Somewhere along the line in furniture history, consumers were convinced that the only worthwhile wooden furniture is made of oak. I used to work the sales floor constantly answering oak questions: where is your solid oak furniture? Do you have this in oak? Is a Chinese hardwood the same thing as oak? At the same time, many of the same furniture consumers also decided that pine was bad. Pine, I believe, gets a bad rap.
Granted, pine is a soft wood as opposed to the hardwoods like, yes, oak. However, pine furniture is still very durable and quite lovely. In addition to that, it is usually a lot less expensive than the coveted oak furniture that so many seek. Let’s take a quick look at the negatives and positives of pine furniture.
On the negative side, it is a soft wood and will thus scratch and nick up easier than furniture made of hardwood. It is lighter in both weight and color as well. Finally, pine does not have a grain with as much beauty as most feel oak does.
On the positive side, though, pine furniture is a lot less expensive. In addition, if you buy a set that is made to look distressed, the nicks and scratches will blend right in anyway. Even if you are buying a hardwood piece of furniture, the distressed look is both practical and popular anyway. Finally, if you buy solid pine furniture, it is still solid wood. That means it will still be very durable and will likely last as long as an oak piece, only with more dents and scratches.
So if you like the idea of having solid wood furniture for your home, consider looking at pine. It will save you money and still look great. Pine gets a bad rap, so give it a chance and you will see just how great a pine set can be for you.
Hope this helps,
The Furniture Guy
