FAQ's

We build 95% of our pieces with solid walnut. Not walnut veneer over particle board, not another wood stained to look like walnut — real, solid walnut, kiln-dried for stability before a single piece is cut. We chose walnut because it's a slow-growth, dense hardwood with a beautiful natural grain that holds fine detail well, and because it stays remarkably stable as humidity shifts through the seasons — which is what keeps a piece from cupping or cracking over the years. A few of our upholstered pieces use other solid woods, like pine and alder, in the frame, where they offer strength and stability without adding excessive weight. Our shoe benches are made from solid rubber wood, which lets us offer a practical, everyday piece at a lower price point.

The overwhelming majority of the Gingko collection is solid walnut throughout — tops, legs, frames and all. That matters for more than looks: solid wood can be sanded and refinished decades from now, while a veneered panel can only be refinished until you sand through the paper-thin top layer. A small number of our upholstered pieces use engineered wood inside the frame, where it's genuinely a better performer for that specific job — those are the exception, not the rule, and we note it on that product's page.

Yes. Our pieces are built with mortise and tenon joinery — a tenon (tongue) cut on one piece of wood seated into a mortise (socket) cut into another. It is slower and more expensive than staples, dowels or cam-lock hardware, and it is the reason many antiques and vintage pieces built this way are still in use. A mortise and tenon joint carries load across a large glued surface and flexes with the wood's seasonal movement instead of fighting it. We want our furniture to last for generations and believe that building it the right way is the only way.

Stability, mostly. Walnut moves relatively little as indoor humidity swings, which is exactly what you want in a dining table or a cabinet door that has to keep working year-round. It is also dense and strong for its weight, and it has a depth of color and grain figure that does not need stain to look rich — what you see is the wood, not a finish imitating one. Walnut does not change color overtime like Cherry and unlike acacia or poplar does not have wildly unpredictable grain. Walnut is prized for its organically beautiful grain that enhances every piece.

Our furniture is designed in California and built in our owned and operated woodworking facility in China as well as our partner manuacturer in Malaysia. Being based in the Bay Area shapes the work — our designs sit at the crossroads of mid-century modern, Mission-style and Asian-inspired design, scaled for the way people actually live in homes today. Our production team in China has been executing our designs for over 20 years and their dedication and skilled workmanship is important to how we deliver solid walnut and hand-cut joinery at prices that are a fraction of domestic custom shops.

Close, but not identical — and that's the point. Every board has its own grain, color and figure, so no two Gingko pieces are ever quite the same. Our live-edge pieces, like the George Console, are one-of-a-kind by definition. Because our furniture is finished by hand, we quote dimensions to the nearest half-inch, and you should expect slight variation. If you'd like to see the actual piece before it ships, just ask and we'll try to accommodate.

Yes — we'll send walnut finish samples and upholstery swatches free of charge. Request them at mail@gingkofurniture.com and they typically arrive in 3–5 business days.

Mid-century modern at its core, with a contemporary and cosmopolitan edit. Our designs borrow from classic and iconic forms — mid-century, Mission, and Asian-influenced proportion — many are slightly re-scaled and their lines simplified for the interiors of today. The result is lighter and more urban than a strict period reproduction, and it plays well with a mixed interior rather than demanding a themed room. We love mid-century modern, but no one wants to live in a Jetsons house.

Every product page lists full dimensions, quoted to the nearest half-inch. Before you order, measure the spot the piece will live in — and then measure the path it has to travel to get there: doorways, stair turns, hallway width, elevator depth. A sofa that fits the living room but not the stairwell is the single most common furniture delivery problem. Tape the footprint out on your floor if you want to be certain. If you are unsure, call or text us with your measurements and we will work it out with you.

Yes, on most items. Small and mid-sized pieces ship at no cost to you. Our popular Accent Chairs, Dining Chairs, Coffee and Side Table all ship free. Larger, oversized items — TV cabinets and sofas, for example — do carry an outbound shipping charge because of their size and the specialized freight handling they require. You'll always see the shipping cost, if any, at checkout before you pay. Any charges quoted at checkout are for curbside delivery.

