Depending upon what decade you were born, furniture has changed quite a bit! Not only has furniture changed in style, but sometimes it is hard to tell what pieces are solid wood. With today’s technology, a wood grain may be a well applied photograph that is affixed to a laminate shell. It may take getting a very close look to notice the difference.
If you are a child of the 50’s, you remember the mid-century modern phase. You sat on the floor in front of the television set watching one of three channels. Your parents entertained their friends and neighbors on what seemed to be Jetson-like sofas and chairs. The minimalist style of the 50’s started to introduce laminate wood and streamlined upholstery. Even though real wood furniture continued to be a staple, the furniture industry was producing lighter, cleaner pieces.
The space-age or Scandinavian era of furniture was exploding in the 50’s. It was all about entertaining and being able to provide ample seating for guests without big bulky pieces. Compressed wood or fiber board started to make its way on the scene, as a base for Formica, a trademarked product. Formica was used to make laminated plastic coatings for tables, countertops and wall paneling. With Formica, any color, style, shape and design was possible without the weight of a solid wood piece.
In the 60’s, MDF (medium density fiberboard) and plywood started to become popular as bases for Formica or laminate. Even though manufacturers continued to produce solid wood furniture, the industry soared with the ease of mass manufacturing MDF/laminate pieces.
There are many high end manufacturers that use this technique to be able to customize their lines to a wider audience. Marble pieces are less likely made of back-breaking stone, but an MDF base with a laminate faux marble look. This manufacturing process allows the furniture industry to cut costs in both manufacturing, supplies and the cost of shipping.
This technique is what allows us to see a piece and assume it is real wood, right down to the floors we walk on!
What if you aren’t into the faux look of wood and want to stick with a solid wood product?
There are many reasons that people choose solid wood over manufactured. In most cases, it is the attention to detail and custom look of a solid wood piece. The slight imperfection of a grain changing color or flow through a piece, the reflection and absorption of light as it dances on the surface of a piece, or just the way it feels under your fingertips.
When shopping for a solid wood piece, know what you are looking for before you venture out.
Whether your style is contemporary or traditional, wood is wood. It is harvested by trees and manufactured as tables, chairs, beds, lamps, decor and more. It is natural, sturdy and can last much longer than its manufactured counterparts.
Wood is less susceptible to breaking because of the strength of using a natural resource. Wood is what trees are made of and the wood table(hopefully using a coaster) that your coffee is sitting on was once part of a towering, majestic tree that stood 16-20 feet high.
Wood also has the ability to be painted, stained and stripped. A quality piece of wood furniture can and will span a lifetime. Because of the versatility of a wood piece, it can follow you through your stages of life and even get handed down to your children and grandchildren.
Solid wood furniture is created with many uses in mind. Depending upon the use, some woods are better than others for manufacturing furniture.
There are softwoods and hardwoods. There are light woods, dark woods and in between. Some wood has a strong, pronounced grain and some has been stained to minimize the grain.
Let’s explore the different types of real wood furniture, their look and whether they are considered a hard or soft wood.
Hardwoods that are used in furniture manufacturing come from deciduous trees that lose their leaves annually. As these trees grow slower than a tree that thrives throughout the year, they provide a stronger material. The most popular are maple, oak and walnut trees. These hardwoods tend to be on the higher cost spectrum as their maturation is slower. If looking for a cost friendly hardwood, consider the sweet gum tree that grows rampant in the SE United States.
Softwood comes from evergreen trees as they grow faster because of their year-round abundance. Spruce, pine, cedar, fir, juniper and redwood are the most popular evergreen trees used in softwood manufacturing.
When choosing a surface of softwood, remember it is much more susceptible to scratches, dents, dings and impressions left by careless penmanship or heated Monopoly house tossing.
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