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Subtle and Elegant – Choose Oak

Posted On : Sep-11-2010 | seen (1299) times | Article Word Count : 464 |

Choosing wooden furniture can be a huge undertaking; you’ve got to look at the room it will be in, how it will be positioned, and the colour of the room that it’ll be in. Oak fits in with most environments, no matter what the colour or layout, and doesn’t overpower the room.
Choosing wooden furniture can be a huge undertaking; you've got to look at the room it will be in, how it will be positioned, and the colour of the room that it'll be in. Oak fits in with most environments, no matter what the colour or layout, and doesn't overpower the room. And in most cases, there are a lot of different types, styles, designs and items made from oak that can fit with any décor, modern, contemporary, or antique. Oak has been used since the beginning of furniture manufacture, so can be purchased as an antique, or designed with a modern look in mind. Oak is also easily sourced, so can be purchased or made custom based on your needs.

Oak basics

Oak is a light coloured wood with lots of knots and striation throughout - it's often fairly pale, but not as pale as pine. Depending on the piece of wood that the furniture has been made of, it could have more dark patches than light, but the overall character of oak is fairly balanced between dark and light. It's a hardwood, and is fairly tough - but the fact that something is a hardwood, or softwood isn't necessarily a rating of strength overall. The basic difference between hardwood and softwood is leaves or needles. Hardwood drops its leaves, while softwood drops (or doesn't) needles.

One of the basic differences between hardwood and softwood is the texture of the wood - specifically under a microscope. Hardwood has pores that are much larger and more obvious, but seems to have less small perforations, whereas softwood has multiple regular perforations, but these are tiny.

Oak is one of the nicer hardwoods - it doesn't have an overpowering 'woody' smell, and doesn't deteriorate as long as it's sealed well. It's able to take hard knocks equally easily as being comfortable to sit on, which makes it the ideal substance to create a variety of furniture types from.

Elegance

Subtle elegance epitomises oak - which is why it's chosen to create all kinds of furniture, and finishes. One of the best things about oak is that though it's a very heavy, sturdy wood, it's easy to work with, and is predictable under different pressures. It's easy to create planks, or solid spars, and can be affixed in a variety of joints. It's not especially fragile either so can be made into quite intricate designs that might not work in other woods, including dovetailed drawers and other elegant and often understatedly beautiful products. Whatever the choice of design, oak makes an amazing addition to any room, and any furniture type. Its relative inexpensive compared to other woods also makes it the ideal choice for anyone on a budget.

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Keywords : oak, furniture, bookcases, chest of drawers, coffee tables, desks, dining tables, dining chairs, dressing tables, sideboards,

Category : Home and Family : Home Improvement

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