For whichever purpose you’re looking for furniture — home decor, comfortable lives, family-time sitting, or welcoming guests — picking the right wood for furniture is critical.
Every wood type has different characteristics in terms of color, density, grain, and finishing. So properly inspecting the wood for furniture and selecting the one that perfectly meets your criteria proves helpful.
The furniture wood is categorized into two types, hardwood, and softwood. Both kinds of wood are classified into various groups, used for distinct purposes, and price varying rates. For example, hardwood lasts longer and is more expensive than softwood.
In today’s article, you will discover what wood is the best choice for indoor furniture and why you should use wood in your cozy home.
Let’s dive into it right now…
Types of Wood for Indoor Furniture – Hardwood & Softwood
Table of Contents
Before deciding which wood to use for indoor furniture, you need to understand the distinction between both furniture wood types (hardwood and softwood).
Hardwood has a somewhat unique pattern from softwood. Denser than softwood, it’s used to make serviceable furniture.
Both types of wood come from a wide range of trees. The wood grain patterns, however, vary slightly depending on the species. Here is a list of all the different kinds of wood and what each type is used for. This will help you decide what kind of wood to use for your indoor furniture.
Hardwood For Indoor Furniture
1. Walnut
Known as the most popular wood in the United States, Walnut is divided into three categories, Brazilian Walnut, American black walnut, and Caribbean walnut.
Especially, Walnut comes in a chocolate brown color and is frequently used for carving.
No matter which type of interior style — modern, rustic, industrial, farmhouse, or something else — walnut wood furniture nicely complements any place and enhances its beauty. Due to high durability, this wood type is commonly used for making a coffee table, dining room table, cabinet, set of drawers, tabletop, or anything you want.
2. Mahogany
With its reddish-brown color and high density, Mahogany is extensively used for large indoor furniture. This furniture wood type is water resistant, and its color changes over time.
The best part? Besides indoor furniture, people also use mahogany wood for flooring veneers and musical instruments.
Why???
Because, Mahogany is native to Central America, South America, and Mexico. It is also found in Africa, where its wood is now MORE popular than the wood of America.
3. Oak
With over 600 species in the Northern Hemisphere, Oak wood comes in distinct colors, each with its unique tint and grain pattern. White Oak furniture is prevalent in America, whereas Red Oak furniture is common in the US.
This wood type is stain-resistant and scratch-resistance, enabling you to use this wood-made furniture for an extended period.
The grain pattern and the number of oak wood hues set it apart from other woods. The furniture made of oak wood adorably tones every area of your home. Moreover, if you’re looking to have durable and beautiful furniture at the same time in your home, Oak wood will be the best choice.
4. Cherry
Manufactured from Cherry fruit trees, Cherry wood is well-known for indoor furniture.
Although Cherry Wood is a bit more expensive than other woods, with closed and straight grain and a light pinkish-brown color, this wood helps you give an aesthetic and stunning look to your home with furniture.
Since it streams well, Cherry Wood is the first choice of woodworkers for creating curved designs. This wood is widely used for making sleek furniture items to enhance bedroom beauty.
However, it is also perfect for flooring, interior millwork, veneers, small specialty wood items, and turned objects.
5. Maple
The most commonly available in Great Lakes regions in the United States, Maple is versatile and the cheapest wood to use for indoor furniture. This wood is white, enabling you to color as you desire to make it a high-end wood.
This wood type is tear and wear-resistant. So maple wood furniture will be perfect if you have kids and naughty pets in your home. Owing to being resistant to water, it’s also an ideal option to use in the kitchen.
6. Ash
With straight grain and light color, Ash is commonly used for indoor furniture worldwide. This wood type is also lightweight and shock-absorption, making it a great choice for children’s and restaurant furniture.
Ash wood comes in many shades and hues, so you can use it to furnish your residence in a way you like. It works well with glue and doesn’t tear when screws or nails are inserted.
7. Teak
From Native to Indonesia or India to Thailand, Teak is considered the KING of all woods by woodworkers. It comes in medium brown and golden color and has straight grains.
It’s resistant to sunlight and water, making it highly durable. However, Teak is a bit expensive and isn’t readily available in some parts of the world. Besides making multiple indoor furniture styles, teak is also used for cabinets, shelves, and flooring.
Softwood for Indoor Furniture
1. Aromatic Red Cedar
Aromatic Red Cedar is one of the lightest woods. It creates a natural fragrance to help you feel well whenever you sit on the furniture manufactured of red cedar wood. It’s resistant to decay and insect attack. Due to its high strength, this wood type is ideal for indoor furniture.
The reddish brown color and texture uniformity gives a nice finish to furniture and helps you noticeably improve your home decor.
2. Douglas Fir
Douglas Fir wood is a good choice for furniture with a light yellowish and uniform texture. Fir trees commonly grow in different parts of the world; their wood is SUPER easy to process and finishes nicely.
However, Fir has low resistance to decay and is susceptible to insect attack. Fir is used for multiple woodworks from indoor furniture, windows, frames, doors, and interior trim.
3. Easter White Pine
From creamy white to pale yellowish-white color, white pine wood is used for home decor furniture. It’s effortless to work with and resists smell and shrinking. This wood type is also durable enough that it’s also used for serviceable furniture.
Eastern white pine is also lightweight to help you quickly move furniture items and place them where you desire.
Which Wood You Should Use for Your Indoor Furniture: Hardwood or Softwood?
To determine which wood to choose for your indoor furniture, you need to know the characteristics of each type of wood and assess your requirements.
For example, if you want furniture that will last a long time, no matter how straightforward its style is, you should choose Hardwood.
On the other side, Softwood is easy to work with and finishes very well. This furniture type will be an excellent choice for you if you want to embellish your home with furniture of minimalist styles.
In terms of prices, there are both cheap and expensive types of softwood and hardwood furniture. You can choose maple from hardwood furniture if you’re looking for affordable wood for furniture, and douglas fir will be a reasonable option for softwood furniture type.
So, it’s up to you to figure out your needs and choose the wood for your indoor furniture that meets all of them.
Conclusion
The above-mentioned content explains each of your queries about what wood to use for indoor furniture or which wood is best for furniture. You should rely on hardwood furniture if you want a long-lasting but simple furniture design.
Softwood furniture will be best for you if you desire to adorn your home with stylish design furniture without furniture and wood quality concerns. Simply read it out and make the right decision before selecting furniture for your home.
