Blog

Best Amish Furniture Stores Around Nappanee, IN

Indiana is not only home to many Amish communities, but it is a hub of quality Amish-made goods. While there are many towns you could visit, we highly recommend the Nappanee area where you can still see Amish-driven buggies driving down the streets. Nappanee is a great place in Indiana to engage in the culture and to shop for Amish furniture. If you’re ever near the Nappanee area you’ll want to check out these stores.

Weaver Furniture Barn (Nappanee, IN)

Weaver Furniture Barn has been a family-owned and run business selling Amish furniture since 1988. It is still the biggest Amish Furniture Store in Northern Indiana. This furniture store got its name because the furniture showroom was built into a barn – giving it a unique and charming atmosphere. It is centrally located in northern Indiana and just a few hours from Chicago, Indianapolis, and many other cities.

Although the founders, Mervin and Joan, are of the Old Order Amish Christian faith, they do not rely on the title of “Amish” to sell their furniture. The quality and beauty of each piece of furniture show the workmanship and pride of the handcrafted Amish builders. Many pieces are custom-made, just for you. They have furniture for every room of the house from the bedroom to the kitchen, and even furniture for your patio.

Want to order online? Weaver Furniture Barn’s website includes their full inventory for you to explore and purchase. They also have a Design Center that is designed to help you be able to customize certain selections of furniture. The majority of the reviews of this store are 5 stars from new and returning customers talking of the knowledgeable staff, quality furniture, and smooth purchasing and delivery.

Homestyle Furniture Shoppe, L.L.C. (Nappanee, IN)

This Amish furniture shop serves St. Joseph, Fulton, Marshall, Starke, Elkhart, and Kosciusko counties. They have also branched into the surrounding areas over the years. The store has been around for over 20 years. They carry furniture for every room, including outdoor furniture and storage barns.

A fun fact: There are staff members within Homestyle Furniture Shoppe that can speak English, German, and Pennsylvania Dutch.

If you visit the Homestyle Furniture Shoppe website, you’ll be able to see a 360 tour of their show, their store info, and testimonials. Their reviews are typically 5 stars with repeat customers leaving reviews. Many comments focus on the quality of the wood furniture and the friendly staff and sales team. Many people felt their shopping experience was stress-free.

Kountry Cabinets & Home Furnishings (Nappanee, IN)

While Kountry Cabinets & Home Furnishings is primarily a custom cabinet company, they do sell a large selection of furniture from trusted Amish manufacturers. Everything they carry can help you make the most of your indoor and outdoor spaces. They focus on hardwood furniture for every corner of your home, but primarily on Living Room items and mattresses. Their goal is to be different than the big box chain stores.

This store was originally born from the Pletcher Furniture store that opened its doors in 1933. While the original store was later purchased by Ola Yoder of Kountry Wood, it continues to offer solid home furniture.

We encourage you to explore the Kountry Cabinets & Home Furnishings website. They have an easy-to-navigate layout and messaging system so you can schedule your visits to their store. Customer reviews of the furniture are usually 5 stars and reflect the quality of both products and services.

Plan Your Shopping Trip

If you’re interested in visiting these stores, we’ve placed their hours below.

Weaver Furniture Barn – Mon to Sat: 9AM – 5PM

Homestyle Furniture Shoppe – Mon to Sat: 9AM – 5PM

Kountry Cabinets & Home Furnishings – Mon to Fri: 9AM – 5PM and Saturday 10AM – 3 PM

Amish Furniture Staples: Designs You Should Explore

It is becoming more apparent in the furniture industry that there is a great need for furniture made with quality materials. Consumers often get furniture that lasts less than 5 years. In the end, they find they’ve spent too much on the products they received. It’s time for change. While we wish every home could be filled with quality Amish furniture, we realize that is not realistic for many reasons: store availability, budget, space, or style preferences. However, that isn’t a reason to give up hope, as there are many versatile designs we think will fit your needs. So, what are some Amish furniture staples we think could be found for any home?

Bookcases

Amish-made bookcases come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Yet, each style maintains a sturdy build that can withstand years of use. We’d recommend that you consider a bookshelf if you want at least one piece of Amish furniture in your home. This piece not only will save you space, but it can also easily blend into your home’s style.

Tables

One of the most popular Amish furniture staples is an Amish-made table. A table is necessary for every home, no matter how big or small. It is the place where meals are had, family discussions and memories are shared, and it can also be a beautiful focal point. Table-making is a large portion of the Amish furniture market. A good percentage of Amish builders are skilled in crafting tables of any size or style – which means you’ll likely find something that fits your needs very quickly.

Custom tables are also a huge part of the industry. Amish builders are often quick to accept custom table orders so you can have the perfect table to pass on for generations.

Fireplace Mantels

Every home should have a cozy element. Many would agree that nothing is more cozy than a fireplace, but you may not be able to have a full chimney setup in your home. The solution is an Amish-made fireplace mantel.

