When it comes to home décor, wood furniture stands out as a timeless choice that brings warmth, elegance, and durability to any space. Whether you're furnishing a new home or looking to update your current décor, understanding the nuances of wood furniture is essential for making informed decisions.
This comprehensive wood furniture guide aims to provide you with all the necessary information to choose the perfect pieces for your home. From the different types of wood and their characteristics to tips on maintenance and styling, it explores the various aspects that make wood furniture a beloved staple in interior design.
Hardwoods, derived from deciduous trees, are highly valued in furniture making due to their exceptional durability, strength, and aesthetic appeal. They are called hardwoods because they typically have a denser structure compared to softwoods from coniferous trees. Each type of hardwood offers unique characteristics that can significantly influence the appearance and feel of furniture. Understanding these variations is crucial for making informed choices.
Here are some of the best hardwoods and their characteristics:
Characteristics
Brown maple is often sourced from various soft maple trees and is commonly referred to as the 'heartwood”. This wood is adored for its smooth grain and consistent texture. It typically displays a light to medium brown color, ranging from beige to tan.
Brown maple is a beloved choice for furniture makers, prized for its adaptability and exceptional visual appeal. This wood is a staple for those seeking a blend of elegance and practicality in their furnishings. Despite being softer than other hardwoods, it remains durable and reliable, making it a favorite among craftspeople and homeowners.
Strength
Although brown maple is softer than other hardwoods, it still provides considerable strength and durability. This makes it suitable for a variety of furniture pieces that need to withstand everyday use.
Color
The color of brown maple ranges from light to medium brown, with shades from beige to tan. It often features light and dark streaks, which enhance its unique and attractive appearance.The color of brown maple ranges from light to medium brown, with shades from beige to tan. It often features light and dark streaks, which enhance its unique and attractive appearance.
Grain
The grain of brown maple is smooth and consistent, with occasional unique patterns like bird's eye, wavy or rippled grain, and tiger stripes. These patterns add a layer of visual interest and complexity to the wood.The grain of brown maple is smooth and consistent, with occasional unique patterns like bird's eye, wavy or rippled grain, and tiger stripes. These patterns add a layer of visual interest and complexity to the wood.
Cost
Brown maple is generally more affordable than some of the harder, denser hardwoods, making it an attractive option for those looking for quality furniture without a high price tag.Brown maple is generally more affordable than some of the harder, denser hardwoods, making it an attractive option for those looking for quality furniture without a high price tag.
David W. Shaw, a journalist with nearly twenty years of experience writing about 19th-century American history, notes in his book Secrets of the Viking Ships, "Early in the Viking Age, oak was used almost exclusively, except to fabricate oars and deck planking. Some scholars estimate that as much as 2,000 cubic feet of oak was needed to build a 65-foot longship, or the equivalent of eleven oak tree trunks."
Oak bark was once used to tanning leather. The traditional use of oak barrels in aging alcoholic beverages like sherry, whiskey, and wine gives these drinks unique flavors and aromas.
Quarter-sawn white oak, often called QSWO, is distinguished by its unique beauty and unmatched durability. Quarter-sawn white oak is derived from white oak, whereas regular oak usually comes from red oak. The notable "ray flakes" or medullary rays are a defining feature, creating dramatic, wavy ribbon-like patterns that enhance its aesthetic appeal. These visual characteristics add to the quarter-sawn white oak's beauty and are highly valued in heirloom furniture.
Quarter-sawn white oak is known for its superior strength and durability. The quarter-sawing process enhances its structural integrity, making it more resistant to warping, moisture penetration, and twisting compared to plain-sawn oak. This makes it an excellent choice for furniture that needs to endure heavy use and varying environmental conditions.
The color of quarter-sawn white oak ranges from light to medium brown, often with a slight olive tint. This subtle variation in color, combined with its striking grain patterns, gives the wood a rich and sophisticated look that complements both traditional and modern designs.
The grain of quarter-sawn white oak is one of its most distinctive features. The quarter sawing process reveals the wood's medullary rays, creating the characteristic "ray flakes" or ribbon-like patterns. This unique grain structure not only enhances the wood's aesthetic appeal but also contributes to its stability and strength.
Maple is a versatile and highly prized hardwood known for its exceptional hardness and fine grain. It has an ivory or cream hue, sometimes streaked with hints of white or brown, giving it a distinctive appearance.
Maple can be classified into two primary types: hard maple, renowned for its durability, and soft maple, valued for its workability and intricate detailing.
Hard maple is the hardest domestic wood in the U.S., and its characteristics make it a popular choice for furniture making. It is tight and finely grained and often features white or brown stripes. Its ivory or cream color uniquely reflects light, revealing changing brilliance from various angles.
Hard maple can be stained in shades ranging from natural white to light brown or dark red. It is smooth and well known for its natural beauty and long-lasting nature. It's particularly suitable for high-traffic areas like kitchens.
While slightly less durable than hard maple, soft maple is still highly workable. It is preferred for furniture pieces requiring intricate parts, such as cabinets with carved doors, chairs with detailed legs, tables with curved edges, and headboards with ornate designs.
Despite its reduced sturdiness, soft maple remains suitable for many woodworking projects, such as ornamental moldings and trim work on bookshelves, desks, and armoires.
Here’s a more in-depth comparison between the two:
Hickory is sourced from up to 12 native North American species, commonly grouped into two main types: true hickory and pecan hickory. Its unique blend of strength and aesthetic appeal makes it an excellent choice for woodworking projects requiring resilience and striking visual character.
Hickory wood is known for its exceptional hardness, stiffness, and density. These properties make it one of the toughest domestic woods available in North America. Its unique visual appeal comes from the contrasting color variations and exaggerated grains, which create a visually striking effect. Hickory is often used in projects that require both durability and a rustic, natural look.
