by Juanita | May 18, 2024 | Ava Lee's History Corner, Coffee End Table, customer experience, Customization, Entertainment Centers, Georges Difference, Rocking Chairs, RV accessories, RV Furniture
What happens when it comes time to downsizing?
Moving from a large house to a smaller house requires many decisions. What should I keep and what things to pass on. The downsizing challenge brought Don and Sue back to Georges Furniture after many years of enjoying their furniture made by George.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly how Don and Sue first came to Georges Woodcrafts in the 1990’s. Maybe a friend told them about Georges. However it happened, they are glad to find such quality furniture. Their first item uniquely designed was a stereo cabinet. Don had drawn up a sketch with specific dimensions for his stereo cabinet. Georges confirmed the sketch that included 4 drawers and an adjustable shelf, clarifying the small details needed to build it out of solid hardwood. Building with solid hardwood – not plywood or other processed material- requires designs that allow for the wood expansion and contraction. They picked out the wood and stain and gave a deposit to start the building process.
New Design Discovered
In 1992 they were back with another request for a coffee and end table set. They remember asking George for an oval coffee table. Georges said, “Yes I can do that”. Next, they asked for a shelf under the table. “Humm,” George hesitated, “I will have to think about that.” After several minutes of designing the table in his head, he said, “I think I can do that, I have never designed a oval coffee table that way.”
The coffee table set was made and delivered by George. George joyfully brought the newly designed table into the Lewis’ house. “This ready turned out very nice,” George commented. “May I take a picture of your table. This is my first oval coffee table with a shelf.” (See the picture in the Lewis’ living room.)
Non Tipping Rocker
During a visit to George’s showroom and woodshop tour, Don and Sue remember hearing about an amazing rocking chair that did not tip over. George urged them to try it. They did and what an amazing “ride”. It leaned way back but did not tip over. Now the rocking chair is the most fought after piece in the living room.
“I was so impressed with the workmanship where the person who built that particular piece signs and dates it.” –Sue
Recently the Lewis family came back looking for furniture because they are downsizing and moving to a retirement community. Their old house had a nice entertainment center with just one problem. It is built into the house. They sat down with Anthony to discuss their ideas for a new entertainment center for their new apartment. From the dimensions of individual components to the size of the TV and drawer space.
Custom made from 100% solid hardwood. Yes, signed and dated by one craftsman.
Come and see for yourself what the Lewis’ discovered at Georges Furniture. Take the time to see the craftsmen creating masterpieces and browse the two showrooms. You will never look at furniture the same.
by Juanita | Feb 3, 2024 | Ava Lee's History Corner, customer experience, Tables
We first discovered quality furniture in the small town of Elizabethtown in the early 1970’s. We met Mahlon, the salesperson who showed us a beautiful trestle table made from air dried black walnut. The grain was stunning. We bought a walnut trestle table with two chairs and a bench. George even signed the table for us. The furniture was made and signed by one craftsman.
Years later when the showroom moved to Marietta, PA, we visited the woodshop, where we could see the craftsmen making the furniture. We were looking for a small plate rack for my wife. After learning what we wanted, George got permission from his wife come into their private house and see the plate rack he made for her. His wife agreed to allow us to have a plate rack identical to his wife’s made for us. This was a gift for our wedding anniversary. George only made two plate racks. One for Ava Lee and the second for us. We felt special to have such customized attention.
Meadow Brook Farmers Market
Later we found Georges at Meadow Brook Farmers Market, Leola, PA. Mahlon again greeted us and we ordered their amazing 5 legged extension table, 6 chairs in Walnut along with 4 extra table leaves. Much later, we ordered 4 more chairs as our family grew.
We visited George’s Furniture many times over the numerous years. They keep adding new furniture and styles. We have so many good memories of visiting with Mahlon and ordering from George’s Furniture. We feel like family and have furniture that reminds us daily of the quality we found so many years ago.
