Oak, Walnut or Acacia? A Guide to Solid Wood
How each wood ages, how it takes oil and which rooms it suits best, from a pale oak table to a dark walnut sideboard.
How each wood ages, how it takes oil and which rooms it suits best, from a pale oak table to a dark walnut sideboard.
Start with the room
Before you choose a piece, live in the room for a week and notice where the light falls, where you sit in the evening and how people walk through it. The right piece follows the way the room is used.
- Measure the doorways and the stairs, not just the wall.
- Mark the size on the floor with tape and live with it for a day.
- Order fabric and wood samples and look at them morning and night.
Choose fewer, better things
A room with five pieces you love feels calmer than one with fifteen you merely like. Solid wood, natural fibres and good joinery age well, and they can be repaired rather than replaced.
The rooms we remember are never the fullest ones. They are the ones where every piece was chosen.
Live with it
Oil the wood once a year, turn the cushions every week and let the leather darken. Good furniture gets better with use.
