Sourcing Note 14 · Product & Craft

Uneven floors are the rule. Shim each leg

12 Oct 2026 Market: Global Modern Furniture · Assembly

A leg that rocks on a flat workshop floor will rock more in a real living room.

A furniture leg that rocks on a flat workshop floor will rock worse in a real living room, because most finished floors are out by several millimetres across a room.

I check every leg for rock before the piece is wrapped, and I specify a thin shim at the long point rather than trimming the short leg, which keeps the frame square. Buyers I work with are surprised how often a 'defective' table is just a floor the factory never met.

Send me a photo of the leg base on your next piece and I will tell you whether the workshop tested for rock.