Quality lasts forever
Even though we were only in our early twenties and recently married when we began our wonderful journey, we still love our furniture. It is quality that keeps on giving. Now we have been married 52 years and still enjoy all the pieces of furniture we have bought thru the years. Keep the quality coming Georges.
Discover amazing quality
Come and discover the quality that Joy and her husband found so many years ago. Over 53 years of building quality custom handcrafted furniture. Tour the showrooms and woodshop and begin to create your new living space furnished with quality furniture that keeps on giving.
by Juanita | Jan 9, 2024 | Coffee End Table, customer experience, Customization, George's Furniture, Hutch, Tables
The search for quality hardwood furniture is hard in the culture we live in. A lot of furniture is manufactured in other countries with cheap materials and labor, made to mimic quality and advertised as quality solid wood furniture. “Solid wood?” Furniture is often made from ground up wood and glued together, covered by a thin veneer to show the grain, and considered a “solid wood”. Solid wood is wood, cut into thick boards straight from the tree, dried properly which, in the end, will allow the wood to have a slow expansion and contraction as it adjusts to the air around it.
Beautiful Wood Grain
Joanne first saw the beautiful grain of black walnut at the Kutztown Folk Festival in 2017 and fell in love with the natural grain and quality of constructed extension tables, handcrafted by Georges Furniture. She worked with Chris to design a dropleaf coffee table and two nesting end tables to complete her living room.
Where it is made
Later, she made the drive to Lancaster County and visited our woodshop where she met the craftsman who made her coffee table. We gave her a tour of our woodshop, where she learned how the craftsmen build the furniture from start to finish, even picking out the wood to create masterful grain pictures. In the end, the craftsman signs the finished piece of furniture which is also dated and stamped with our business name. She loved the furniture even more after understanding the building process and craftsman’s attention to detail. She understood the importance of drying the wood during a previous experience with refinishing the wood flooring in her house.
“I saw the dining room table and was amazed at the quality and craftsmanship. Once I saw the table in action, I was convinced that I found my table.” -Joanne
Joanne couldn’t forget the quality she found and gathered her friends together to visit George’s Furniture at the Sugarloaf Craft festival in Edison, NJ in 2018. She loved the walnut blend grain (a combination of the light blond sapwood and the dark brown heartwood) so much she ordered a 60×42 extension table with 6 chairs and the leaf storage cabinet next. Each Thanksgiving Joanne gathers the relatives together and fills the table. She often swaps around the table leaves so that she can enjoy the different designs using the natural wood grain.
Craft Show Following
Whether it is in Edison, NJ, Kutztown or Marietta, PA, Joanne loves seeing George’s furniture and dreaming of the next piece for her home. She keeps track of where we will be showing our furniture next in our monthly newsletters and on the events page of our website. Come and discover what Joanne found and where her dream began. Visit our two showrooms and tour the woodshop where the magic happens where quality heirlooms are signed, dated, and delivered to your home
by Juanita | Dec 2, 2023 | bedroom, Coffee End Table, Entertainment Centers, Furniture Care, Georges Difference, Hutch, RV accessories, RV Furniture, Tables, Wedding Registry
You’ve surfed the web hours on end, looking for quality handcrafted solid wood furniture. Countless articles and pages from numerous furniture companies across the country use similar terms such as handcrafted furniture, hardwood construction, and custom build. Companies make bold claims that their furniture is the best. But it begs the question.
What makes their furniture the best? How does their furniture differ from competitors’, or even what makes good furniture? These are excellent questions. There are many aspects portraying the world of furniture that contribute to a piece being truly outstanding.
At Georges Furniture, we don’t aim to meet the regular standards for constructing furniture. We strive to rise above and beyond in our manufacture of excellence and quality.
In the following paragraphs, you will learn about the numerous ways we take our game to the next level.
