Larssen Mid Century Modern Bedroom Collection. Handcrafted in Vermont of real, solid cherry wood.
Mid Century Modern Bedroom Design
Our brand new Larssen Collection features a mid-century modern design, with geometric lines and precision angles. Equally at home in any style room, and with seven individual pieces, this collection is a match for any hardwood furniture lover. Read More
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Walnut, cherry, maple, oak, birch, ash, poplar, rubberwood, mango wood, mahogany, eucalyptus, Brazilian cherry, teak. These are just a few of the woods you’ll find when shopping for hardwood bedroom furniture. So how to choose and what difference does it make?
This modern 2 tone combination of walnut and maple wood furniture is offered in the SoHo collection. Copeland’s new SoHo Collection provides many options for customizing the combination of light maple and dark walnut wood tones.
Maple furniture is making a comeback!
For many years, cherry has been our customers’ favorite hardwood but in 2015 we’re seeing that maple wood is giving cherry a run for the money. This is a welcome trend for those of us in the Vermont forestry community since maple is a hardwood that grows extremely well in the Green Mountain state (indeed maple is the Vermont state tree). It’s sustainably harvested nearby, making it a great choice for eco-friendly furniture.
Although maple furniture is beautiful on it’s own, many customers are dressing it up with walnut or cherry wood accents.
One example of this design is in Copeland Furniture’s Modern SoHo bedroom furniture collection. The picture above shows SoHo in maple and walnut wood but it is made to order and can also be customized in all maple wood or a combination of walnut, cherry, and maple.
This Classic Shaker huntboard was customized in light maple wood with a dark walnut top and walnut drawer pulls. Thanks to Margot G in Knoxville, TN for sending us her photo!
Nearly all of our furniture at Vermont Woods Studios can be customized in maple wood, regardless of the wood it’s shown in on our website. This photo was sent to us by Margot G in Knoxville, Tennessee. Margo created her own unique version of our Classic Shaker Hunt Board by choosing maple wood (rather than cherry) and accenting it with a walnut top and walnut drawer pulls. It’s beautiful, don’t you think?
Astrid modern bedroom furniture is available in maple wood (as shown) as well as cherry and walnut. It’s hand made in Vermont by Copeland Furniture.
Another example of modern maple furniture is the Astrid bedroom furniture collection (shown above). Astrid is dramatic and sophisticated. It’s been a favorite of contemporary urban dwellers from Manhattan to Los Angeles.
Check out our website for more examples of custom maple wood furniture. Use the drop-down menus to customize your wood choices online. If you don’t see exactly what you want, give us a call and we’ll talk about further customization. It’s more affordable than you might think.
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I’ve been looking for a definition of “solid wood furniture“. I’m finding the same thing I found when I looked for a definition of “American made furniture”. Anything goes. Here’s an example of what I found on a popular reference website (About.com),
Solid walnut wood furniture means that all exposed parts of the piece are wood. But the frame and inner parts may be of other, less-costly wood. Thin layers of fine, decorative wood can be bonded to the face of low cost wood pieces. This is called veneering.
Now does that sound like solid wood furniture to you? I don’t think so. If you’re shopping for high quality furniture and solid wood construction is important to you, try asking your salesperson these 5 questions to help clarify things:
Is This Real Solid Wood Furniture or Veneered?
When you take a look at the edge of a solid wood tabletop you can see if the graining on the top carries through on the edge – the way marbling does in a piece of steak. If this is not the case, you are looking at the “banding” on a veneered piece. Another way to tell solid wood is to look at the underside of the piece. Does the grain look like the same as the wood on the table top? If not, then it’s probably veneered.
Is this Furniture Made Of Hardwood of Softwood?
In North America, typically the best quality solid wood furniture is made of native hardwoods, such as cherry, walnut, maple, oak, ash and birch. Although hardwood is more expensive than softwood, it has a higher density and is therefore usually harder and heavier. Hardwood grain is closed, tight and non-resinous as opposed to softwood grain that’s loose and resinous, thus it splits easy.
Is the Craftsmanship Top Quality?
