Better Value—Unfinished furniture is substantially less expensive than comparable finished furniture. Most finished furniture today is finished using automated systems designed to mass produce finishes that are lower in quality and offered in fewer color choices. Custom finishing is an expensive option and not available in all areas. Finishing your own furniture is a fun and rewarding experience. There are many types of finishing materials available for the the “ do-it-yourself-er“ that will enable you to achieve a fine furniture finish with a minimal investment.

Better Finish—Modern finishing materials available today enable you to custom finish your own furniture with relative ease and great success. These materials can be purchased at most home improvement centers, hardware stores and woodworking supply stores. Color options of stains and paints are almost limitless and can be custom mixed to match any existing decor. Most of these finishes are designed to be applied without expensive equipment or tools. Finishing can be done in your spare time, with great success and satisfaction. Your creative imagination can produce finished furniture that you will be proud of and will give you many years of use.

Parawood—Native to the Amazon Region of South America. Plantation grown in the Amazon basin, Malaysia, India and Africa for the production of high quality latex rubber. After 25 to 30 years of latex production, the tree ceases to produce sufficient quantities of latex. The tree is then harvested for the manufacture of fine furniture and a new tree is planted in its place. The color of the wood is very light with a slightly porous, straight grain pattern. It is very dense and quite heavy with exceptional strength. It will stain or paint very well. Overall a great furniture wood.

Radiata Pine—A plantation grown softwood from South America. Unlike the “knotty pine” most people are familiar with, this variety is almost knot free. The wood is light yellow in color with a beautiful grain pattern. It is harder than other pines and the lack of knots makes it a better furniture wood choice. Radiata Pine will accept all types of stains or paints very nicely.

Alder—Native to the Pacific Northwest. It is light in coloration with very tight grain pattern, similar to Cherry or maple. Considered a hardwood with medium density and strength. Due to its versatility in finishing, Alder is a great furniture wood.

Maple—A very popular furniture wood from the eastern United States and Canada. Most varieties of maple are extremely hard and dense. It is very light in coloration and has a tight varying grain pattern. Hardrock Maple is used in butcher block cutting boards because of its durability. Maple can be stained or painted with great success.

Oak—One of the more popular furniture woods because of its durability and strength. It is very dense and heavy with a quite porous and varying grain. The most popular varieties are the Red Oak and the White Oak. The Red Oak is pinkish in coloration, while the White Oak is light brown in color. Both of these woods will accept stains very well. Due to the heavy grain, distressed painted finishes tend to complement the grain variation instead of trying to hide or minimize it.

Pine—A softwood available in many varieties from various parts of the world. The more common furniture grade pines used are the Ponderosa Pine, Sugar Pine, and the Eastern White Pine. These woods are yellow in color with the brown knots. The knots are actually hardened sap within the tree. Depending on the variety of pine, the number and size of these knots will vary. Pine is better suited to pigmented stains rather than painted finishes. Knots will tend to “bleed” thru painted finishes over periods of time. This happens due to a chemical reaction with the paint and the hardened sap. If a painted finish is desired, darker colors or distressed finishes will help minimize this.

Beech—Beech wood is a dense hardwood with exceptional strength. Grown primarily in the Eastern U.S. and Canada, it is light in coloration with fine grain. These characteristics make it an outstanding furniture wood. It will stain or paint very well.

Birch—A hardwood often mistaken for Maple. It is very light in coloration, with a tight varying grain pattern. Found in the Eastern U.S. and Canada, Birch has long been a favorite furniture wood because of its ability to accept a wide range of finishes, both paints and stains.

Greatwood furniture is real wood furniture, beautifully designed and well constructed to provide many years of use and enjoyment. Inherently, natural woods have many unique characteristics; color, grain pattern, texture, and density. These qualities, crafted by nature over time- make each piece of furniture beautiful and truly unique. Distinctive grain patterns or unusual shadings may frequently be found within the same wood species. In addition our solid wood furniture is a natural product and may be affected by environmental factors such as natural lighting, humidity and temperature.