 | Scott Francis is the owner of Lytton’s Furniture located at 61st North and Hydraulic. He has been in the furniture industry for over 20 years, starting with Razook’s Furniture back in 1984 and also working in the Army National Guard for 13 years. For 15 years of Scott’s furniture career he acted as the Operations Manager for one of the largest furniture stores in Kansas. His expertise is in floor display design, warehouse design, delivery routing, consignment furniture, and implementation of computer systems’ functionality. Scott had a dream to run a business based on customer service, industry knowledge, and superior efficiencies. Lytton’s Furniture opened its doors in 2008 and continues to focus on Scott’s dream. Scott can be contacted at 316-425-7078. |
Home Furnishings
2009-09-01 14:47:00
Best types of wood for home furnishings
Question: I would like to have information on the different woods used in furniture and what to look for when one is purchasing the same. Can you help me?
Answer: I would love to. It will take more space than what they will allow me in just this issue, but that is fine. Over the next few issues, I will try to provide as much information as I can. In this first article, I will just touch on a few items that should be of interest to you.
Nothing looks better than natural wood furniture! Wood furniture is a natural product of beauty and enhances any decor theme you have going. Plus it lasts for a long time if it is a quality piece. A nicely constructed furniture collection will be heirlooms for generations in your family. Unless it’s really ugly and then no one will want it!
First, let’s talk about levels of quality. Wood furniture comes in a wide variety of qualities to meet different budgets and needs. Perhaps one of the most affordable types of wood furniture is RTA or “ready to assemble” furniture. It usually comes flat packed and you put it together yourself. It tends to be a very cost effective way to get furnished.
Most typical furniture you see is a combination of real wood veneers and solid woods. It does not have to be solid to be of excellent quality, in fact solid wood can have problems with cracking and splitting as weather conditions like humidity can cause solid woods to expand and contract. Most very high end and expensive furniture is NOT 100% solid, but a mix of excellent quality veneers to get great wood patterns and finishes.
Just a word or two on these wood finishes. Wood finishes are simple protective covers over stains of color. Others utilize extensive finishing techniques to imitate weathered and worn looks. Many of today’s looks also incorporate painted finishes.
Then there is drawer construction. The best quality drawer construction is a technique called “dove tail” type construction where the wood is woven like interlocked fingers to provide excellent strength and durability over time. Other construction techniques are usually just fine, but dove tail is the best.
Have you ever heard of “dust proofing?” Let me tell you about it. Dust proofing on a dresser or night stand means that there is a piece of wood or other material between the different levels of drawers on the case piece. This prevents dust from wood on wood type drawer glides from landing in the drawer underneath. It also prevents socks from going over the back of the drawer and landing in the drawer below it. Perhaps one of the best benefits of this feature is the overall structural integrity and solidness it results in for case pieces.
And finally, a bit about types of wood. Typical wood species used in furniture, bedroom furniture, office furniture and home office furniture are Oak, Cherry, Pine and Maple. But the span of species so vast it’s impossible to list them all. Wood species vary in hardness and wood grains as does the price of furniture constructed with exotic types like Mahogany and Tiger Maple.
In future articles, we will discuss some of these topics and others in more detail. Thanks again for the question.