Many of these mantels come with electric fireplaces that will look beautiful and heat your home. There are a variety of colors, styles, and features to choose from.

Where to Shop: Amish Furniture Stores in Indiana

Want to know where you can shop for all of these Amish furniture staples and more? Weaver Furniture Barn is the one-stop shop for all Amish furniture. We’ve connected with handfuls of Amish manufacturers that make the top-of-the-line furniture from across Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. We accept online orders as well as in-store visits. Check out all that we have to offer!

SEE OUR FURNITURE

What is Dovetail Joinery?

If you’ve taken the time to browse through our furniture – or any Amish furniture manufacturer’s catalog for that matter – you’ve likely noticed that these pieces feature “dovetail joints.” If you don’t already know this type of interlocking design, you’re likely wondering “What is dovetail joinery?”

An Age-Old Woodworking Technique

To understand what a dovetail joint is, we’ll need to define the building technique known as joinery. Joinery is essentially the process of perfectly fitting two pieces of material together by creating shapes that “lock” into place. It’s like building a furniture puzzle.

There is a large selection of joinery styles, and you can identify them by the design of the “joints”. The joints are a “trapezoid-like” shape. Dovetail joinery uses these wedge-shaped tabs, or dovetails, to interlock one piece of wood with a corresponding tail in another piece of wood. It is one of the strongest woodworking joints.

These joints used to only be done by hand, which was not an easy task. Today, it is more common for manufacturers to use table saws or routers.

Benefits of Dovetail Joinery

Using a dovetail joint when building furniture means that each piece connected by a joint does not need additional dowels, screws, or nails. This allows a manufacturer to build a solid piece of hardwood furniture without needing to add the costs of these fasteners.

As we mentioned earlier, the strength rating on this style of joinery is one of the highest. It’s extremely difficult to pull a constructed dovetail joint apart. A builder does not have to apply glue. However, some will for added strength.

Also, the appearance of a dovetail joint is one benefit that we feel is often not highlighted enough. An experienced craftsman can create a beautiful seamless pattern in a piece of wood furniture through dovetail joinery. Especially, when the conjoined pieces vary in color.

Common Uses

Dovetail joinery is frequently used in high-quality furniture such as these:

Shop Our Dovetail Furniture

Have we sparked your interest in Dovetail joinery? If you’d like to see more furniture made with this technique, we’ve got a great supply.

Shop Furniture

If you can’t find what you’re looking for, we’ve got a unique custom furniture program. Our staff can take your requests to our many Amish manufacturers and we can get you that beautiful piece you’ve been looking for. Amish furniture builders excel at making custom orders in a timely and well-executed fashion.

Get A Custom Quote

How to Identify Quality Furniture

Quality furniture may feel like a luxury to some, and hard to find by others, but it’s worth the investment of time and money. When you familiarize yourself with the longevity of hardwood furniture, the safer features, and the artistic value, you’ll be able to spot a well-priced piece of quality furniture much more quickly.

Real Wood vs. Fake Wood

There are a variety of fake wood types in the furniture industry. To the untrained eye, knowing the difference between the real stuff and the fake wood can be hard. While they are cheaper in comparison, you may discover that you don’t save that much money for the poor quality. Here are ways to identify the different faux wood:

Unlike solid wood, faux wood is lighter, lacks texture and detail, has grainy edges, and is often left unfinished on the sides or bottom of the piece.

Kinds of Fake Wood

Fiberboard (MDF) – This manufactured wood is made of wood chips, plant fibers, sawdust, softwood flakes, and other recycled materials. These are then bonded with a synthetic resin and tightly compacted into boards or sheets.

Particle Board -This is actually considered a type of fiberboard, but the pieces inside are much larger. This causes noticeable texture and lessens the durability and attractiveness.

Laminate – This is another faux wood that uses artificial materials to create a wood-like appearance. A “wood grain” is then printed onto the laminate and given a shiny finish. While the quality of laminate is better than fiberboard, it is still fake-looking and doesn’t compare to hardwood.

Veneer – This is a form of faux wood that actually incorporates a thin layer of natural hardwood. This layer covers a base that is often made of medium-density fiberboard. The veneer is soft and this is because of the lighter core and can become easily scratched and dented. Veneer is challenging to sand and re-stain.

Recognizing Good Upholstery

Quality upholstered furniture will be made of more than just high-quality solid hardwood frames. Upholstery can come in a wide range of quality based on the manufacturer.

Carefully pay attention to the stitching and material of chairs, sofas, ottomans, and recliners. The stitching of cheaper upholstery will often tend to be loose or frayed.

Genuine leather vs. Faux leather

Genuine leather is not as abundant anymore and is being replaced by cheaper bonded leather and synthetic leather made of plastics. Pleather and bonded leather often loses its luster quickly and once it begins to tear, it is a continual mess of tiny peelings. They can have a chemical smell to them as well.

