Wood Samples

We encourage you order a wood sample to assure your color selection, as the beauty of real hardwood is difficult to capture in a photograph. Our samples as pictured below, and the photographs on our website, all vary slightly due to different lighting conditions.

Most wood samples arrive at your home in about a week.

Sustainability

The upper Midwest is home to the best remaining stands of the great deciduous forests: beautiful maple, oak, walnut and cherry trees. We are privileged to live among these beautiful hardwoods, and recognize the need for sustainable harvesting and growth.

Hardwood Selection Process

Our furniture is created from winter-cut trees harvested in the upper midwest. The hardwood logs are seasoned for twelve to sixteen months to dry them thoroughly, bringing the moisture content down to 8-10%.

The seasoned hardwood logs are cut into lumber in the dimensions needed for the particular piece (tables, chests or chairs), air dried for an additional six months, and then placed into a kiln with circulating air. This brings the moisture content down to around 6%.

After the lumber is dried, it is sorted through for select pieces of hardwood. Pieces with natural abrasions or flaws are used on the bottom of or back of a piece (on a less visible portion). The best hardwood is saved for the tabletop, or the front of the cedar chest -- the pieces that are in full view.

Wood Finishing

The wood is sealed with a durable finish, which is designed to withstand most common household spills and abrasions.

We also offer traditional oil and wax finish for all of our hardwoods.