If you’ve been looking online and in-store for new furniture, you might feel conflicted: there’s a massive selection of furniture pieces, styles, and mediums available for the average shopper. Whether it’s for your bedroom, kitchen, or living room (or any room, really), furniture comes in a variety of materials, such as metal, wood, plastic, marble, and beyond. But if there’s one medium that has stood the test of time, it’s wood.
In fact, there’s early evidence of wooden furniture and other wooden homewares as far back as ancient Egypt, when furniture in homes at the time consisted of items like a handcrafted wooden table and chairs, chests, and beds. It’s no wonder that wood is still used today in some of the most beautiful and hardy furniture available: it’s a tried-and-true material for any serious craftsperson and committed stylist.
If you need further convincing, here are just a few of the many reasons why wooden furniture will always be popular.
Wood Complements Most Design Choices
Wood is incredibly versatile, whatever type you choose — no matter if it’s maple, walnut, oak, or pine. It slides seamlessly into a host of spaces regardless of the room’s overriding style: wood matches modern décor, vintage vibes, shabby chic cottage stylings, industrial décor, and rooms that lean into minimalism (to name just a few design choices).
Such adaptability is incredibly beneficial since your home stylings or aesthetic preferences will unlikely stay as they are forever. You’ll likely change your wall colours, hang patterned or textured wallpaper, update artwork, rearrange knickknacks and modernize textiles as interior design trends evolve. That means having primary pieces of quality wooden furniture that integrate flawlessly, whatever style is trending that year, will always give you a grounding feature to work around.
Quality Wooden Furniture Is Made to Last
If you look after your wooden furniture, it could be in your home for a lifetime. It could even become an heirloom piece. Handcrafted, solid wooden furniture that’s made to last can endure decades of use — but only if it’s treated properly.
Fortunately, taking care of wooden furniture is relatively easy. Dusting regularly, taking care of spills, deploying wood’s best friends — placemats, felt feet, and the coaster — and keeping your wood in a room that’s not overly humid will keep it in tip-top shape for many, many years to come.
Further, due to wood’s robust and resilient nature, it’s easy to move, hard to damage from occasional dents and bangs, and it’s almost impossible to topple over.
Wooden Furniture Is a Long-term Investment
Yes, the immediate cost of superior, solid wood furniture can seem high. Over time, however, the upfront investment pays off; as mentioned above, quality wood furniture can last you a lifetime (or several).
Not only does this work out financially, but you’ll also never need to navigate choosing and buying new furniture, organizing delivery, and toiling with assembly again — a huge perk if you don’t enjoy so-called retail therapy.
Wooden Furniture Can Be a Sustainable Option
In a world that’s learning to embrace sustainability, the fact that some wooden furniture is an eco-friendlier option is yet another major perk of wooden furniture and another reason it will be in style for many years to come.
Depending on where you purchase your furniture, handcrafted wooden pieces will generally be made using wood that’s procured from sustainable sources or from wood that’s upcycled and refinished.
Wood Adds Warmth and Texture
The rich, natural, earthy tones and the deep grain in wooden furniture immediately add warmth, texture, and depth to a space. This is especially beneficial in minimal, modern-style lofts and condo buildings, which sometimes feel sterile and soulless.
Quality Wooden Furniture Elevates a Space
A core and central piece of wooden furniture — like a solid cherry bed set, a reclaimed dining table made using vintage barnboards, a maple wood bookshelf, or a teak coffee table — can truly elevate a space, giving a grounded feeling of luxury and decadence.
This allows you to save and budget more modestly elsewhere in the room or home for wall décor, curios, and other pieces of furniture.
You Can Update Wood Furniture
With that said, even if you decide you’re no longer keen on your wooden furniture or the colour doesn’t quite suit your style or your new décor, you can update it.
There are thousands of tutorials online, interior design television shows, design magazines and social media streams that will talk you through the process of refinishing: stripping, sanding, patching, staining, treating and so forth.
But if you want the job done right, it’s certainly worth looking for handcrafted wooden furniture artisans that are local to you to learn about their refinishing services.
Why Wooden Furniture Will Always Be a Wise Choice
Most types of wood — whether light, dark, finished, unfinished or otherwise — will always make the list of ‘interior trends to watch this year,’ and there’s a reason why.
While wooden furniture that’s made to last will cost you a little more upfront, these costs more than balance out later down the line. If wood furniture is well cared for, it can last you for decades — seamlessly blending into your home and growing with your personal style as you and your interior design choices evolve and flourish.
