?
All furniture from Simply Amish is constructed in the U.S.A. with the majority of it coming from the Central Illinois region.
What is the best way to care for the furniture?
See our Furniture Care section for a detailed explanation of how we care for our furniture.
How are the drawers constructed?
Every drawer box is made using a solid wood five piece construction, with dovetails in front and in the back to ensure that the box will retain its integrity for years to come.
The drawer boxes are also finished both inside and out, so they not only look good, but will prevent any any delicate fabrics from snagging.
What is the standard drawer slide?
Exceptional drawers require exceptional hardware.
That’s why our drawers feature heavy-duty slides that are fully enclosed and mounted from below, combining years of quiet, reliable operation with an unobstructed view of their solid dovetail construction.
SmartSlides, which are standard on all our drawers, fully extend for maximum access and feature an advanced mechanism that prevents slamming by self-closing each drawer inches from the cabinet.
What type of table slides are available?
ball-bearing slides
Standard on all tables, unless otherwise noted. Our sturdy built ball-bearing slides, custom made for us in Germany, provide years of smooth reliable operation. These top of the line slides come with our lifetime warranty, affording you, the original owner, protection against defects of materials or craftsmanship.
wooden slides
Our larger ball-bearing slides open to around 50â€, any table that opens wider (our really long extension tables) will feature custom made wooden slides. Smaller studio tables will also feature wooden slides, instead of ball-bearing slides.
comfort brakes and locks
Tables equipped with the ball-bearing slides will also feature one of the following systems to allow you to lock the top in place with or without leaves in place. Most tables will feature our new Comfort Brake System. Tables that do not have enough space for those will feature latch locks on the table halves and leaves.
What is the difference between woods?
Each wood has their own unique characteristics which can impact the finishes that can be applied, and also impact the cost of the raw materials and manufacturing time. Each wood also has unique visual characteristics that can meet specific style requirements. For instance cherry and soft maple have an even grain which can lend itself well to clean/contemporary styles. Below is a brief description of all the woods we offer.
Red Oak is a very popular hardwood, chosen for its traditional, coarse-textured look, as well as its excellent durability and strength. It accepts stain consistently and wears very well over time, making red oak a good choice for furniture that will see heavy everyday use. Natural color varies from yellow to pale brown, often with a light reddish tinge.
Quartersawn White Oak — much like red oak — is hard and strong, providing outstanding wear-resistance. It has a medium-coarse to coarse texture and varies in color from light tan to nearly white or light grey. Our Amish craftsmen use quartersawn white oak for a unique aesthetic appeal.
Soft Maple is a straight-grained, fine-textured wood. And despite its confusing name, it’s actually a hardwood. Derived from red or silver maple trees, soft maple is not as durable as its hard maple cousin, but is more capable of accepting stain. Soft maple has roughly the same density as cherry, with colors usually ranging from light cream to pale brown with occasional dark streaks.
Hard Maple, or rock maple, comes from sugar or black maple trees. It’s a tough, moderately heavy wood with a fine and uniform texture. Hard maple finishes very smoothly and is extremely durable. Commonly seen with no stain, its natural color varies from nearly white to light tan, with an occasional reddish tinge.
Cherry is a dense, even-grained wood, widely considered to be the finest of the fruitwoods. It is prized for its beauty and considered an excellent choice for both formal and casual applications. Natural coloration varies from a light cream to a dark reddish brown; however, cherry can darken considerably with age, developing a deep, rich patina over the course of several years.
Character Cherry has all the characteristics of the classic cherry as described above, plus a few more. Harvested from the same tree as its premium counterpart, character chery is simply a different grade — one with more knots, variations in the grain, and more, well, character.
Hickory is a close-grained wood that’s often nearly white in color. It’s also one of the hardest, heaviest and strongest woods found in the United States. Because of its flexibility and resilience, hickory is commonly used in the construction of chairs and other bentwood furniture.
Walnut is a dense wood, ranging in color from light- to deep-chocolate brown. The black walnut tree produces one of the finest cabinet woods. Slow-growing and highly desired, walnut is more expensive than many other woods.
Is it really solid wood?
There are varying degrees of quality when it comes to furniture production. Some use particleboard in places where they think you won’t look — and cardboard in places where they just don’t care. But that’s not the Amish way. At Simply Amish, we use only the finest northern hardwoods, raised to perfection, and slowly kiln-dried to prevent splitting and provide years of reliable use.
Layered For Strength
There are some cases where solid wood panels aren’t practical, simply because the seasonal contraction and expansion would destroy the integrity of the joints. In these cases, we still use hardwood — just in a plywood form, layering multiple panels in a cross-grain build for maximum structural stability. This wood is most typically used in shelves, cabinet backs, and on cabinet sides without a flat or raised panel.
What does term Quartersawn mean?
Quartersawn is a technique for processing lumber that dates back hundreds of years, and it was widely used in furniture manufacturing in the 18th and 19th centuries. The reason it was widely used is it was a practical method for handling large trees prior to the advent of machinery.
The process was simple in that the large log was split into quarters using wedges — making it easier to manage. These pieces were then hauled off to the mill for processing. The result of this processing creates a very unique grain patern that cannot be achieved using any other method, and is distinctive of certain time periods in United States history.
See our woods and stains availability page for more information.
Do you do custom work?
Absolutely! Custom work is a very large part of our business. Each piece of furniture purchased from Simply Amish is made to order, we even will put the customer name on the furniture to allow our builders to know who the furniture is for.* Therefore it is very easy for us to customize any of our furniture to meet your specific needs. Talk to your local dealer about your specific requirements and they will get you the information you require to order the furniture.
*This does not apply to our Express/QuickShip program. These select items are made in larger quantities because of their popularity.
How long does it take to get my order?
From the time we receive your order to the time it is ready for delivery to your local dealer ranges from about 8–10 weeks. Depending on our delivery routes it may take an additional 2–3 weeks to get to your local dealer.
Please keep in mind each piece of Simply Amish furniture is made to order to your specifications, and this process cannot be rushed.* We strive to keep our delivery times as short as possible, but we also are going to ensure it gets done right. Which takes a little extra time.
*This does not apply to our Express/QuickShip program. These select items are made in larger quantities because of their popularity.