Order directly on gingkofurniture.com — we sell direct to you, with no retail middleman and no showroom markup. If you would rather talk it through first, call us at 650-396-7455, text 408-221-1527, or email mail@gingkofurniture.com. We are happy to answer questions before you buy; we want you to enjoy your purchase for many years to come and think it's worth taking the time to find the right piece.

Yes, if you catch it before it ships. Cancel before your order leaves us and you are refunded in full, including any shipping you paid. Once the order has shipped — even if it has not reached you yet — we have to treat it as a return, which means you cover both the outbound and return shipping. So if something has changed, call or email us right away and we will respond immediately.

We do run sale events and promotions, and we announce them by email first. Join the Green Team — our mailing list — and you will see every sale before it goes out anywhere else.

If everything on your order is in stock, it typicaally ships within 5 days of your order, and transit generally runs 5–10 business days depending on where you are. All items are currently shipping from our SF Bay Area warehouse. You will get tracking by email so you can follow it. Out-of-stock items take longer — typically 4-5 weeks — and we flag the extended lead time on the product page and confirm it when your order is processed. One thing to know: an order ships complete, so if you combine an in-stock chair with an out of stock table, everything travels together when the table is ready.

Yes, on most items. Small and mid-sized pieces ship at no cost to you. Our popular Accent Chairs, Dining Chairs, Coffee and Side Table all ship free. Larger, oversized items — TV cabinets and sofas, for example — do carry an outbound shipping charge because of their size and the specialized freight handling they require. You'll always see the shipping cost, if any, at checkout before you pay. Any charges quoted at checkout are for curbside delivery.

Curbside is our standard method: the carrier brings your shipment to your delivery address and leaves it at the curb or threshold. For most itmes which ship by FedEx, this means that your boxed furniture will be delivered to your front door. From there, carrying it inside, unpacking and any simple assembly are yours to handle. Most of our most popular pieces--accent chairs, dining chairs, coffee tables, and shelving can be carried by one person, so you should be up to the task! In the case of large, oversized items which ship via special trucking service, you will be contacted in advance of delivery and your items also will be delivered curbside and you will be responsible for bringing them inside your home. We do not currently have other delivery options.

Over ninety percent of our pieces are shipped by FedEx to your home or office. Larger pieces need specialized freight, and for those the carrier will call you once your shipment reaches their local service center so you can book a delivery appointment — usually a weekday window during business hours. Every shipment gets a tracking number. In the Bay Area, if you have chosen in-home delivery, our own team schedules and delivers it.

We ship throughout the contiguous 48 states. We do not currently ship to Alaska, Hawaii, PO boxes, APO/FPO. We can ship to some Canadian adresses, but special freight charges will apply. Please contact us at mail@gingkofurniture.com for a freight quote.

Yes — we can hold a paid order for up to 30 days at no charge. Requests to hold an order must ve made before your furniture ships out, so please contact us by email or text when you place the order so we can coordinate scheules.

You'll get tracking information by email as soon as your order ships. You can also check status any time by contacting us — call 650-396-7455, text 408-221-1527 or email mail@gingkofurniture.com and we'll look it up.

Open and inspect it as soon as possible--ideally before the driver leaves. If you spot an issue after unwrapping, photograph the piece and the packaging and email us at mail@gingkofurniture.com right away. Keep the original packaging for at least 21 days in case you decide to return anything. Gingko will repair or replace any damaged items after receiving documentaion of the damage.

You have 21 days from delivery to return a piece that isn't right for you. It needs to come back in as-new condition and, ideally, in its original packaging — that packaging is designed to survive transit, and returns damaged on the way back can only be refunded if the original materials were used. Returns carry a return shipping fee equal to the outbound shipping cost; if your piece shipped free, both the outbound and return shipping are deducted from your refund. Floor samples, final sale items and anything customized cannot be returned.

Once your return reaches our warehouse, our team inspects it. If it comes back in as-new condition, we refund you less the outbound and return shipping, to your original payment method and to the original purchaser. Items returned in used condition are not refunded.

