Why Domestic Dining Furniture Won’t Cut It in a Commercial Environment
Commercial furniture is of contract quality, as opposed to domestic grade use. Whether you’re opening a new a pub, bar or restaurant, or refurbishing an existing one, you will want your venue to look as good as possible – a daunting task when budgets are tight. It’s understandable why you might be tempted to opt for the cheaper option of domestic furniture items instead of contract furniture.
However, there’s a reason the saying “buy cheap, buy twice” is age-old. Quality furniture in a commercial setting is imperative, and here’s why…
Durability
First and foremost, while domestic furniture comes in a range of different qualities, even the most expensive and highest quality items just aren’t built to withstand the traffic of a commercial environment. Customers just won’t treat pub furniture the way they treat their own furniture at home, too.
Commercial furniture is designed and manufactured for this usage and is robust enough to withstand it. While you use your dining room chairs maybe once or twice a day at a push, commercial furniture might be used more than 15 times per day, as well as being dragged around and moved etc. Contract furniture is designed to look great, but it’s also fit for purpose. Time and consideration are taken into the design, and hard-wearing materials which will withstand the test of time are used.
Stability
Contract furniture items are finished with hard-wearing materials with scratch/dent/heat resistant coatings/lacquers. Fabrics and leathers need to pass the ‘rub’ test to ensure they are durable enough for commercial environments, and contract fabrics are typically five times more hard-wearing than domestic versions.
Cost
As mentioned above, when you buy cheap, you often buy twice. Furnishing an entire premise can be daunting and the initial outlay for contract furniture is more expensive than domestic grade furniture. However, it’s important to view this as an investment. It will last a lot longer and will look at lot better for longer.
Fire safety
Commercial furniture is manufactured to an extremely high standard, using materials which will withstand the toughest of conditions. This includes the need to pass fire safety standards, and if your furniture doesn’t adhere to these standards then you could face hefty penalties.