You can spot Genuine leather by its natural rough edge. Synthetic leather will be extra shiny and have a smooth edge.

High-Quality Fabrics

Look for a performance fabric and upholstery that is higher on the grade system. (The lowest is A and the Highest is F) A higher-quality fabric can be more expensive and may actually not be your best option based on lifestyle and budget. Explore your options. Some synthetic fabrics are considered of higher quality. Look for trusted manufacturers who are good at their craft and not just a specific fabric type. A good tell-tale sign of cheap manufacturing is the stitching will often tend to be loose or frayed.

You’ll also find higher quality in something that has been made in America and avoid cheap labor from overseas.

Quality Furniture is Art

Quality furniture made of real wood will have ornate details and will likely feature dovetail drawers and joints. You’ll always get unique wood grains and durable products that can be made to look soft and delicate, or natural and sturdy.

Quality furniture takes time; it requires time to source the materials, create a design, craft the product, and safely ship it to customers. The evidence is clear in the final result that the time is worth it.

Find Quality Furniture At Weaver Furniture Barn

Whether you’re looking for a cozy bedroom set, an upholstered loveseat, a meaningful family dinner table, or a chic office setup, you can find quality pieces for every room of your home when you shop at Weaver Furniture Barn.

Upholstery Care Guide

What is the best way to care for upholstery? We’ve put together a list of things you can do the prevent stains, increase the longevity of your upholstered furniture, and the things you should avoid.

Preventative Measures

Remove Dust/Hair/Dirt/Crumbs: Vacuuming, microfiber dusting, and lint rolling your upholstery is a top priority. Eventually, your fabrics will wear away when left with unattended dirt. Other organic matter can cause smells if not properly taken care of.

Leather Touch-Ups: Leather wipes are a great way of removing body oils that can build up. Removing that residue is important if you want to prevent cracking and dark spots.

Pretreating: Some furniture can come pretreated with a fabric protector. This coating can help keep tough stains from occurring. These treatments will need to be reapplied every few years and can be done yourself or by an expert.

Fluff and Rotate: If your cushions can be removed in a way that you can fluff and rotate them, this will keep them from wearing out too quickly.

How to Clean Upholstery

Pay Attention to Cleaning Codes: This should always be the first step when you care for upholstery. On your upholstered furniture, there should be one of these abbreviations on the tag:

SW: Safe to use solvents or water
S: Water-free solvents (an example is alcohol)
W: Save to use water and water-based cleaners
X: Vacuum only

Make or Buy a Trusted Cleaner: While many stores and manufacturers will have different lists of store-bought cleaners they recommend, these DIY cleaners have a good reputation.

Fabric Cleaner – 1/4 Cup vinegar, 3/4 Cup distilled water, 1 Tbs. dish soap/Castile soap. Mix into a spray bottle and mist the stain. Gently blot or scrub (if necessary) with a soft cloth until the spot lifts. Moisten a cloth with distilled water to remove any soap residue. Dry with a towel and keep the air moving.
Leather Cleaner – 1/2 Cup olive oil, 1/4 Cup vinegar. Mix in a spray bottle and spray the surface. Buff with a soft cloth.
Synthetic Fabric Cleaner – 1/2 Cup vinegar, 1 Cup warm distilled water, 1/2 Tbs. dish soap/Castile soap. Mix into a spray bottle, mist the area, and blot/gently scrub the area until the stain disappears.

Treat Stains Immediately: Any kind of stain should be taken care of as soon as possible to avoid permanent discoloration or damage.

General Spot Clean: After blotting up any liquid from your stain, you should apply a small about of cleaner to the spot. Next, gently activate it with your fingers or soft cloth to avoid oversaturating the fabric. Then, you’ll take a dry cloth and blot the stain by starting from the outer edge and working in. Repeat until the stain no longer transfers onto your blotting cloth.

Drying Moisture: If you need to dry your furniture to avoid moisture rings, use the lowest heat setting on a hairdryer, turn on a fan, or keep a dehumidifier running.

What to Avoid in Upholstery Care

Machine Washing/Dry Cleaning: Many people think that all removable cases on upholstered furniture are safe to wash like other laundry. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Unless marked otherwise, the fabric and stitching are at risk when cleaned with these methods. Please seek a professional cleaning company if you have a stubborn stain.

Tap Water: While your tap water may be safe to drink, the minerals in it could discolor the upholstery. Please stick to distilled water if that is the needed cleaning solution.

Scrubbing: You should always be gentle when cleaning fabrics and leathers. Blot up liquids and rub the spot as little as you can.

Prolonged Sunlight & Moisture: Fabrics and leather are not exempt from fading and moisture damage. Keep your furniture out of direct sunlight as much as possible and keep a dehumidifier in your room if needed.