You can buy plenty of solid wood furniture that’s of poor quality. For example, I just searched for “solid hardwood furniture high quality” and Google shopper’s first result was a solid wood bed for $68.98. What good does it do to have solid wood construction when poor workmanship is going to limit the life of a piece to a couple years? Check for solid craftsmanship, top quality joinery and meticulous finishes in your furniture. A salesperson should be able to show and tell you about construction details such as mortise and tenon joints, dovetails, miter joints, finger joints, splines, biscuits, dowels, butts, dados, rabbets, tongue and groove and more. Durable, robust joinery is critical to the life and usefulness of a piece.
Finish is important too. Most imported furniture is finished with cheap coatings that contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde and benzene) which can cause asthma and allergies especially in young children. Ask your salesperson to explain what’s in the finish and how many coats have been applied to protect the furniture over time.
Is This American Made or Imported Furniture?
Are you wondering why imported furniture is so much cheaper than American made furniture? It’s not just that Chinese wages are about 1/10 of American wages. It’s about where the raw materials come from. In the USA, wood furniture is made from sustainably harvested wood that comes from well managed American forests. With imported furniture, the wood is typically clear cut from the world’s rapidly disappearing rainforests. Although imported furniture often carries labels that it’s made of American cherry, walnut, oak or maple woods, that is rarely the case. These labels are trade names used to describe woods of suspicious origin that are stained to look like familiar American woods such as cherry and walnut.
Am I Getting The Best Value & Price?
Top quality solid wood furniture is inherently expensive, so you’ll want to be sure you’re getting the best value and price. Find a local craftsman or retailer you can trust. Try to purchase your furniture as a set, rather than piece by piece. Purchasing furniture sets not only creates efficiency in the craftsman’s workshop, it also saves money in shipping and delivery.
For more tips on purchasing top quality solid wood furniture with the best value and price, visit our Facebook and join the conversation.
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Which fine hardwood furniture finish is right for you: oil, wax, lacquer or poly (hint: got kids? Go for the lacquer or poly)? This cherry wood dining table is finished with a blend of hand rubbed linseed oil and Poly gel.
Waxes and oils, such as beeswax or mineral oil are often used as hardwood furniture finishes because they sink into the fibers and condition the wood. These finishes bring out the grain of the wood and create a soft, supple surface but they need to be reapplied periodically. Alternatively, lacquer, shellac, varnish, poly and other non-porous coatings may be applied just once, creating a water proof coating that is almost maintenance free.
Which is best for you? Well if you have young children you many not have time to be oiling furniture, so lacquer may be your best bet. On the other hand, if you adore the feel of a well-oiled natural wood surface and you don’t mind taking the time to re-oil periodically, go for the oil and wax.
Care of Fine Hardwood Furniture Finishes
Fine hardwood furniture is an investment that should increase in value over time, however that depends on how well you care for it (particularly for furniture with an oil or wax finish). If you follow the furniture maker’s instructions your wood furniture should last a lifetime and more!
This Cherry Moon Nightstand is made with cherry hardwood and finished with natural linseed oil. To keep the wood soft and supple, it is smart to re-oil it 1/month during the first year.
Protect Against Water and Humidity
Wood is very sensitive to changes in relative humidity. As the weather changes, so does the relative humidity in your home and in the moisture content of the wood in your furniture. Fine hardwood furniture that’s coated with lacquer or poly is sealed and protected from the occasional water spill.
Replenish Oil and Wax Finishes Periodically
Oil and wax finishes must be replenished frequently during the first year. A rule of thumb is: clean and oil your wood furniture immediately upon delivery into you home. After that oil it once/week for the first month. Then oil 1/month for the first year. After that oil your furniture 1/year. This will result in a soft supple patina that will not only protect your furniture but add to it’s beauty and value over time.
Construction Details in Fine Hardwood Furniture
Joinery
Mortise and tenon joinery is often used to attach side pieces to corner pieces and legs.
Joinery speaks clearly about the craftsmanship of a piece. Be sure to inspect corners and drawers to see how they’re crafted and look for these robust and durable joints:
Mortise-and-Tenon Joint
Mortise-and-tenon joint are often used in armoires, dressers, chests, cabinets, tables, chairs, desks and bookcases. The tenon (projecting piece) on a board is inserted into the mortise (cavity) on another board, then glued. An M-T joint may be further secured with a peg inserted through both pieces.