Hickory wood is renowned for its exceptional hardness, stiffness, density, and shock resistance. This makes it one of the toughest domestic woods available. Hickory combines strength, toughness, hardness, and stiffness in a way unmatched by commercial wood. This makes it an ideal material for high-wear products such as tool handles, including those for pickaxes, shovels, and wheel spokes.
Due to its ability to absorb impact without fracturing, hickory's durability is also favored in producing golf club shafts, ski bottoms, and drumsticks. Historically, it was used for baseball bats and early aircraft construction, showcasing its reliability under stress. Despite its toughness, hickory is not without its challenges in workability. It can be difficult to machine, often requiring sharp tools and patient craftsmanship due to its tendency to cause tear-outs and quickly dull blades.
The beauty of hickory lies in its contrasting color variations. Light and dark sections are whimsically blended on any piece of this wood, creating a visually striking effect. This rustic appearance makes hickory ideal for enhancing the aesthetic of cabins, lodges, or any setting that appreciates a natural, earthy vibe. The color variations can range from pale, creamy white to dark brown, adding depth and character to any furniture piece.
Hickory's grain patterns are another of its standout features. The wood often exhibits bold, prominent grain patterns that enhance its rustic charm. The grain can be straight, but it is often wavy or irregular, adding to its visual interest and appeal. This unique grain pattern, combined with its color variation, makes each piece of hickory wood unique.
Hickory is moderately priced compared to other hardwoods. While it is more expensive than softwoods, its cost is justified by its exceptional strength and aesthetic appeal. The labor-intensive process of working with hickory, due to its hardness, can also contribute to the cost of finished products. However, the durability and unique visual characteristics of hickory furniture make it a worthwhile investment.
Understanding the distinct characteristics of various hardwoods is essential for selecting the right material for furniture and other woodworking projects. Here’s a detailed comparison of commonly used hardwoods, highlighting their unique properties and uses to help guide your choices.
When comparing cherry and oak, aesthetics and durability must be considered. Cherry wood is known for its smooth grain and rich, reddish tones that deepen with age. It's relatively soft for hardwood, making it easier to work with but also more susceptible to dents and scratches.
Oak, on the other hand, is highly durable and strong. Its pronounced grain offers a more rustic look than cherry's refined appearance. Oak's hardness makes it ideal for high-traffic areas and pieces that require more structural strength.
Both oak and maple are sought-after for various woodworking projects but offer different characteristics. Oak is tougher and has a more noticeable grain pattern, making it suitable for pieces where durability and a pronounced texture are desired.
Maple is harder than oak, providing excellent resistance to wear and tear. However, it has a finer, less visible grain, which makes it ideal for smooth, refined furniture surfaces and decorative items. Its light color also offers a brighter alternative to oak's typically warmer tones.
White oak and maple are strong, durable woods but differ significantly in color and grain. White oak is golden to medium-brown in color and very resistant to moisture, making it a top choice for garden/patio furniture and boat building.
With its light, creamy color, Maple is favored for indoor furniture, particularly in contemporary settings, due to its subtle grain and smooth finish. Both kinds of wood stain well, though Maple offers a more consistent surface for light or natural finishes.
Walnut and oak are two of the most common hardwoods used in furniture making, but they serve different aesthetic and functional needs. Walnut stands out with its rich, dark color and fine, smooth grain, lending a luxurious look to furniture.
Oak, known for its strength and distinct, visible grain pattern, is highly durable and often comes in lighter tones. This quality makes oak well-suited for rustic and traditional pieces that require a more robust material.
Walnut and maple contrast sharply in both color and grain. Walnut's dark, chocolatey tones provide a warm, sophisticated presence, which pairs beautifully with modern and traditional decor. Its grain is generally straight but can have interesting waves or curls that enhance its visual appeal.
Maple is lighter in color, has a predominantly straight grain, and offers a more understated look. It excels in bright, contemporary spaces where a clean, crisp appearance is desired.
While both kinds of wood are durable, Walnut's darker hue hides wear and tear better than the lighter maple, making it preferable in high-use furniture like dining tables and desks.
| Wood | Hardness Scale # |
| Hickory | 1820 |
| Hard Maple |
1450 |
| QS White Oak |
1360 |
| Oak (Red) |
1280 |
| Walnut |
1010 |
| Brown Maple |
999 |
| Cherry | 950 |
| Elm | 830 |
Here's a detailed hardwood care and maintenance guide:
Heart wood is the darker section in the inner part of the tree. This is the portion of the tree that is used in non rustic furniture because it's natural resistance to decay and durability. Heartwood can endure for hundreds or thousands of years. Remarkably, a tree can thrive with it's heartwood hollowed out. Technically heartwood is considered dead once it's formation is complete, but there is debate if it's truly dead since it because it can chemically decay organisms.
Rustic cherry or hickory is cut from the outer part of the darker heartwood. It is the younger and less developed portion, and therefore, knots and pits are common and may be filled with black epoxy or left natural.
Sap wood is the lighter colored wood in the outer rings and is generally not used for furniture. Cherry sap wood is occasionally used but must be specified.
Hardwood typically comes from broad-leaved trees, has denser, more complex grain patterns, and is slower-growing. Softwood, sourced from coniferous trees, tends to be lighter, less dense and often has straighter grain.
There is no single, universally agreed upon definition of "hardwood". Different sources may use slightly different criteria. However, there are hundreds of varieties of hardwood around the world.
Cheap wood is often soft and light with an inconsistent or loosely arranged grain. Laminated veneers, visible filler, and synthetic surfaces are also common signs.
