Swaim Difference
For nearly a century, Swaim has been making some of the most sought after furniture available. Known for our distinctive industry leading designs and heirloom quality, we remain one of the few companies still in existence that builds all of its products here in the USA. Unlike some online companies, Swaim has not diminished the quality it spent three generations protecting. Each Swaim frame is made to order using the best materials we can find, ensuring that each piece sold carries our traditions with it.
What is the Swaim Difference
There is more to making the best furniture available than meets the eye. It is possible to achieve a great looking end product, while still using inferior materials in every step of the process. When you buy a piece of furniture, you are not only buying it because of the way it looks, but you expect it to last. Without the trust in the maker and the comfort that they are using only premium materials how will you know? You can rest assured when you buy a piece of our furniture it is made with 80 years of experience and an acceptance for nothing but the best.
All frames are made using kiln dried hand selected hardwoods and 1” engineered plywood. Swaim ensures that every supplier provides only FSC certified products that are harvested in a responsible manner. Our frames are engineered in-house relying on the decades of experienced craftsmen. Each piece is precisely cut using a blend of old world craftsmanship and state of the art technology. Secured with screws, staples and glues, our frames are built to last forever. Each frame carries with it a lifetime limited warranty.
Where required, bases are built by hand to custom fit your piece. Each joint is double dowed, glued and where needed corner blocks are added to prevent loosening of joints. This base is then hand sanded removing any blemishes and creating the perfect surface for finishing. Every piece is finished individually using a 14-step process, honed by years of attention to detail, revealing the hardwoods natural undertones and luster.
The seating unit built into each base is what ensures the piece's comfort for years to come. Depending on seat depth and other factors, each frame is built using either 8-way hand tied springs or Propex nylon webbing. The attention to detail and quality of materials is critical at this stage in the frame making process. Swaim utilizes various gauge springs individually secured into place based to optimize comfort. The springs are then tied at alternating locations on each spring creating a system that functions as one operating base. This continuous base of springs adjust each time you sit on it, ensuring optimal comfort for each person.
Each frame receives a specified patterning of foam. The foam is selected to ensure the highest comfort available. Foams come in a variety of densities and must be selected to best fit the piece it is going in. Too hard or too soft foam can ruin how the piece feels when it is completed. Inexpensive foam, that may look good when the piece is first built, will break down over time and spoil the original look and sit of the piece. We don’t skimp on foam. It’s just one of the many secrets as to why Swaim remains comfortable for years to come.
All Swaim fabrics are cut by hand. Fabrics are rolled onto the cutting tables, inspected for consistency and free from flaws, the specific cutting pattern is nested onto the fabric. The ability to nest the fabric so that it matches as it “flows” over the piece can take years to learn. This attention to detail is what makes the piece look seamless as it covers the piece. Others use machines to rapidly cut the patterns. We choose not to do this, but rather rely on our experts to match out each piece before it is sewn.
We cannot use more expensive seat cushions or back pillows because we already do. Considered the finest in the industry, spring-down seat cushions have individually wrapped springs encased in a high density foam wrap and then covered with a layer of down feathers. This unit is then wrapped in a layer of dense “ticking” to reduce the amount of quill penetration. Unlike a seat cushion made from poor quality foam, our collection of materials provides a seat cushion that will keep its shape. The back pillows are feathers encased in baffles and secured by quill resistant ticking. These back pillows will need to be groomed on occasion, but will forever return to their original shape and comfort. Hypoallergenic cushions are available at no additional cost to you.
We believe our upholsterers are the best in the industry. It can take 10 years to become a Swaim master upholsterer. While each upholsterer has their own style, each understands the importance of the finished product. How hard they pull the fabric, how they lay the fabric on the piece, even placement of the foam can impact the look and comfort of the end product. There is no room to compromise.