We understand that sometimes things change and you can decide to return an item. Even on items that shipped free to you, that shipping still cost us to send — so if you return anything, both the outbound and return shipping are deducted from your refund. On oversized items where you paid a shipping charge upfront, that same logic applies: outbound and return shipping are both factored into your refund.

Our manufacturer's warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship for one year from the date your piece is delivered. If something is wrong, tell us and we will sort it out — replacement parts, a repair, or a full replacement when that is what the situation calls for. The warranty applies to normal household use and to the original purchaser; it doesn't transfer with a resold piece, and it doesn't cover damage from misuse, accidents, modifications or commercial use. Our furniture will last you for many many years to come. We have a one year warranty on materials and workmanship because any defects will show up wihin a year's time.

Get in touch right away at mail@gingkofurniture.com. Send photos of the piece from a few different angles and distances, plus photos of the box it came in — shipping damage often shows up on the carton first. Short videos work too if photos can't capture it. We inspect every outbound shipment before it leaves, so this is rare, but when it happens we will repair or replace the piece.

It's simpler than people expect. Dust with a soft, dry cloth, and wipe up spills as they happen rather than letting them sit — standing water is the main enemy of any wood surface. Keep pieces away from direct heat sources, which can also damage the finish over time. Use coasters and trivets, and keep furniture out of direct, sustained sunlight, which will bleach walnut over time.

Sunlight will fade solid wood furniture over time, so avoid placing pieces where they'll sit in direct sun for many hours a day. Humidity affects it too, since wood is a natural, organic material that responds to moisture in the air. Aim for roughly 35–55% relative humidity and avoid sharp swings. Solid wood breathes — it takes on moisture in humid months and releases it in dry ones, which is exactly why we build with mortise and tenon joints that accommodate that movement. Very dry indoor air over a long winter is the usual culprit behind small checks or gaps, so a humidifier near forced-air heat is worth having. Keep pieces away from radiators, heat vents and fireplaces.

Because it lasts, and because of what most of it isn't made of. A solid walnut piece with mortise and tenon joinery can be repaired, refinished and passed down for generations, while composite furniture typically can't be repaired at all once a panel fails — which is a big part of why so much of it ends up in landfill within a few years. Buying one piece that lasts forty years instead of four that last ten is the whole argument. Our walnut is sustainably harvested and dried slowly, and across the large majority of our collection, we avoid the plywood and particleboard that rely on formaldehyde-based glues. Where a small number of upholstered pieces do use plywood in the frame, we disclose it on that product page.

Our solid walnut pieces are exactly that — solid wood, kiln-dried, with no plywood or particle board and none of the chemical glues those panels rely on. Formaldehyde in furniture comes overwhelmingly from the adhesives in engineered panels, so building solid sidesteps the issue at the source.

A small number of our upholstered pieces are made by partners whose factories use plywood, and California law requires a Prop 65 label wherever formaldehyde may be present in that manufacturing environment. The label is a disclosure requirement, not a finding about a defect in your specific piece. We'd rather explain it plainly than have you find it on a carton and wonder. Our solid walnut pieces — the large majority of what we make — don't use plywood or any other engineered wood at all.

We are a family business based in the SF Bay Area. Jerry and Sarah started Gingko Furniture in 2003. We have always been involved from end to end -- owning and operating the manufacturing process, sourcing the materials, designing the pieces and marketing them to homeowners. After 20+ years of operating retail stores in California and Oregon, we now focus on selling our pieces online.

After the ginkgo tree — a living fossil whose leaf appears in the record 270 million years back. It vanished from Northern Europe by the 16th century, was rediscovered in China in 1691, and was carried back west in the late 1700s. Individual trees can live three thousand years. A species that bridges East and West and endures for millennia felt like the right name for furniture drawing on Asian, European and American design that we intend you to keep for decades.

However suits you. Call 650-396-7455, text 408-221-1527, or email mail@gingkofurniture.com. We answer questions before purchase as readily as after — if you are weighing two pieces or measuring a tight stairwell, we would genuinely rather talk it through with you first.