Supermarkets try at all costs to reduce production costs by offering you low quality products
that won't last.
Beyond that, office furniture has a fairly standard look to it, but how can you be sure that it is of good quality?
By reading the labels, of course!
However, I realise that not everyone knows the terms melamine, laminate, solid oak etc...
So a little lesson is in order...
Melamine is what you find at
Ikea, and yes it is two sheets of particleboard covered with a few millimetres of decorative melamine foil that are hot glued to a surface of either chipboard (small compressed wood chips) or MDF (compressed fibreboard).
Basically, it is a decoration that is placed on a denser structure. Most commercial furniture is made in this way.
The look of melamine is not qualitative because the decorations are often pearled and do not convey a silky effect like natural materials.
Laminate is the result of the agglomeration of several layers of kraft paper superimposed on a sheet of decorative paper impregnated with thermosetting resin. It has the advantage of being much more qualitative and robust than melamine.
Solid wood, the most noble material because it comes directly from the mass of the tree. It is therefore an unprocessed material that is in its raw state. However, there are several qualities of solid wood.
The way in which solid wood can be staged also differs.
You have probably already seen wooden cubes placed end to end on a dining room table, this is called glued laminated solid wood; this quality will be inferior to a solid wood table.
You have to imagine that you are cutting the tree trunk lengthwise, the closer you get to the centre, the better the quality of the wood.
That's it for the basics, so it's up to you to read the labels and if you don't find the information you need, don't hesitate to ask the sellers!