Dining Table to Fit any number of parties
If you have a large family, extension tables are a familiar term. As the name insinuates, it extends, allowing you to seat more members of the family so everyone can partake in a wonderful meal. Many tables extend to fit two or three leaves, but this limitation leaves much to be desired. That’s why we make our tables to extend to fit anywhere from six to sixteen leaves to accommodate even the largest dining rooms.
Where to store all those solid wood leaves
Now, it is common knowledge to those who own extensions tables that storage for these wooden table leaves is a necessity. Many resort to slipping them beneath beds or stuffing them into cramped closets, but for solid hardwood leaves, these conditions are not ideal. What is uncommon knowledge is that wooden boards need to breath. Wooden leaves breath to regulate their moisture levels and prevent mold from setting into the grain. As an added layer of protection against excess moisture, we always coat both sides of the leave with a catalyzed conversion varnish. Furthermore, it is best to store leaves upright to prevent bowing and warping from gravity’s pull. Read More.
Leaf Storage Solution
In the early stages of extension table development, the issue of leaf storage quickly rose to the forefront of our minds. Some manufacturers even built storage areas within the table itself, but that kind of storage is limited. Instead, we took what we knew about proper leaf care and, after testing different prototypes, landed on a revolutionary piece of furniture so unique that it created a category of its own. The leaf storage. We designed this new piece of furniture to meet every requirement set in front of us. See the storage options.
Walnut Blend on Table with clear water resistant finish repelling water.
No More Water Marks
If you’ve ever accidently left your glass of water on your coffee table without a coaster, you understand the frustration of lifting the glass and finding a watermark stained on the wooden surface. You promise you won’t forget the coaster next time, but what if I told you remembering a coaster wasn’t necessary? With our furniture, it isn’t. We finish every piece of furniture with a water-resistant catalyzed conversion varnish to protect the grain from the marring effects of watermarks. Inside and out, front and back, even the parts unseen are protected against hard use and floods of water.
100% Solid Hardwood – No waste
Are you tired of searching for quality furniture, only to find most pieces include particle board or plywood in their construction? With our furniture, this is never an issue. We use solid hardwood in every inch of our furniture. Even scraps left over from the furniture making process are chopped up and fed into our furnace to heat our slow, air-drying kiln, enabling us to preserve the richness of our Black Walnut wood. The furnace also heats the woodshop, providing a comfortable atmosphere for our craftsmen.
Moving Chairs
Chairs take the prize for being the most used piece of furniture in your household. Whether you’re enjoying a meal around the kitchen table, working on math homework, or reaching for the cookie jar on the top shelf, the first thing you search for to aid your plight is a sturdy chair. No matter what your daily lifestyle looks like, you depend on chairs more than you realize. To ensure our chairs meet expectations, we make our chair rungs with eight sides. The eight-sided rung design is stronger and lasts longer than the more commonly available turned rungs. Each rung is precision sanded and properly sized to fit into a thick seat. So, the next time your guest leans back in their chair, you can enjoy the meal knowing you won’t be reaching for the wood glue for unexpected repairs. We even designed stackable chairs for ease of storage.
Guaranteed Authentic Quality – Signed and Dated
We’ve talked a lot about quality, but how can we guarantee it? Many companies nowadays make use
of assembly lines to manufacture their product at the fastest rate possible. While this technique is great for efficiency, it often has its drawbacks. One of which is the downgrade of quality. We don’t believe in assembly lines where every person has one job and one job only. Each of our expert craftsman construct a piece from start to finish, paying close attention to every detail. Once finished, they pen their signature and the date of completion on a concealed section of the piece. You can rest assured that the piece you commissioned from us is of the highest quality possible.
Space Saving Solid Hardwood Drawers
Drawers are a necessity included in nearly every piece of solid wood furniture, but have you ever pulled the drawer out to find an abundance of space behind it, unused and empty? That space is prime real-estate that you could be using, plus it quickly becomes a black hole, stealing your clothing to be lost for an eternity behind your drawers.
