If you're looking for good wood (high quality), and great prices, unfinished furniture may provide you with some real bargains for furnishing your home in style while on a budget.
Certain hardwoods are prized for making furniture due to the natural beauty of the wood.
They offer a far wider choice of colors, effects and characteristics.
Hardwoods come from deciduous trees which take years to grow and cultivate with the noted exception of Balsa.
Balsa is extremely quick growing and produces very light wood but excluding this one, the rest of the hardwoods are generally more expensive than the faster growing pine and other softwoods.
Within the hardwood classification, there is a sub class of either temperate or tropical wood.
The temperate comes from North America and Europe.
In these countries, the trees go through a stop/start growth cycle due to the changing seasons.
This is evidenced in the grains of the wood.
With the temperate climates of Brazil, Malaysia and Africa, the stop/start pattern is not as noticeable and therefore the timber is more evenly textured although it can be more prone to shrinking and splitting.
So how do you decide which good wood unfinished furniture to choose? You will need to work with the style of your home.
If you own a period property certain styles will suit it better.
It also depends on your personal preference.
Some people love the strong grains in oak while others prefer the flecked appearance of beech which can be any color from pink to pale brown.
Whatever wood you do choose, make sure that the furniture piece is not damaged.
Some companies will work on hardwood without giving it sufficient time to season.
This can leave it prone to cracking or warping so take time to thoroughly examine any piece you are looking to purchase.
You would usually finish good wood unfinished furniture with either varnish or wax, it is rarely painted.