FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Thank you for asking.  You can learn all about Chilton’s history here.

Yes, we have three showrooms located in Freeport, Portland and Scarborough, Maine.  Please click here for more information.

All of our showrooms are under common ownership, and team members at all three of our stores can assist you with ordering any Chilton standard or custom piece.

Our showrooms typically display similar items but with subtle differences.  Our Portland showroom emphasizes our newest, original designs, while our Freeport and Scarborough showrooms feature our full collection of modern and traditional Shaker inspired furniture. At our Freeport showroom you will also find our “Barn”—an adjacent building open spring through fall that contains most of our clearance items, typically at a significant discount, and our Scarborough showroom has its own year-round clearance section, which is constantly rotating items.

Be sure to periodically visit all three of our showrooms to see our full collection and latest clearance pieces! 

Yes.  Our furniture is delivered nation-wide, and in other states there are furniture companies who operate under a similar name.  Therefore outside of Maine, we often do business as or are referred to as “Chilton Furniture of Maine.”  Locally, we are simply known as “Chilton” or “Chilton Furniture.”

We publish customer reviews here. In addition, customers have reviewed Chilton on Google, Facebook, Houzz and Yelp.

The majority of our furniture is made in Maine in small workshops, including most of our Shaker pieces, as well as our collection of more modern original designs.  You can browse our full collection of Maine made wood furniture here.  Most of our Arts and Crafts furniture is crafted in the Midwest.  All Chilton furniture is made in America.

Yes, most of our pieces are available in other woods and finishes from those shown.  If you do not see the selection you are looking for as a choice on our website, please call toll free at 207-883-3366 and one of our associates will walk through the wood and finish options available, as well as the price differences, if any.  You can also learn more about our various, commonly used wood species here.

No, we do not sell unfinished wood furniture. While this is a product line we offered in years past, we no longer sell unfinished furniture in any of our showrooms or online.

Most of our furniture has a protective varnish that requires very little maintenance.  Gently use a very soft cloth to dust. If absolutely necessary, use a damp cloth.  To shine, if required, use only a wax-free polish. You can read more about caring for your wood furniture here. 

Chilton wood beds are available in a variety of sizes. Most are available standard in Full, Queen or King sizes, and several are available in Twin or California King sizes. You can learn more about which beds are available in various sizes here.

For a description of the differences between a Standard and a Platform bed and the advantages and disadvantages of each, please see our blog, Standard or Platform Bed?  You may also view our full collection of platform beds here.

We always keep a selection of our most popular furniture in stock. However, with hundreds of pieces to choose from, each one available in multiple sizes and wood types, it is more common that we will be building your furniture for you upon order.

Typical build times are 10 to 12 weeks, plus delivery. However, we work with a network of smaller shops and during busy periods, build times can run longer. We will always provide you with our best estimate of the build times for your furniture at the time of order.

No, the Shakers have not built furniture in several decades.  However, several of our Shaker style furniture pieces are inspired by the timeless understated beauty of original Shaker design.  In addition, Chilton is extremely proud of its collaboration with the Shakers of Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village to help them re-introduce classic Shaker pieces in support of The Shaker Society, including the Alfred Chair, which you can read about here.

The Shakers are a religious community who became accomplished builders of wood furniture in the 18th and 19th centuries in order to furnish their villages, as well as to trade with people outside the Shaker community. The Shakers became known for the quality of their craftsmanship and the timeless simplicity of their designs, which continue to be coveted to this day. The Shakers had not built furniture on a commercial basis in several decades, until the recent re-introduction of the Alfred Chair, which you can read about here. You can read more about the Shakers here.

The Amish are also a religious community concentrated in the American midwest. The Amish were traditionally farmers, but took up furniture building several decades ago and have become known for their solid construction, craftsmanship and value.

The majority of Chilton furniture is built in small shops in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The remainder is built by small Amish shops in the Midwest, many of which have been Chilton partners for decades. Thanks to our longstanding relationships, we have a growing collection of original designs being built exclusively for Chilton by our Amish partners. You can browse our full collection of Amish-built furniture here.

Chilton offers white glove delivery throughout the continental United States. "White glove delivery" means that your furniture will be blanket wrapped, carefully carried into you home, placed where you like it, and then all packaging materials are removed for your convenience.

Chilton can also assist with delivery outside of the continental US or to islands by delivering to customer-specified brokers who specialize in cross-border or island deliveries.

You may read about our full Delivery and Pickup policies here.

