Ready-to-finish furniture gives you a wide range of options that can meet all your furniture needs. We offer quality products from both local craftsmen and national manufacturers that will fit any budget.

Wood has always been a favorite material for making furniture, and for good reason:

Wood is available in various colors, grains and hardness. It can be cut and shaped into a large variety of attractive designs.

Wood is shock-resistant and very durable, generally outlasting synthetic materials. Scratches and nicks are easy to touch up.

Wood has lasting value. Genuine wood furniture may cost more in the beginning, but often grows in value as it is handed down from one generation to another.

With ready-to-finish wood furniture, you can add other pieces at any time and match the finish – something that is often not possible with prefinished furniture.

TYPES OF WOOD

You may not be familiar with every type of wood, but all make quality furnishings of various types. We can advise you about the stains and finishes to use for best results on each type. These are the kinds of woods commonly used to make ready-to-finish furniture.

Solid Wood means that all exposed parts of the furniture are made of solid board, either softwood or hardwood lumber. No veneers or particle boards are used.

When solid boards are used in furniture construction, they are glued together side by side along the edges. Often, a number of boards are used to make the wood more stable and reduce the chance of warping.

Solid board can always be identified by following a seam to the end, where you find the “end” grain. Many veneers are glued over the edges to look like solid wood, but they will always be faced on the end and show no end grain.

“All-wood furniture” is not necessarily solid wood. A veneer can help you achieve the look you desire at a cost lower than solid lumber. Veneers can be overlaid on plywood or particleboard. If damaged, particleboard will often fracture because the material is so hard it cannot absorb the shock. We do not carry furniture made with particleboard at Country Woods.

There are three types of glue-up in most solid wood furniture:

Hardness is determined by the specific density of the wood, not by whether a tree is classified as a “hardwood” or “softwood.”

Hardwoods come from deciduous trees (e.g. maple, oak, alder, ash).

Softwoods come from conifers (e.g. pine, spruce, fir)

Some hardwoods, such as balsa wood, are softer than some softwoods, such as pine.

Drawer construction is generally a good indication of overall furniture quality. Some drawers have no guides. The lack of guides allows more “play” and can cause the drawer to bind when it is opened and closed. Others have wood-to-wood center guides, nylon-to-wood center guides, side-mounted roller guides or center-mounted metal guides.

Roller guides and center-mounted metal guides normally have built-in drawer stops, and some have lifetime warranties for drawer operation.

Many drawers have glue-blocks to strengthen the bottom. Most ready-to-finish chests have wood drawer bottoms – not always the case with prefinished furniture.

Now, as in the past, doweled and dovetailed drawer joints indicate a high degree of craftsmanship. However, modern machine technology, good bonding glue and pneumatically driven staples coated with resin have afforded savings in construction while providing durability.

Quality wood furniture purchased today can be used for a lifetime. Ask us to show you other things to look for and the many benefits you’ll find in solid wood furniture.