What makes a space truly stand out? Or live up to its purpose? Or feel comfortable, grounded, and useful in a specific, practical way?
Immediate visual appeal has an impact, of course, but the quality of the furnishings plays a far more critical role. (We’ve all walked into rooms that looked lovely but then sat on a poor-quality couch and winced, right?)
Contract-grade furniture is your solution for achieving a high-quality feel throughout your spaces—at scale. Whether you’re maintaining staff housing or a bustling college campus, investing in durable, heavy-duty furniture will provide benefits for years to come.
Why invest in high-quality contract-grade furniture?
High-quality furniture is an investment in durability, sustainability, and aesthetic consistency, no matter which industry you work in. Camps, dorms, healthcare institutions, and government facilities can all find the following value in high-quality residential or educational facility furniture:
- Long-term savings: If you opt for high-durability furniture, you’ll reduce the frequency and requisite cost of replacements. Especially in high-traffic areas, these savings are substantial over time. As they say—you get what you pay for.
- Safety and compliance: Contract-grade furniture can be made to meet rigorous safety standards or comply with regulatory requirements. Especially in healthcare and educational settings, this is a must.
- Comfort and ergonomics: Higher-quality furniture is usually designed to prioritize comfort. This element is key when crafting a space with the health and satisfaction of your end users top of mind. But that’s not all: Well-designed furniture can reduce physical strain, increasing your organization’s productivity, happiness, and overall wellness.
Taking the extra time to find the right furniture for your environment will pay off. However, we understand that if you need furniture for entire buildings, you may not have the bandwidth to source thousands of individual pieces.
That’s where meticulously crafted, North American-made furniture comes in.
What makes professional-grade furniture stand out?
Not all furniture is created equal. Contract-grade furniture brings more to the table than mass-produced, flimsy alternatives. It’s designed for heavy use and made for optimum functionality.
For contract-grade furniture to achieve that title, it needs to meet a few specific stipulations:
- Contract-grade furniture adheres to robust standards and certifications: To make sure that the furniture you buy for your camp or dorm is truly ready for the rigors of daily use (without compromising safety or comfort), it will need to adhere to standards like the American National Standards Institute/Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (ANSI/BIFMA). This organization sets high performance, durability, safety, and sustainability standards for the commercial furniture industry.
- Contract-grade furniture is made of superior materials: Because this category of furniture needs to stand up to environmental stressors and repeated use, you’ll see higher-value materials in these furnishings—think contract-grade, high-density particle board, high-grade metals, and commercial-grade fabrics, not low-grade melamine or light plastic.
Aside from knowing that furniture is covered by certain regulations and made of specific materials, is there anything else that sets high-quality, domestically-produced furniture apart?
The craftsmanship of domestically produced, high-durability furniture
Each piece we offer at Foliot Furniture is meticulously crafted by real people with practiced skills and specialized equipment.
Artisanal techniques and skilled labor
The touch of skilled artisans, the seamless integration of advanced technology, and furniture-making techniques handed down over generations—that’s what customizable commercial furnishings bring you. You can rely on the hard work of seasoned carpenters and upholsterers who ensure every piece created for your needs meets your specifications.
Pro tip: Opt for furniture suppliers that emphasize the human element in their processes. This often translates to superior quality, durability, and aesthetic appeal.
Customization close to home
When you work with a furniture supplier or hospitality furniture provider that specializes in domestically-produced furniture, you’ll likely experience more flexibility in design work and enjoy more collaborative customization. Close proximity to a supplier’s production facilities allows manufacturers to swiftly respond to custom requests and supports the delivery of tailored solutions that align perfectly with a customer’s spatial and aesthetic needs.
Pro tip: Ask potential suppliers about their communication methods and customization options to ensure you can work toward bespoke solutions for your specific needs.
Reliable, timely delivery
Domestically-produced furniture relies on a streamlined, similarly domestic supply chain; no international shipping needed. This can help you benefit from quicker delivery times. It may also give you access to local installers and maintenance teams, facilitating smoother installations and providing an intuitive link to convenient, efficient upkeep when needed.
Pro tip: When vetting furniture suppliers, ask about their track record of on-time deliveries. (Check testimonials or references for the same thing.)
Warranties and aftercare
Your relationship with your furniture supplier should be far from over once your furniture is delivered and set up! The best suppliers offer robust aftercare programs and generous warranty options, like those offering up to 25 years of coverage. Consider this: What happens if you need to replace a table leg or cabinet door? The best suppliers offer replacements for products (even discontinued products!) to help you extend the life of your quality contract-grade furniture.
Pro tip: Ask suppliers about their warranties and aftercare services. Their answers will indicate their confidence in their product (and their commitment to your satisfaction).
Quality control, every step of the way
From material selection to final inspection, making great furniture requires quality assurance at every turn. High-quality furniture suppliers ensure that every piece delivered exceeds industry standards for safety, functionality, and durability.
Pro tip: Check that any supplier you’re considering adheres to recognized standards (like ISO 9000) and conducts regular quality audits.
Environmental sustainability
By using millions of tons of sawmill waste and post-consumer wood annually, domestic manufacturers like Foliot Furniture make beautiful new items from recycled materials. This process greatly reduces waste, aligns with sustainable business practices, and produces pieces that adhere to significant industry standards, such as the Eco-Certified Composite (ECC) Sustainability Standards and the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB-2) standards.
Pro tip: Want to work with a furniture supplier that prioritizes sustainable initiatives? Ask about their recycling programs, or work with a domestic supplier to cut down on the significant resources that go into long-distance transportation.
Ready to experience our commitment to excellence in contract-grade furniture?
When you select high-quality, sustainable contract furniture, you benefit from both practical longevity and significant environmental advantages.
At Foliot Furniture, we’re pleased to demonstrate those advantages for our satisfied customers every single day. Each year, we produce 425,000 pieces across three plants—and, in our 30-plus years of expertise, we’ve delivered well over one million rooms. Our highly-trained team of carpenters, seamstresses, and installation and sales professionals have years of experience and a deep understanding of the solutions we bring to the market. We’re happy to use our problem-solving skills to help you furnish your spaces!
Explore the breadth and quality of our offerings by visiting our website and browsing through our lookbook. Or, for a more tailored experience, consider reaching out to our friendly team today for a personalized consultation.
