Choosing the right hardwood species for your project can be a tough decision.
With countless species and styles available to you for your interior woodwork or custom wood furniture project, it can be incredibly difficult to make the choice. The species and style of wood that you choose can dictate the beauty, strength, and lifetime of the finished piece of wood furniture. Here are some of the most common hardwood species that are popular today.
Birch is the Best
Birch is an incredibly popular species of hardwood, and for a good reason. It comes in two different varieties—yellow birch and white birch. Yellow birch is pastel yellow-to-white with a red-brown interior, while white birch has a whiter exterior color and resembles maple. Out of a scale of 1 to 5, both types of birch rate a 4 out of 5. It is less expensive than many other types of hardwood and it is available at almost every home center or lumberyard. If you are looking to stain your finished product, however, birch is not an ideal hardwood species, as it gets blotchy very easily.
Cherry is Charming
Cherry is another reliable and great hardwood species, as it is very easy to work with, finished or stained easily, and ages very well over time. The heartwood is a red-brown color and the sapwood is close to white. Out of a scale of 1 to 5, cherry rates a 2. It is frequently used for furniture, as it lasts a long time and finishes beautifully. Cherry is harder to find than birch, and it will probably require a trip to your local lumberyard or a special order through your preferred store. It’s very in demand, so prepare to pay whatever the market value is when you buy.
Much Ado About Mahogany
Mahogany is a hardwood species commonly used throughout furniture. It typically has a red-brown or deep red tint, a medium texture, and a gorgeous straight grain. On a scale of 1 to 5, mahogany ranks at about a 2 in terms of hardness. It stains incredibly well and looks nice with as few or as many coats of oil as you would like to apply. Just like cherry, mahogany is in greater demand, so plan on shelling out more money and taking a trip to the lumberyard to get what you want.
Ready to Restore or Replace?
Mahogany Inc. is a general contractor that specializes in quality construction for residential and commercial projects. We have the expertise and experience to tackle whatever your custom woodwork job is (and acquire those hard to find woods you might want to use!). If you are looking for work that will set your living room, kitchen, or business apart, contact us online or give us a call at (410) 727-0334. To see examples of our wonderful work and see what our customers have to say, check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.