Stands, Cabinets and Canopies

Pine vs. Oak
Surprisingly there are few similarities between the two woods, both offer very different pros and cons. Pine tends to be suited to rustic, Mexican Furniture and traditional styles, due the colours that it can be finished in and that it can be easily machined to intricate patterns. Oak furniture is used for a wider variety of styles from contemporary oak furniture to traditional oak country designs. The most fundamental difference between oak furniture and pine furniture is that pine is a soft wood and oak is a hardwood. This means that oak is heavy, hardwearing, strong and has out-standing wear resistance. Pine is moderate in weight, has good shock resistance and high stiffness. Oak takes far longer to grow which is one reason that it is more expensive than pine furniture. A great selling point for pine furniture is that it is more affordable. It makes great children’s bedroom furniture for this reason, why spend extra on hard wood furniture when they will grow out of it or want a new style when they are teenagers? Pine is almost always used for bunk beds; proof of how sturdy it is. There are many children’s beds on our website should you wish to view these. You can justify spending more money on oak furniture however as it is longer lasting and harder wearing than pine. This makes oak furniture an ideal wood for dining furniture, particularly oak dining tables. Showing an expanse of oak wood on a dining table also looks beautiful, a stunning focus point for your kitchen or dining room. There are many pine and oak dining sets on the website which offer great value for money (save money compared to buying items separately). Pine is often used for painted furniture which has become very popular recently. Ivory, cream and white bedroom furniture is best suited to pine as it takes stains and paint well. Particular cuts of pine are used that are knot free so that the colour is smooth and consistent.

When staining soft wood lumber, consider what professional painters and woodworkers do and use a clear conditioner to partially block many of the wood pores. These conditioners are easy to apply and dry rapidly. Often you can brush them on the piece of wood and stain it within 15 minutes. The liquid conditioners contain clear resins and solids that clog the pores of the softwoods. By doing this, many of the stain pigment particles that create the actual color are not allowed to soak deeply into the wood. The conditioners also help to enhance the grain of the wood.