If you’ve ever been furniture shopping trying to find that one bold foundational piece for your space, or you’ve searched everywhere and you can’t find anything to replace a missing table or chair that matches your current décor, you can always partner with a custom wood furniture company and design the perfect piece. If you think that sounds pricey, think again, you can buy custom-made wood furniture for about the same price as buying a piece from an upscale retailer and less than it would cost to buy an antique.
Below are some tips and advice for designing custom furniture made of wood.
Think Function Over Fashion
While it may be tempting to use unique angles or play around with the thickness of the legs, remember that your piece is meant to fulfil a need. Think about what that need is and design accordingly. For example, if you’re designing a table to use simply as a display surface, it doesn’t make sense to build a cabinet or drawer into it, but if you need storage space, a shelf or drawer may be the most important section of your table.
Get the Finish Right
You can choose a single wood or add a second type as an accent colour for contrast (as long as you don’t overdo it.) The type of finish you choose has a significant impact on your custom furniture’s colour, look and physical properties. Here are some of the most popular choices for custom wood furniture.
Mahogany
Mahogany is one of the most famous hardwoods due to its signature red-to-brown colouration that darkens over time. It has a straight grain that has relatively few pockets and voids. Mahogany also has a medium texture and weight and is a popular choice in high-end furniture, exterior door, interior millwork and trim.
Ash
Ash is readily available throughout the world and is ideal for nailing, gluing and screw holding, so it’s found in a variety of finished products such as flooring, millwork, crates, baseball bats and, of course, furniture.
Ash is smooth to the touch and flexible, but it’s also tough and durable. It has a light cream/brown colour and is open-grained with occasional brown streaks.
Birch
Birch trees are also abundant in Canada and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a hard, stable material and its mass availability makes it affordable – two of the reasons why Birch plywood is the most commonly used type. Birch is in everything from cabinets, seating, millwork, furniture, interior doors and boxes.
The colour is almost white, with a reddish-brown tint. The grain is usually straight but is also commonly wavy with small pores.
Cherry
Like the fruit that bears its name, cherry wood has a distinct light pinkish-brown colour that darkens over time to a more reddish-brown colour. Its grain is smooth and straight, and its flexibility is a dream for furniture manufacturers to use in curved designs. Despite that flexibility, however, Cherry wood still has a stiff, strong density.
You can find Cherry wood in cabinetry, upscale furniture, musical instruments paneling and specialty wood items.