Yes, Chilton offers white glove delivery throughout the continental United States. Chilton can also assist with delivery outside of the continental US or to islands by delivering to customer-specified brokers who specialize in cross-border or island deliveries. Please call for additional assistance with deliveries outside the continental U.S.

You may read about our full Delivery and Pickup policies here.

"White glove delivery" means that your furniture will be blanket wrapped, carefully carried into your home by professional furniture movers, placed where you specify, assembled as-needed, and all packaging materials discarded for your convenience.

You may read about our full Delivery and Pickup policies here.

When companies advertise "free shipping," it is important to understand exactly what delivery service they are offering in order to properly compare "apples-to-apples" and avoid disappointment.

For example, many forms of "free" shipping mean "free to your driveway." For this service, you need to be prepared (ideally, with strong family members or friends!) to carry your furniture into your home yourself. Any damage caused to your walls is on you.

Chilton is a big believer in "White Glove" delivery, in which your furniture is blanket wrapped, carefully carried into your home by professional furniture movers, placed where you specify, assembled as-needed, and all packaging materials discarded. Many of our customers tell us that investing in proper White Glove delivery was the best investment they could have made.

At the end of the day, there are no shortcuts to safely and efficiently transporting furniture from a builder to a customer. Some furniture companies choose to include the cost of delivery in the price of their furniture, and then to advertise the delivery as being "free." We believe a more direct and straightforward approach is to include the true cost of delivery as a separate charge.

You may read about our full Delivery and Pickup policies here.

You may read all about our return and cancellation policies here.

The 5% service charge covers Chilton for the approximate 3% credit card fee we are charged at the time of order, and which is not refundable to us. Also, after two days, Chilton is responsible for purchasing the furniture from our builders (we cannot cancel), and the service charge helps to offset some of the cost of holding additional furniture in our inventory until it is sold to another customer.

Importantly, we believe that our service charge is the absolute lowest in our industry. Typically, furniture company service charges are between 15% and 35% of the purchase price. Chilton takes a loss on every return or cancellation, however, we have maintained this policy because over time, we have tended to have very few.

It is common in the furniture industry to inflate everyday prices, and then to have frequent "sales" with large markdowns that are really just reducing the furniture back to a fair price.

At Chilton, we believe in everyday fair pricing, and our regular prices are typically at-or-below the "sale" prices for other wood furniture companies. A few times per year, we offer a broad sale at modest markdowns (typically no more than 10%) to provide an incentive for customers to visit our showrooms or look over our website to see our newest designs.

We believe that with Chilton's everyday fair pricing policy, customers can rest at ease knowing they are getting a fair value no matter when they choose to shop. 

Sale pricing is offered only during official sales. This is done out of fairness to customers who have waited for a sale, and who will typically experience longer wait times for their furniture to be built due to higher order volumes. Also, as described above, Chilton employs an "every day fair pricing" approach where our everyday prices are close to industry final markups, and therefore our sale discounts are relatively modest.

The law establishes manufacturer requirements for clothing storage units to mitigate the risk of tipping or falling on a child. All clothing storage units of a certain size built after September 1st 2023 must pass government issued stability tests and display compliance documentation to remain an active product.

The Sturdy Act goes into effect on September 1st 2023. After this date all clothing storage units of a certain size must pass stability tests once a year to continue to be sold.

Our case good designs require modification to meet the standards of this new law. After careful consideration of the compliance options available to us, our manufacturers are implementing an interlocking drawer system on our bedroom case goods to ensure compliance. With this system, you will be able to open only one drawer per vertical bank of drawers at a time. We will have display models with this system available in our showrooms by September 1st 2023 and all pieces built after September 1st 2023 will use this system.

We are excited to announce our partnerships with Through These Doors, an innovative and responsive organization working to end domestic violence in Cumberland County Maine, and The Integrated Life, a multi-service mental health agency working with folks experiencing housing instability in Southern Maine. To that end, we will be collecting gently used furniture which will be donated to victims of abuse who are transitioning into safer housing. As our way of saying 'thank you' for helping us support our community, we are offering a 10% discount on new furniture in exchange for your donation.

Furniture can be dropped off at our Freeport Showroom.

Please email donations@chiltons.com to schedule a donation drop off time.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer this service at this time.

We need all varieties of furniture, just no upholstery please!

No, the credit does not expire. We keep a record of when it’s redeemed and it’s good until it’s used!

The discount voucher cannot be combined with other offers on the same item.

There is no limit to volume or frequency of donations, we will take everything we can!