Living room furniture is located in high traffic areas and is used more often than dining room furniture or basement furniture. This means that the furniture is going to be exposed more frequently and sooner to natural wear and tear than furniture in lower areas of traffic. For this reason alone, wood joints in furniture make so much of a difference. In fact, they are one of the most, if not the most, important part of any form of woodwork.


What Makes Good Furniture
Quality furniture will not just be nailed or glued together. The type of wood joinery is one of the most important elements when it comes to determining the level of quality a piece of furniture has. There are several different types of woodworking joints that can affect the life and strength of a piece of furniture.

What are Wood Joints?
Wood joints are the parts of the two pieces of wood that connects together to ensure the form of any woodwork project. In laymen terms, it’s essentially just two pieces of wood that meet and are connected, usually, without any glue, screws, or nails. Wood joints can be used in framing a home, building furniture, or anything else that combines two or more pieces of wood together. The joint is what ensures stability in a piece of work that makes it stable enough to be used for a long period of time while maintaining its integrity as a piece of work.

Different Types of Wood Joints
There are a number of different types of wood joints from basic to complicated. However, knowledge of these wood joints is no doubt extremely beneficial when it comes to not only building furniture but shopping for furniture as well. When you can recognize the work of a quality joint, it will help you appreciate the workmanship and craftsmanship better.

Butt Joint
One of the most basic and simple forms of the wood joints is the butt joint. It is one that is likely to be encountered the most. This joint type can be used in picture frames, connecting different parts of furniture, and pretty much anything else.

Dovetail Joint
This type of joint is used most commonly for its elegance and beauty. This is one of the most common types of joint used in furniture. Additionally, dovetail joints can be used to create many different types of furniture. They require very little to almost no objects to hold it in place; objects like nails, screws, or glue.

Mortise and Tenon Joint
The mortise and Tenon Join is one of the oldest types of wood joints used by different woodworkers; making it extremely versatile. It is composed of two wood joints with different properties.

Mitered Butt Joint
Similar to the butt joint, it is also fairly simple and relatively common to use when creating woodworking projects. While it is not quite as elegant as the dovetail joint, it does provide a strong and sturdy finish. The main difference between a butt joint and a mitered butt join is the angle of how the wooden boards meet. The mitered butt joint can be connected to form a 45-degree angle, while the butt joint can be connected at a 90-degree right angle.

Half Lap Joint
This is another wood joint that is ideal and most commonly used in furniture. Typically, this joint is used when two pieces of wood need to be joined in the middle rather than on the ends. As a result, some slightly weaker joints may be present and overall this is one of the weaker joints to use than some of the others. However, it is the best way to create some type of frames


Furniture stores in South Florida know just how important the right wood joints to furniture. When it comes time to start shopping for new furniture, for a remodel or a brand new home, it’s easy to want to pick the cheapest option. However, price is not the only thing to look for. Always remember to inspect the construction and joint types on furniture for any piece of furniture that is bought.