I received an email last week which said… I am in the process of shopping for furniture. I have always liked loose cushions, but I am seeing LOTS of pieces now with attached cushions and the salespeople say that these tend to wear better because of how they are constructed. I am mostly concerned with wear-ability and comfort. Any thoughts?

To distinguish the different kinds of cushions, when we are talking seat cushions, there are either loose or attached and for the back cushions, there are loose, attached, or semi-attached cushions.

Most of us don’t realize all that is involved in the delivering furniture over long distances and having it arrive in perfect condition. I decided to call Rick, the general manager of one of the two home delivery companies we use at Casco Bay Furniture.

At Casco Bay Furniture, we are often asked about the history of the Chesterfield sofa. Here is a bit of that history.

The word “Chesterfield” is a term used today by many in North American and particularly in Canada to describe what most of us commonly refer to as a sofa. But the term has much older origins. It is generally thought that the Fourth Earl of Chesterfield, Lord Philip Stanford, who lived from 1694 to 1773 and died at the age of 79, commissioned his furniture maker to build a leather sofa that would not wrinkle the clothes of a gentlemen sitting upright, but in comfort.

The other day it occurred to me that, although I had been in the furniture business for a long time, I could probably learn more about cushion construction…and it may be true for many of you. I decided to contact Lawrence Sweeny, owner of Larin Cushion Company of  North Carolina.

Lawrence how long have you been in the cushion business?

I’ve been in the business for 40 years. I started in the cushion business at Hickory Spring Manufacturing Company, a company that is a leading supplier of foam, springs, and other furniture related components. After three years, I left the company and formed my own company, catering to a portion of the business I thought was not being served well in the industry… the high-end business and specialty manufacturers. We make a quality product and rarely do we have a cushion failure. I have made several million cushions over the years and we may have had only 4 or 5 returns a year.

John can you tell me how you started building custom made furniture?

Well Richard I started 44 years ago I think it was in 1972. My wife Penny and I opened a shop in Southern California. I was always an Artisan at heart. Before long I started making hand carved mirrors and folk art. With the encouragement of family and friends I began to enter my work in local art shows and before I knew I was traveling the country with my creations. I was fortunate enough to win many awards at these shows.