Dovetail Joint
The dovetail joint is typically used in drawer construction. Wedge-shaped projections on one piece interlock with corresponding slots on another.
Dovetail joints are shown attaching drawer fronts to the sides of the drawers (middle photos). Quality hardwood furniture also employs sturdy hinges and finished backs on case goods.
Use of Veneers
Veneers have taken a bad rap over the past several decades because much of the cheap, imported furniture sold in big box stores is made with low quality plywood or fiber board, then covered with a thin wooden veneer. Although solid wood construction is often preferred by those seeking high quality hardwood furniture, there are certain furniture designs that require veneers, for example sleigh beds that have curved wooden panels.
Why Hardwood versus Softwood Furniture?
In the world of trees and lumber, hardwood is relatively rare. About 80% of all timber comes from softwoods like pine, hemlock, cedar, and spruce. Only 20% of our timber is from hardwood trees like cherry, maple, oak, walnut, mahogany, teak and beech. As such, hardwood is relatively rare and expensive so why choose it over softwood? Generally speaking hardwood is more dense than softwood and has a tighter grain making it more resistant to decay. The density also makes hardwood more difficult for craftspeople to work with, but the beauty of the grain and the patina that develops over time makes solid hardwood furniture a prized possession.
If you’re in the market for high quality furniture, what’s your favorite wood? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments section below.
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This hardwood dining table, buffet and chair set is made of American black cherry wood. Mortise and tenon joints are used as well as dovetails in the drawers of the buffet.
Shopping for top quality hardwood furniture? We encourage customers to take their time and learn to enjoy the details that make fine wood furniture an heirloom you family will cherish for generations. This short guide tells you what to look for in your fine wood furniture, including types of hardwoods, joinery and finishes.
America’s Top Hardwood Choices for Fine Furniture
The American Hardwood Information Center lists 23 different species of American hardwoods including alder, ash, aspen, basswood, beech, cottonwood, hickory, sassafras and elm. The following are time tested favorites for American made hardwood furniture.
American Black Cherry
Cherry wood is a reddish brown hardwood with a smooth, fine grain. It’s perhaps the most prized furniture hardwood in America. People are often surprised to learn that natural cherry wood furniture changes colors over time– quite a bit actually. It starts out as a light-toned wood and darkens as it is exposed to light.
These top quality hardwoods are favorites in the world of American made furniture: Cherry, Maple, Walnut and Oak.
Sugar or Hard Maple
Sugar Maple Wood (aka: hard maple) is usually light reddish brown in the center or heartwood but sometimes considerably darker (dark maple is often mistaken for cherry wood). Maple sapwood is typically white with a slight reddish-brown tinge. Maple is heavy, strong, stiff, hard, and resistant to shock. It has a fine, uniform texture with generally straight grain, but variations such as curly, wavy, rippled, birdseye, tiger, flame or fiddleback grain occur and are often selected for specialty custom artisan furniture.
Oak
Oak has been the wood of choice for many of America’s most beloved mission and craftsman-style furniture makers, like Gustav Stickley, Greene and Greene and Frank Lloyd Wright. Oak is a solid, sturdy and very durable hardwood with generally uniform coarse texture and prominent rays in the grain. Oak wood may darken slightly over time, taking on more amber tones however the change is very subtle, unlike the significant color change with cherry wood.
This hardwood bed, night stand and chest set is made of black walnut wood. Black walnut is North America’s only chocolate brown hardwood. It’s relatively rare and typically carries a 20-40% price premium.
American Black Walnut
Black walnut wood is the only dark North American wood. It’s prized by woodworkers for it’s strength, grain and color which is a rich chocolate brown– with occasional purple tones. There are over 20 species of walnut trees but it is the Eastern Black Walnut tree (aka: American Walnut) that is native to North America and is used for our American made walnut furniture.