At Georges, you’ll never have to worry about unused space. Every drawer we make fills the space perfectly, giving you the most storage possible for that extra blanket, another pair of socks, or maybe even that candy you’ve been hiding from the kids since Easter. Even the bottoms of the drawers are 100% solid hardwood matching the outside of the cabinet. Whether drawers are in a dresser, nightstand, armoire, hall table, hutch or chest of drawers, the drawers will serve with strong heavy-duty full extension hardware for decades to come.
No Creaky Beds
Looking for a bed that’s truly one of a kind? Our custom designed handmade bed rooms are just what you need to take your sleep to the next level! Made from the finest solid hardwood and featuring strong hardware and bed slats, these beds are built to last a lifetime.
Remember those creaky sounds of the bed rails and floor boards as you try to quietly sneak out to the bathroom at midnight. How about that new king or queen mattress that requires extra support for their warranty to be maintained. Georges uses strong bed rail hardware to secure the solid wood side rails into the headboard and footboard. Two strong metal hooks feed into a metal plate giving the bed rail a secure fit. Each of the under bed slats are made out of strong oak 1 inch think boards. The king and queen beds slats have a center support leg to hold the weight of a large mattresses. Explore our bedroom gallery.
Functional Cove Crowns
Hutches stand proudly as a signature piece in the dinning room. They often display delicate pieces of fine China or store your fancy plates for special occasions. These mammoths of the furniture community are also known for their noble stature and royal crowns. To most manufacturers, the coved crown, the top rim of the hutch, is simply a novelty. It adds decoration to enhance the furniture’s appearance.
The crown extends above the top of the hutch, leaving a ton of unused space to collect dust. In contrast, George’s crowns are functional. We never leave valuable space vacant. The roofs of our hutches extend all the way to the top of the crown, giving you more functional storage within the piece to use at your pleasure. Read more.
Custom Design
We take pride in creating unique and beautiful furniture pieces that are tailored to your individual style and needs. Our skilled designers work closely with you to design and craft custom solid wood furniture. From rustic to modern styles, we bring your vision to life with exceptional attention to detail and craftsmanship. Our custom handcrafted furniture is not only beautiful but also functional, practical, and long-lasting. Whether you’re looking for a statement piece for your living room, entertainment suite or a custom dining table for your home, our team is dedicated to delivering a personalized experience that exceeds your expectations.
Easy Access Side Doors
Another neat aspect, specific to our curio cabinets, is the inclusion of side doors. While other companies build cabinets with only front facing doors. The side doors incorporated into our builds enable a painless installment of the shelves, relieving you of the awkward battle to insert them from the front. The side doors also make it easier to display your large collectibles that never seem to fit through any opening. As an added bonus, our shelves also come with precut plate grooves, perfect for displaying your favorite platters.
Choosing the Right Office Furniture
The shift from going to work or working from home has changed over the years. What are some items to consider when creating a functional space for home office or an executive suite. First measure your space. What size will best fit best with space to move around. Next plan for growth. Will you entertain clients or small meetings? Ergonomics and budget are valuable considerations. Each piece of office furniture is designed to fit the space and style while enduring years of hard use.
How to Clean & Care for Your Solid Wood Furniture
The finish used on all of Georges Furniture is a durable, catalyzed conversion varnish and the best we have found. No need for Coasters and a complete table cloth to cover and protect the table.
- Weekly Care – Use a damp cloth to wipe off the furniture. Use of duster spray is ok: however, avoid sprays that contain wax because they may cause undesirable build-up to form on the finish.
- Occasional Special Care – When you polish your solid wood furniture, or want to remove fingerprints, use a good grade furniture polish. We use Old English Lemon Oil. Guardsman is also good.
- See what things to avoid and what to do for dents and scratches. Here.
