When you go shopping for new furniture, you’ll not only have to choose the style of the piece you want to buy, but also the wood — from softwoods like pine and cedar, to hardwoods that range from traditional species like oak, maple, and cherry to the more exotic teak, bubinga, and cocobolo rosewood. With hundreds of varieties of woods being used for fine furniture, how do you choose the one that’s best for you?
What is a hardwood?
A hardwood refers to lumber that comes from broad leaf trees that lose their leaves every year. This group includes maple, oak, cherry, birch, and mahogany. Softwoods come from conifers, which are needle-bearing trees (i.e., without leaves), like pine, redwood, spruce, and cedar.
For fine furniture, hardwood is the best choice, for its durability, color, and grain. A softwood, like pine, lives up to its name and is more likely to experience scarring. In addition, the knots, although interesting, can actually fall out, leaving a hole in your furniture and your investment!
All hardwoods are not created equal.
While hardwoods have basic characteristics in common, there are unique features that should be taken into consideration when making your choice. For example, some woods, like teak, redwood, and cedar, are better for outdoor furniture because they are weather- and insect-resistant.
For indoor furniture, you can choose your wood for its color, texture, weight, and grain. The natural colors run the gamut from almost-white shades of oak to the deep hues of walnut and mahogany, and the grain can be subtle to dramatic, depending on the wood type and the way it is sawn. There are hundreds of wood varieties but here is a list of the most common hardwoods used in fine furniture.
Ash — A member of the olive family, ash features a light color and a tight grain that resembles birch and maple.
Birch — Like beech, birch grows in the northeastern U.S. and Canadian forests. The color varies from cream to a reddish tint, and the fine grain can be wavy, like a curly maple.
Bloodwood — Bloodwood is a South American species of hardwood that is growing in popularity among fine furniture makers. True to its name, the color ranges from a grayish red to a deep red with a fairly straight grain that varies from fine to coarse.
Bubinga — Bubinga is a hard and heavy wood with a moderately coarse, even texture. It is strong, durable, and has a reddish-brown heartwood with red and purple veining. The sapwood is pale white.
Cherry — Known for its rich, reddish color, cherry is actually very light in its raw form. It deepens naturally with age and exposure to light. The mottled grain has a satiny appearance. Cherry is an affordable yet elegant alternative to mahogany.
Cocobolo — Cocobolo is a dense, exotic hardwood from Central America. It displays a range of colors including rich red, with orange and yellow streaks and zones. The grain is irregular and often dramatic.
Mahogany — Very durable, rich-looking, and with a reddish-brown color that darkens naturally, mahogany is used as solid wood as well as for veneers. There are many types of mahogany and most are exceptional. I prefer African mahogany over South American because it has a more diverse and interesting grain. Antiques are made from African mahogany because it was more available, since the ballasts of the slave ships were made from this beautiful wood.
Maple — Extremely durable, maple is known for its light brown color, with a slightly reddish cast. The grain can vary from straight to the wavier curly and birdseye maple, which is a natural but rare occurrence. Maples are grown in various regions of the U.S., but those from the eastern states are usually harder than the others, because of the colder winters and shorter growing seasons.
Oak — Grown widely throughout the eastern U.S., red and white oak are the most popular and affordable of the hardwoods. The sapwood is white and the heartwood is light brown, both with fairly straight grain lines. Oak takes stain very well, letting you match it to your existing pieces, if you wish.
Rosewood — The names refers to the scent, not the color, which is dark brown with wavy grain that is almost black. Rosewood is often used for inlays but can stand on its own in fine furniture.
Teak — Very durable, teak’s color ranges from a rich yellowish-gold to a deep brown and features light and dark striations. The wood is heavy and dense, with a slightly coarse texture and an oily feel.
Walnut — This North American hardwood — the only dark brown domestic hardwood — is prized for its beauty and strength, without excess weight. It is harder than cherry but lighter than oak or maple. Its brown color can range from light to a rich chocolate, with subtle hints of black, grey, and even deep blue. The walnut tree is slow growing and is therefore less available, which equates to more expensive.
Hardwood is worth the investment for fine furniture because it delivers lasting beauty. Although a master craftsman has the skill to create a quality piece of furniture, he is only as good as the materials he uses. The better the wood choice, the more valuable your heirloom.
