Bassett's Guide to Quality Wood Furniture

"What wood is the best for furniture?" If you're in the process of furnishing your home, you're probably well aware this question has a complex answer. The wood you should choose for your home depends on your budget and expected usage. Wood type, wood quality, and the process used to create the furniture significantly impact the price level. Read on for an overview of the different kinds of wood used for furniture making, recommendations on the best woods to use for certain pieces, and an explanation of the various wood furniture crafting methods.

Wood is the fundamental raw element used to construct furniture, and wood furniture begins with the raw materials used. There are two primary types of wood materials: solid wood, which includes hardwoods and softwoods, and manufactured wood, an engineered material that is often a composite of real wood and synthetic materials. We've defined each of these wood furniture terms below:

Solid wood comes purely from lumber and is a direct product of a tree. Two types of real wood are used in furniture making: hardwood and softwood.

Engineered or manufactured woods contain various types of wood composited together. Although they aren't solid woods, furniture makers often use engineered wood due to availability, price, and convenience.

Maple may be the ideal furniture wood. While there are many different types of maple, almost all are durable and make gorgeous furniture. It wears exceptionally well. Maple is naturally non-toxic, so you'll often see it used to make kitchen cutting boards. Several grain patterns are available depending on the type of maple you prefer.

Oak is a very durable wood often utilized for flooring and kitchen furniture. It is beautiful but can turn yellow over time. By contrast, red oak is slightly darker and more porous. Oak also looks inviting and is relatively inexpensive, so it's an excellent wood for furniture.

One of the most exciting characteristics of cherry wood is that it darkens with time, giving it a vibrant look as it ages. The color is what most people love about cherry, but there are other things to really like about it. Cherry wood has an even grain and is non-toxic, and cherry is also relatively dense and somewhat resistant to scratches and dents

We're used to seeing knotty pine in rustic cabins and the like. So, we naturally assume pine is a good material for furniture, and it's quite the contrary. Pine is a softwood that is easily damaged; however, it is pretty inexpensive.

We've covered the various wood types used in furniture, so let's shift to the manufacturing processes used to create wood furniture.

During the 20th century, the pre-eminence of technology allowed several goods, including furniture, to be mass-produced. Within an assembly line, various parts of the wood furniture-making process occurred at different steps. For example, when manufacturing a table, the legs would all be made in one place. Ultimately, the benefits of this process were that excellent quality furniture, which had previously only been a luxury item, was now available to most households.

Many factors help determine the price of solid wood furniture—supply and demand, for example. Because the best solid wood furniture is from hardwood, it grows more slowly, limiting supply and raising costs. Also, solid wood furniture may be more challenging to manufacture in mass quantities because each part requires cutting to an exact specification. In contrast, cutting and creating these modular pieces with manufactured wood is usually easier.

Hardwoods are the best type of wood material for furniture. It's a product that is getting harder and harder to find, but hardwood furniture has the beauty and durability that any softwood or engineered wood cannot match. While softwoods can be beautiful, they are less durable than hardwoods. There is certainly durable and attractive engineered wood, but technological processes cannot currently emulate hardwood's natural character and beauty.