Lets Review
Why George’s solid wood furniture stands out among other furniture. Each craftsman signs and dates your custom made 100% solid hardwood heirloom furniture. Each is protected with a clear water-resistant conversion varnish. Be mesmerized by the natural grain of the ever growing extension table. Each table is designed to meet your everyday table size, 4-6 people and extends up to 12 feet, even to 21 feet. Store the desired number of table leaves in a leaf storage cabinet for the next dinner party. Lively conversation will continue into the night while sitting on strong comfortable chairs. Our chairs are made to withstand even leaning back in the chair.
Georges hutches, dressers and all cabinets contain solid hardwood drawers – even the bottoms – and strong full extension drawer hardware. The cabinet tops extend all the way to the top of the crown and can have easy access sided doors. Strong bed rails prevent squeaky beds and footed slats support the mattress extending its life.
Desks and office suites provide custom designs with long extension 
file drawers, adjustable shelves and raised paneled sides. Surround your office with natural wood desks, bookcases, conference tables and filing cabinets.
See for Yourself
Come and explore a wood shop tour where solid wood furniture is made the old fashion way by hand, crafted by one craftsman. The furniture is custom made to your specifications, with 100% solid hard wood. Be amazed by the ability to share your unique ideas with talented designers and see your dreams come true. Enjoy years of quality as the natural grains of walnut, cherry oak and maple hardwood furniture serve and endure the rigors of home life. Our showrooms and woodworking shop display solid handmade heirlooms for browsing. Explore George’s difference in construction and protection of natural hardwood furniture. In the meantime, see for yourself by watching our wood shop in action. YouTube channel Our customer reviews.
by Juanita | Nov 8, 2023 | customer experience, George's Furniture, RV accessories, Tables
Where in the world is George’s Furniture? Over the 50+ years the handcrafted furniture made by George’s craftsmen have traveled all over the United States. From Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia to Massachusetts, Maine and Ohio, even as far as Texas, California and Alaska. All the states, except some Rocky Mountain states have customers that are enjoying the quality of Georges for their homes.
Small furniture store discovered
Otto and Emily found George’s Furniture handmade furniture in Lancaster while searching on the Internet. They were looking for a small business for their furniture purchase instead of the large furniture stores with less quality furniture. While exploring their website gerogesfurniturepa.com they were convinced that the short drive to the showroom was worth their time, Emily and Otto took a trip. What greeted Otto and Emily was impressive.
“I really loved our table,” commented Otto as he lovingly stroked
the table that looked just like their table at home.
Two showrooms full of custom-made solid hardwood furniture. Even the wood working shop, where the furniture made one piece at a time is located. A cherry Windsor style table caught their attention and was their first purchase. A wonderful feature of the table is its ability to extend 14 feet. Even though their dining room could not hold that length now, in the future if the need changes the table can hold up to eight leaves.
Across the Ocean
The family moved to Belgium for Otto’s employment and the table with its leaves traveled across the ocean with the other furniture. During their 5 years in Belgium the table enjoyed the company of guests from Italy, Greece, Poland, Estonia, Britain, and Hungary. Otto and Emily loved opening their table and sharing the beauty of solid hardwood, made in America. The extension table impressed their Belgium friends so much that they had one made for them. The Belgium house with its wooden ceilings and brick and slate roof, complimented the table very well.
Return to America
Later when the family moved back to America, the extension table influenced the design of their next house. The house needed to have a large open area for the table and 4 leaves to open to its full 10 foot length. Recently Otto and Emily came back to upgrade their table leaf storage from a leaf holder designed for the closet to a deluxe 4 leaf storage along with a same size and style cabinet with adjustable shelves to add to their dining set. In the future, chairs will complete their dining room set. Originally Otto thought that George’s chairs had thin spindly rungs and was pleasantly surprised when he sat in the strong 8-sided rung dining chair during his last visit.
Join Otto, his wife Emily and many other satisfied customers as they create their living space furnished with custom handmade heirlooms, individually made by one of George’s craftsmen. Visit the showroom and wood shop in Lancaster County, PA and watch your dreams turn into realities.
