The Unmatched Splendor of Solid Wood Furniture

This is a guest post by Lilian Connors from SmoothDecorator

There’s no better way to add a note of sophistication and character to your home than to furnish it with some solid wood pieces and accessories.

However, before you go and buy your new hardwood furniture, there are several important things you need to know about such pieces and their properties so as to avoid potential imitations, synthetic substitutes or damage through neglect.

Here, we bring you everything you need to know about solid wood and its features to help you pick the best bargain and tend to your furnishings properly.

1. Unique nature of hardwoods: Each piece has a story of its own

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Solid wood furniture is furniture in which each part is made from genuine hardwood lumber. The price of such pieces is somewhat costlier than that of furniture made from other synthetic materials, and for a good reason too.

According to lumber experts, a single hardwood tree takes around 60 years to mature completely and be ready for use in manufacturing. Furthermore, in solid wood furnishing pieces, each wooden component tells a story of its own and is unique in terms of color, texture and grain pattern due to the tree’s distinctive life history.

2. A life written in the rings: Hardwood grain patterns, color and texture 

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The life story of each tree is inscribed in its unique grain pattern, and grain patterns are created by the trunk’s growth rings. You can tell the age of the trunk by the number of the growth rings, as each rings stands for one year of the tree’s life. In case the boards of your hardwood furnishings have knots, it means that the lumber was cut out of the tree trunk as knots are points where branches and limbs extended from the central shaft.

The main trademark of solid wood, hardwood colors range from extremely light to deep dark tones. Light tones are found in wood pieces cut out from the outside of a trunk or a young tree, while dark colors are typical of furnishings made from the trunk core. Hardwood tone variations and textures largely depend on the minerals and element combinations that impacted the tree growth, and they render an inimitable individual charm to each hardwood furnishing piece.

3. Know your hardwood basics: How to avoid synthetic substitutes and imitations

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Because of the growing number of synthetic substitutes and hardwood imitations, distinguishing solid wood from similar man-made or fake materials is not easy. Nevertheless, there’s a way to avoid salesman scams and hardwood look-alikes, tell us the experts at Furniture Down Under. 

Unlike most synthetic materials, solid wood has an authentic texture and color and is more durable than its artificial counterparts. Most synthetic wood is more likely to break or chip when exposed to shocks, stress or heavy loads, whereas genuine hardwood can stand quite a hefty potion of tough love and strain. 

4. Looks can be deceitful: What to keep in mind when buying hardwood pieces

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In furniture business, not all that shines and says ‘solid wood’ on the spec label is in fact genuine solid wood. For instance, a solid wood pedestal table may not be entirely made from genuine hardwood – a more likely scenario is that only the pedestal is made from solid wood and the rest of the piece is crafted from another, less expensive material such as veneer, particle board or chip core.

Similarly, ‘All wood’ or ‘Wood finish’ labels may not mean that your furniture is made from hardwood lumber and may denote a piece crafted from veneer slices or artificial laminates bonded to plywood composite boards. 

When shopping for hardwood furniture, it’s best to look for pieces with a water-resistant finish as these items promise a lengthier life span. Also, once you’ve bought your solid wood furnishings, keep in mind that they need to be maintained and oiled regularly to prevent weathering, splits and cracks which may appear due to exposure to dry climate and bright light.

So ? Are you ready to go shopping for your sophisticated hardwood homewares? With solid wood furniture, you can go no wrong, so check it out next time you decide to refurbish your home – we can guarantee you won’t regret the investment.

Author Bio: Lillian Connors is home improvement professional in charge of the sustainability segment on Smooth Decorator. She cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on. You can check her out on Google+ , Twitter and LinkedIn.