If you’re in the market for furniture, you may be interested in knowing about the different types of wood it’s made out of. There are five different types of wooden furniture: engineered wood, hardwood, softwood, solid wood, and veneer. While all of these woods may produce attractive furniture, some woods produce better quality furniture over others.

Engineered Wood Furniture

This is the lowest quality wood you can purchase. Engineered wood may sound like it’s made of high quality materials because it’s manufactured rather than natural, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. This type of wood is made up of wood fibres. Wood strands, veneers, and lumber are glued together to form a larger piece of wood to be used for construction. Some common types of engineered wood are plywood, chipboard, and hardboard. Unless you are looking for flimsy, inexpensive looking wood furniture, avoid furniture made with engineered wood.

Veneer

People are attracted to veneer furniture because of how beautiful it looks on the inside, but if they could see what’s under the veneer they wouldn’t be so amazed by it. Veneered furniture is inexpensive wood covered by a thin layer of expensive wood. What this does is keep manufacturing costs low, and thus, keeps furniture prices low. While the furniture may seem as though it is made of high quality, it’s actually just the outside of it that is, and when damage happens, there’s nothing left to do with it in most cases but throw it away.

Hardwood and Softwood

Most people think that hardwood is hard, and softwood is soft, but that is not the case. Some hardwoods are more pliable than softwoods, and some softwoods are much denser than hardwoods. The species of trees these woods originate are what gives it the names hardwood and softwood. An example of a hardwood is mahogany, which is a beautiful looking wood to make expensive fine furniture. Oak is another type of hardwood that isn’t so expensive, but still can create some attractive furniture pieces. Pine is a type of softwood for furniture. Many people choose furniture made of this type of wood because it’s usually less expensive than those made of hardwood. The reason why pine is cheaper is that there is more of it available around the world than there is hardwood.

Solid Wood

Solid wood furniture is the best you can buy. It’s made completely of quality hardwood or softwood from the inside out. You don’t have to worry about getting pieces of wood glued together like in engineered wood, nor do you have to worry about getting inexpensive wood covered with a thin layer of high quality wood such as in the case of veneer. With solid wood, you get the good type of wood all the way through, which provides stability, durability, and beauty.

Investing in Good Quality Furniture

When people buy good quality furniture, they are making an investment. This furniture doesn’t last just a few months; it lasts for years. Whenever there is a ding, scratch, or other type of damage, solid wood furniture can be sanded, refinished, and brought back to the newness it was when you first purchased it. With low quality furniture, damage cannot be repaired, and if it’s grand enough, it can cause the owner to throw it away to have to purchase a replacement piece. So, think about this, if you pay more for expensive wood furniture now, you’ll recoup that amount over the years when you don’t have to buy replacement furniture due to damage. This is why it makes sense to purchase quality the first time and every time you are in the market for furniture.