A home lover’s guide to wood

A guide to the most common types of wood used in interior design, their respective qualities and how they can best be applied in your home.

While there are hundreds of different types of wood available, the strength, flexibility, colour, grain and resistance to warping of certain species means that they’re better suited for home use. CourShow more

Used for everything from flooring to furniture, wood is present in just about every home. But do you know your ash from your walnut? There are hundreds of types of wood available, ­including exotic varieties such as the brightly coloured redheart, the bitterly scented panga panga or the curly grained pyinma. But there are a select group of woods that you’re much more likely to find in your home, each of which has unique properties that are particularly suited to specific uses. Here’s a guide to the most common woods and how they can be applied in your home.

Ash

This pale, open-grained wood is very easy to stain to ­whatever colour you require, and can be buffed to a polished finish. Strong yet flexible, it’s often used in furniture, and is also reasonably hard-wearing, making it good for flooring. There are a number of different varieties of ash, including mountain, green and even pumpkin, but the most commonly used is white ash.

Beech

Hard, tough and durable, this close-grained wood ranges in colour from white to ­pinkish-brown. Although it can have a tendency to warping, it’s also fairly inexpensive, and is therefore used widely in furniture and flooring.

Cedar

What makes this soft, reddish wood interesting is that its sweet smell naturally deters moths, making it ideal for constructing chests and lining wardrobes. It’s also used to make outdoor furniture, as it’s particularly ­resistant to decay. Native to Lebanon, western Syria and south-central Turkey, there are many varieties of cedar found around the world, including incense, Atlantic white and aromatic red.

Cherry

This beautiful hardwood has a straight grain and is resistant to shrinking and warping. Although it doesn’t take a stain easily, it ages well, developing a deeper red tone and a natural patina with age, a process that can be accelerated by exposure to direct sunlight. Because of gum pockets that can form within the grain, cherry wood may contain interesting and random patterning, making it a good choice for decorative furniture and accessories.

Chestnut

This hard wood, which grows in the Northern Hemisphere, is best harvested from trees that are 50 years old or younger, which means it’s difficult to get long timbers from them. As a result, chestnut is often used for small-furniture construction. It’s also good for outdoor furniture, fence panels and housing shingles, as the wood is very durable and weather resistant.

Elm

The long, straight trunk of the elm tree gives long planks that are extremely pliant, yet the wood’s hardness and grain can exceed oak’s, and the interlocking grain means it doesn’t split ­easily. As a result, it’s used to create solid furniture, both indoor and out, as elm is also resistant to water absorption. The diverse grain pattern and the fact that it contains plenty of knots and burrs make elm quite decorative, too.

Fir

This fast growing tree produces wood with a uniform texture, which is used in furniture, doors and picture frames. It can, however, be prone to decay, and you can more readily find it as a component of plywood. The many varieties of fir around the world include balsam, noble and ­subalpine.

Mahogany

High-quality, expensive furniture such as dressers and wooden cabinets may well be made from mahogany, a reddish-­coloured hardwood with a fine grain that’s very durable and doesn’t shrink or warp easily. The different varieties of mahogany include mountain, swamp and ­Honduran.

Mango

Although not the easiest wood to work with, mango is very beautiful, containing streaks of different colours and interesting patterns. Its primary advantage, however, is that it’s considered to be eco-friendly, as it’s often harvested from trees that were grown for their fruit but have reached the end of their productive lives.

Maple

This versatile wood is used in everything from furniture to decorative accessories, but it’s particularly useful for flooring, as it’s hard, strong and very resistant to knocks. A pale wood, it has a very wavy or irregular grain, and ages well. There are several different species of maple, including curly, field and bird’s-eye, but Canadian maple is one of the hardiest.

Oak

A popular choice in the home, oak is both durable and pliable, resistant to moisture absorption, very strong and hard-wearing. Because it’s also considered very beautiful, it’s used in good-­quality furniture, as well as flooring, decorative panels and beams. There are many varieties of oak, which are grouped into red oaks, white oaks and others, such as bog oak and live oak.

Pine

The fact that it’s so fast-growing is what makes pine an affordable option. It’s also uniform in texture and very easy to work with, which is why it’s often used in mass-produced furniture, as well as construction. Although it has a wide grain and can dent, it doesn’t warp easily, finishes well and resists shrinking.

Spruce

Although this pale Scandinavian wood is fairly soft and light, it’s very strong. However, it rots easily. As a result, it tends to be used for things like crates and boxes, as well as ladders, where it’s valued for its strength-to-weight ratio. There are several varieties of spruce, including Sitka, Norway and black.

Teak

This exotic hardwood exudes natural oil from its pores, which means it’s good at not absorbing water, but it can be difficult to glue. Hard-wearing and incredibly resistant to rot and decay, it’s often used for panels and window frames, as well as flooring and furniture. Teak may also be known as Burmese teak, but some other supposed “teaks” from other regions or countries are actually not genuine.

Walnut

This popular hardwood has a dark colour and is often used in solid or veneered furniture, cabinets and wall panels. It’s strong, but it’s also easy to work with, resists shrinkage and warping, takes stains and glazes well and often boasts unique curls and patterns, because of the mixed colours of the heartwood and sapwood. Walnut varieties available include tropical and white.

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