For the longest time, wood has been a popular choice for furniture in all kinds of spaces. Although wood remains to be the best material for furniture, it is also quite expensive. For this reason, most people are continually looking for cheaper wood options for making their furniture.
The cheapest wood for making furniture is pine. This softwood is found in plenty because it grows quickly. It may be less expensive than other woods but is of better quality than most softwoods, making it ideal for most furniture. However, engineered wood provides an even cheaper option.
Making quality and ideal furniture can be an expensive affair; however, you’re going to need furniture for just about any indoor or outdoor space. Therefore, it helps to know what cheaper options you have. In this article, we will delve into the cheaper options for making furniture besides pine, the different types of wood for furniture, and the most expensive wood for making furniture, so you know what to look for when going for elegant and classy options.
Manufactured Wood
If you’re going for quality over affordability, you’re better off getting solid wood for your furniture. However, if you’d like to save a couple of bucks, engineered or manufactured wood is the cheapest wood for furniture. Therefore, you’ll use wood like ply board and veneer board.
Furniture from engineered wood is cheap because manufacturing the wood makes the entire process of making furniture less expensive. Besides, you can make engineered wood from waste, which isn’t the case with solid wood furniture.
Softwoods
Softwoods are the ideal choice for cheaper, reliable wood options. Unlike hardwoods, softwoods take a shorter time to mature, making them readily available. The high supply of wood helps meet the demand for furniture, making them cheaper than hardwood furniture.
The cheapest softwood to use in furniture making is pine wood. It is a softwood and is therefore readily available to meet the high furniture demands. One of the best things about using pine for making furniture is that it is of better quality than most other softwoods. Therefore, furniture products made from pine wood will likely last longer than most of the other softwoods.
Another great advantage of pinewood is that it’s easier to work with. If you’re looking for some unique furniture, you’ll need wood you can easily manipulate. Working with pinewood is straightforward, and you can shape it; however you want without worrying about wasteful mistakes. Also, making exquisite finishing on the furniture is easier if you’re using pine.
Another reason why pine wood is a popular choice in furniture making is that it blends easily with other wood types. Pine complements other types, making it ideal for anyone who’d like furniture made from different wood types.
When choosing the cheapest wood options for making furniture, it’s crucial to note that it will generally depend on the region. Although pine is the obvious choice for affordable furniture, the case may be different in other areas. For example, if you’re in Utah, Alder and Knotty Alder are more readily available. They will be a better choice for making furniture at low costs.
Types of Wood for Furniture
Generally, all woods to make furniture fall under two primary categories; solid wood and engineered or manufactured wood. As a rule of thumb, solid wood is the best choice for furniture.
Solid Wood
Solid wood refers to any lumber that is a direct product of a tree. Most people consider it the best wood for making furniture. It results in elegant products and the furniture from it is of the best quality.
Solid wood is further divided into two groups:
Hardwood
Hardwood is denser than softwood. Hardwood comes from deciduous trees, which usually take longer to mature. When used in making furniture, the items produced are of high quality. The furniture is less likely to decay or rot, making it more durable.
Hardwood usually comes with a close grain and doesn’t require much effort to maintain. Although not all, most of the hardwood trees provide wood for making furniture. The most popular options are usually oak, teak, maple, mahogany, beech, walnut, and hickory.
Softwood
Softwood comes from coniferous or evergreen trees, which grow quicker than hardwood trees. Softwood is usually less dense and grows tall and straight, making it easier to obtain long straight wood planks. Although softwoods are of less quality than hardwood, they are still capable of producing high-quality furniture.
Softwoods are easier to come by, which is why they are a common choice for furniture making. They are also a cheaper option compared to hardwoods. The common softwood choices for making furniture include cedar, pine, spruce, fur, and larch.
Engineered Wood
This wood is usually manufactured and cannot be divided into either hardwood or softwood because it comprises various wood types. Engineered wood is generally manufactured from some tree parts and doesn’t necessarily come from the tree directly.
One of the crucial things to note about engineered wood is that it is less quality than solid wood. Therefore, the furniture from engineered wood may not be as long-lasting as furniture from solid wood. Some common engineered woods that are used in making furniture include;
Plywood
Plywood is perhaps the most common manufactured wood used in furniture making. It is made by combining 3-5 slices of lumber using an adhesive. Plywood helps save costs of the wood used, hence why it is a common choice for furniture.
Particleboard
Particleboard is also known as the chipboard. It’s made using a wood chipper to break down the lumber from trees into small fibers. The fibers are then glued together using adhesives like synthetic resin.
This type of engineered wood is more uniform and denser than plywood and conventional wood. There are different grades of particleboard, and each grade has different densities. The higher the density, the greater the wood’s strength and resistance to screw fasteners’ failure.
What Is the Most Expensive Wood for Furniture?
If you haven’t already guessed it, using hardwood to make furniture is the most expensive option. As we’ve explained earlier, hardwood trees take a long time (more than 30 years) to mature. Therefore, they aren’t readily available to meet high demands, which causes them to be very expensive.
Although hardwood for furniture making is pricey, using it can assure you of quality products. Hardwoods are usually very durable. You’ll probably have that furniture for some time and save you the trouble of making new furniture. Some of the hardwood types are burn resistant, making furniture from these hardwoods even more expensive.
The most expensive wood you can use to make furniture is the Red-Leaf Maple wood. It features an intricate grain pattern, which makes the furniture from this hardwood even more stylish. This beautiful pattern, combined with its hardwood properties, makes it the most coveted hardwood to make furniture.
Parting Shot
Your furniture says a lot about you, and, understandably, you’d only want the best. However, furniture making can be quite expensive, which is why we went to all the trouble of laying out your options.
The cheapest wood type to use for making furniture is manufactured wood. However, this type is hardly durable and will have you shopping again in no time. Pine is your best choice for affordable but quality furniture that will last you a while.
So, whether you need some new seats or the patio needs some facelifting, you can’t go wrong with pine wood furniture.
