Product Spotlight: Currency from Steelcase

How many of you folks have heard of Steelcase? If you're not familiar with the world of contract office furniture, then you may not know too much about them. The Leap chair? The Think chair? You're probably more familiar with these names than Steelcase, who makes them. The Leap and Think are some of the more mainstream products from Steelcase, but the company doesn't quite have the name that Herman Miller does in the retail channel despite being a giant in the contract furniture arena. Well that is starting to change, my friends. Our sister site CSN Office Furniture has just recently launched the Currency® line from Steelcase. This product line is perfect for home offices or small businesses. It's a bit more expensive than some other products that look similar, but that is because the quality is significantly higher. This isn't a product you'll need to replace five or ten years down the road. I saw these products at NEOCON in June, and they are really sharp.

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Buying Office Furniture Online: Tip of the Week

Buying office furniture online can be pretty intimidating and confusing if you're not familiar with all the terminology. One of the aims of this blog is to reduce the stress involved with that process, so I figured it would be helpful to go over a few of the lesser known terms. Let's get started...

1.) Return: A work surface that is perpendicular to the main desk or work surface; a right return (pictured here) is to the right-hand of the user if they are sitting at the desk and vice versa.

2.) Credenza: A desk-height, closed cabinet used for holding papers, office supplies, etc., that often matches existing furniture.

3.) Low-Pressure Laminate: Sometimes referred to as melamine, low pressure laminate is a thin single melamine paper bonded to a substrate board. Although it has the same visual surface characteristics as a high pressure laminate, low pressure laminate surfaces are less than 3 millimeters thick and over time, the surface may not be as durable as high pressure laminates, depending on the utility of the furniture. They are more susceptible to scratches, water stains, and heat marking.

4. ) High-Pressure Laminate (example pictured to the right): Composed of multiple layers of paper, saturated with resin, and finished with a printed surface, these layers are pressed together under high heat and pressure, creating a durable plastic-type material that is very resistant to scratches, water stains, and heat.

5.) Veneer: Thin sheets of wood laid over a particleboard substrate. Because of this durable substrate, veneer furniture resists warping and the possibility of moisture damage better than solid hardwood. Veneer looks more like real wood construction than laminate. However, veneer surfaces are less durable than laminate. Objects, large and small, can leave visible scratches if carelessly placed or moved over the surface, and severe scratches may not be repairable.

That's all for today...or tonight as the case may be!

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