Kittinger Furniture remains one of the top brands in luxury furniture. While other brands like Bassett Furniture and Ethan Allen Furniture have a large following and great name recognition, Kittinger Furniture has become synonymous with true, American Made Fine Furniture.
Who Makes the Furniture in the White House?
Of course, the highest office in the land requires beautiful and well made furniture. Kittinger, with their many lines of traditional furniture, became the company of choice for most of the furniture reproductions in the prominent rooms of the White House in 1968. President Nixon started commissioning Kittinger Furniture to make the majority of the fine furniture in the White House.
Sideboards, chairs, office furniture and of course the beautiful desk that sits in the Oval Office, are all reproductions made by Kittinger.
Kittinger Furniture Executive Desk
A Kittinger Furniture Executive Desk, more modest of course than the one in the White House, fits the most impressive offices. With Kittinger developing several lines of office furniture in their long history, executive desks certainly became something of their specialty.
While making several different models, we can see that certain elements remain constant in the beautiful executive desk offerings by Kittinger. For one, nearly all have gorgeous tooled leather on the top. Certainly a sign of luxury, the leather can be dyed to suit the owner’s taste and décor.
Secondly, almost all have a very large scale. Of course, an executive desk needs to find prominence in a room. So, most span between 5 and 8 feet in length.
Thirdly, the finest wood, brass hardware and extra details like panels, fluting or special feet finish the executive desks by Kittinger. The gorgeous executive desks by Kittinger really make a statement in a home or office.
Kittinger Secretary Desk
The beautiful Kittinger Secretary Desk certainly also deserves mentioning. Again, over the 150+ years of the company’s history, Kittinger designed and built some incredible secretary desks.
The Colonial Williamsburg Collection Secretary Desks typically have beautiful inlay on the slant front desk area. Additionally, the interior is fitted with a beautiful inner cabinet. Made up of drawers, shelves and cubbies, these desks look just as pretty opened as they do closed.
Likewise, secretary desks with bookcase tops show superb quality and craftsmanship. Many have glazed glass in the doors, and beautiful details in the carving and shape of the desk.
Quality of Kittinger Furniture
The quality of Kittinger Furniture, from the very start, showed major differences from their competitors. In the early 1900’s, owner Irvine Kittinger is quoted with writing,
“Our business is not primarily to turn furniture into money, but to produce something really worthwhile.”
Of course, prime woods, like Honduran and Cuban mahogany, solid domestic cherry and even solid oak graced the original pieces of Kittinger Furniture.
Particularly noticeable with a Kittinger coffee table, dining tables and other end tables are the beautiful grain and veneer work. Often, the factories at Kittinger used incredibly beautiful flame mahogany veneers to decorate the tops and sides of these tables.
Additionally, we can witness the quality of Kittinger Furniture in the construction of case furniture, such as breakfronts, dressers and chests. The subtle tooling along the edges, the perfectly functioning drawers, and the matched grains of table tops all show incredible precision and respect for the craftsmanship of furniture.
Biggs Kittinger Furniture
Biggs Furniture, a furniture factory from Richmond, Virginia made beautiful reproduction furniture for many years. Their handiwork got the attention of Kittinger Company, and before too long, Kittinger subsumed the Biggs workshop.
Kittinger used Biggs to produce their “Old Dominion” line of furniture, which comprises the reproduction Colonial pieces specifically tied to the Virginia area. Thus Biggs Kittinger Furniture is another name to look for when shopping for fine vintage furniture.
Cleaning and Caring for Kittinger Furniture
Cleaning and Caring for Kittinger Furniture takes a little bit of know-how and patience. Typically, fine furniture stores suggest waxing your furniture about once a year. But what kind of polish is the right Kittinger Furniture polish?
Certainly, supermarket brands of furniture polish like Pledge should be avoided with Kittinger Furniture. These types of products cause chemical build-up on fine furniture. Often, what seems to be working in the short term, could be wreaking havoc on your furniture investments.
Instead, only use natural paste wax on Kittinger Furniture. The best Kittinger polish is an all natural Carnauba or Beeswax. Of course, these gentle waxes must be used in moderation. Ideally, you should buff carefully but briskly and try to use short circular motions or move along the grain.
Shop Kittinger Furniture
Shopping for a gently used Kittinger Furniture piece? Start here first. Of course, we round up the best priced and most elegant Kittinger Furniture from across the country. We look for incredible condition, great useful Kittinger desks, bedroom furniture and beautiful dining room furniture that you and your family can enjoy for decades to come.
Please enjoy browsing, and let us know your Kittinger Furniture stories!
Kittinger Furniture For Sale
From the White House to Colonial Williamsburg, Kittinger made incredible fine reproduction furniture for over 100 years. This Buffalo, New York company made office furniture, Colonial furniture and other beautiful adaptations for fine homes across the nation. Find it today at second hand sellers online like Antique Furniture.