The Dungeoneer's Handbook, Volume IX, Chapter 12: "Paranoid dungeon owners are known to hide loot in their furniture. Tabletops, for example, may be laminated wood that hide treasure maps. Similarly, table legs may be hollow to hide wands or scroll cases. For these reasons we recommend that all furniture be dismantled and each piece broken to ensure that no items of importance will be missed."

The next time your party comes across a room that looks like it was visited by a family of hyperactive beavers that brought along some rabid wolverines for cleanup then you'll know that the adventurers were merely being "thorough" like they learned in school.