If real top quality American hardwoods are important to you, be aware that imposters are everywhere. Much of the “maple”, “walnut”, “oak” and “real cherry furniture” on the market today is actually made from cheaper woods like rubberwood, poplar, alder or other fast-growing wood alternatives. They are often illegally clear-cut from the world’s rapidly disappearing rainforests, then bleached, texturized and stained to look like American hardwoods. When considering a purchase of wood furniture from large “American furniture companies” like Bassett, Broyhill, Lane, Lazy Boy, Kincaid, Ethan Allan, Thomasville, Pennsylvania House, Drexel, Heritage, American Drew and Pottery Barn– be sure to ask what the wood species is and where it was grown. You may be surprised by the response.
If you’re in the market for solid hardwood furniture, what’s your favorite wood? Let us know on Facebook or in the comments section below.
Beds with slanted headboards are a book lovers dream! They provide maximum comfort as the naturally smooth headboard aligns with the curve of your back (or just gives you enough room to put your pillow against it and really relax)! While most of our Vermont made beds are made with traditional headboards, we have a couple of beautiful pieces that feature this headboard style. If you really love a bed but wish it could have a slanted headboard, contact one of our fine furniture experts and they will let you know your options for a custom furniture piece!
Here are 3 of our favorite beds with Slanted Headboards
1) Custom Incline Storage Bed
This beautiful cherry storage bed* is a customized version of our Modern Incline Bed and our Cherry Moon Dressers. It’s handcrafted in a small workshop in Montpelier, VT using solid cherry wood with black walnut accents, all coated with a hand-rubbed, natural linseed oil finish. This piece is sold, but you can contact one of our friendly sales members if you’d love one like it!
2. Modern Incline Bed
This simple, high-end, solid wood Modern Incline Bed features an inclined headboard for supreme comfort. The subtle angle (10%) of this headboard makes reading or watching TV in bed more comfy and ergonomic. Expert craftsmanship. Built to last for generations. Designed as an ultra comfortable platform bed so there is no need for a box spring.
High quality, real solid hardwood furniture is expensive, no doubt about it. But customers are still buying this cherry and walnut bedroom furniture set and other hardwood furniture pieces. Their reasons have to do with longevity, value and beauty.
Top 3 Reasons To Buy Hardwood Furniture
High quality, real solid hardwood furniture is expensive, no doubt about it. It’s not for everyone. College students are more likely to find suitable furniture at IKEA- that’s for sure. But if you landed on this blog post, you’re probably a homeowner looking to feather your nest for the long term, right? Well we talk to people like you everyday and so we’ve learned a few things about why our customers are looking to buy hardwood furniture.
First – It’s Beautiful
Check out our cherry and walnut hardwood bedroom furniture set. You just don’t get this kind of smooth, refined patina on pine, spruce or other soft wood furniture. When hardwoods are sanded properly and finished with a clear, non-toxic lacquer or hand-rubbed natural oil, you can run your hands over the wood and it almost feels like skin. No softwood, metal or plastic furniture can give the same tactile sensation that high quality, handmade hardwood furniture does.
Second – It’s Durable and Lasts a Lifetime
Hardwoods like cherry, walnut, maple and oak wood are from deciduous trees that grow slower than coniferous softwood trees like pine, spruce, larch and fir. Thus hardwoods are typically more dense, heavy, durable and, well… hard. They also are fairly non – resinous and close grained so they don’t leak sap and split like pine does. If you take care of your hardwood furniture it will hold up beautifully for many years, even many generations. We are confident enough in our hardwood furniture to back it with a lifetime guarantee.
Third – It’s a Natural, Organic Part of a Healthy Home
Many people, especially those with young children are looking for natural, organic furniture to be a part of their healthy homes. They often talk to us about where their furniture comes from too. Hardwood furniture that’s made in America is typically built with wood that’s sustainably harvested from well-managed American forests. Families enjoy breaking bread over a dinner table that’s made in harmony with nature.
Bonus Reason! It’s Economical in the Long Run
OK, I said Top 3 Reasons, but here’s a fourth that I just can’t walk away from. In the long run, high quality hardwood furniture is cheaper to buy than other types of furniture– even IKEA’s. Consider how many times you’ll have to buy a bedroom set or dining furniture over your lifetime if you’re always buying something cheap. We’ve had lots of customers who tell us they’ve been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for a few years while they save up to buy a high quality hardwood bed. I can relate to that.
What are your reasons for searching for hardwood furniture? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Facebook!
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