Ready-to-finish furniture is available in many types of wood, each with special characteristics. And because each tree yields lumber with its own grain patterns and character markings, each piece of genuine wood furniture has a unique personality.
Alder is a hardwood from the Pacific Northwest. It is very consistent in color and takes stain well. It ranks third behind oak and pine as the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture. Alder gives the look of many fine hardwoods at a reasonable price.
Ash is a long-fibered, light-colored hardwood with a tight grain much like birch or maple. It is good for bending, takes stain well and is used mainly for chairs and stools.
Aspen is a softer, light-colored, even-grained hardwood. It accepts most stains well, but may need a sealer or a coat of mineral spirits to achieve an even stain. Nonpenetrating stains work best on this wood.
Beech grows primarily in the Northeast and Canada. It is a cream-colored hardwood often used for sporting equipment, such as baseball bats. It has an open grain pattern similar to that of oak, and takes stains well
Birch is fine-grained hardwood that grows primarily in the Northeast and Canada. White in color, it takes any color of stain well.
Maple is especially abundant in the eastern U.S. It is a very light-colored hardwood with a very even grain texture. Eastern maples are generally harder than western maples because of the colder winters and shorter growing seasons. Both are very durable and take any color of stain well.
Oak is the wood most commonly used for ready-to-finish furniture. It is a very hard, open-grain wood that comes in red or white varieties. Red oak, which has a pinkish cast, is the more popular of the two. White oak has a slight greenish cast. Both woods stain well in any color.
