Harden Furniture

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum but have been visiting for a few months. I'm looking at Harden bedroom and dining room furniture. For anyone who has purchased their furniture over the last five years what has been your experience with the furniture? Are you still happy with the build quality and durability?

For the real furniture expects here, what is the build and material quality of Harden compared to Stickley and others?

Are there any dealers on the board like Duane is for H&M?

Thanks Everybody!

I guess Harden isn't a very popular brand?

I have a few Harden pieces. I have a bed that I ordered, and a number of smaller pieces that I picked up on clearance. Some of the pieces have a mildly distressed finish, and those pieces have held up very well. The bed has a sprayed-on smooth finish, no distressing of the wood, and I have had some problems with the finish, in one spot due to a problem during the finishing process, and in a couple of others due to the finish chipping off. Nothing is particularly visible, but I had expected a higher quality finish at Harden's price point.

The quality of the assembly of the case goods is decent. It's solid, quality wood, the dovetails for the drawers are machine-cut but are tight. These aren't furniture pieces that people will look upon as works of art, but as long as you take reasonable care of them they'll last a very long time.

I have seen some of their dining tables and chairs, but I have not looked closely, nor did I sit in a chair, so I can't comment directly on those issues. My dining chairs are from J.L. Treharn, and I've not seen anything in a furniture store that compares to them in terms of their heft and solid build, but let's say... not cheap.

Thanks Aaron,

Is Harden any more machine vs hand made than Stickley?

I don't have a Stickley dealer near here, so I can't comment. I can say this -- of all of the mass produced pieces I was able to see at a number of local furniture stores, Harden had by far the best build quality. At the worst end of the spectrum, I saw dovetails cut into plywood, dovetail joints with gaps, dovetail joints filled with wood putty, and the like. I don't care for Harden's gold-colored drawer hardware, with faux keyholes and the like, but that's cosmetic -- and others obviously do like that look. The pieces I have were built with dark hardware, with what I think is an aged bronze look, and while it's considerably short of the heft of actual bronze the hardware quality is good.

Note that Harden does have some pieces that are manufactured in Asia. The U.S. pieces are primarily cherry, while Asian pieces use different kinds of wood. The build on the Asian pieces seemed good, but from what I saw the U.S.-built pieces were better.

These photos are from a U.S.-built cherry end table, showing the top (and 'aging' effects), drawer front, inside of a drawer, and dovetailing.

Attachment 6617Attachment 6618Attachment 6619Attachment 6620

Thanks again Aaron.

Does anybody have tips on dealers with the best pricing?

FYI, i just got off the phone with Harden with some product questions. They're having a big sale this Saturday for anyone who happens to be local to the factory.

Located in McConnellsville, N.Y. Harden is an interesting company. Family owned and operated and major employer in this small upstate community. Manufacturing is vertically integrated with local hardwood forests with logging/milling, and all steps of hardwood manufacturing. Primarily use local cherry woods. I remember them as well respected but not quite to the level of Stickley, another central N.Y. company. I believe their overall quality has slipped over the years as the market for expensive USA manufactured case goods has diminished and pricing pressure from offshore, coupled with high costs to operate in N.Y., have impacted their business. Given a choice I would recommend Stickley over Harden for factory made case goods. You might also look at Council as another possibility.

Councill is within the Hancock & Moore family of companies.