Oak Bedroom Furniture

This website, Oak Bedroom Furniture, aims to give you information about solid wood bedroom furniture made from oak. But what is oak? If you are old enough, oak probably needs no introduction. You have almost certainly seen oak trees and maybe even played around in a grove of oak trees. You also probably know of its "fruit", the acorn. But most youngsters do not know what oak is, and may not even know that it is a species of tree. Their only exposure to acorns may well be through the movie "Alvin and the Chipmunks", and their only knowledge of oak may be the name of the scientist in the Japanese cartoon and Gameboy game of "Pokemon."

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia describing the oak tree:

The genus is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cold latitudes to tropical Asia and the Americas.

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The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species. The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not actually a distinct group and instead are dispersed across the genus.

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Oak wood has a density of about 0.75 g/cm³, great strength and hardness, and is very resistant to insect and fungal attack because of its high tannin content. It also has very attractive grain markings, particularly when quartersawn. Wide, quarter-sawn boards of oak have been prized since the Middle Ages for use in interior paneling of prestigious buildings such as the debating chamber of the British House of Commons in London, England, and in the construction of fine furniture. Oak wood, from Quercus robur and Quercus petraea, was used in Europe for the construction of ships, especially naval men of war, until the 19th century, and was the principal timber used in the construction of European timber-framed buildings. Today oak wood is still commonly used for furniture making and flooring, timber frame buildings, and for veneer production.

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Of the North American oaks, the Northern red oak Quercus rubra is the most prized of the red oak group for lumber, all of which is marketed as red oak regardless of the species of origin. It is not good for outdoor use due to the open capillaries. One can blow air through an end grain piece 10 inches long to make bubbles come out in a glass of water. These opening give fungus easy access when the finish deteriorates. The standard for the lumber of the white oak group, all of which is marketed as white oak, is the White Oak Quercus alba.

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The wood of the deciduous Pedunculate Oak Quercus robur and Sessile Oak Quercus petraea account for most of the European oak production, but evergreen species, such as Holm oak Quercus ilex, and Cork oak Quercus suber also produce valuable timber.

Oak was the most widely used wood for making furniture in the Western world all the way through the Middle Ages to the mid-1600s. After that, softwoods like pine and beech took over in popularity. These softwoods were easier to work, and furniture craftsmen could produce more items for sale more quickly.

However, oak remained the wood of choice for high end bedroom furniture. Unlike pine bedroom furniture, oak bedroom furniture could survive for several generations and often made fine family heirlooms. Where oak wood was widely available in America, it was also the most widely used wood for making Amish bedroom furniture.

One major problem with oak is that it takes a long time to grow. Unlike pine, which grows fast enough to be commercially grown in plantations, oak is becoming scarce. This relative scarcity has cause oak bedroom furniture to become expensive. Most modern so-called oak furniture is actually an oak veneer over MDF (fiberboard).

Is oak eco-friendly bedroom furniture? That depends on where the wood comes from. Some come from forests that are replanted. Some come from dead oak trees. As long as you take proper care of your oak furniture and do not heedlessly wreck it or needlessly replace it, as long as you use it for decades and then pass it on to your children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, oak bedroom furniture could certainly be considered eco-friendly.

If you like the idea of owning oak bedroom furniture, but cannot normally afford it, one way to get it on a tight budget is to look for used bedroom furniture being sold in garage sales. Even it the furniture is damaged, it is often a worthwhile DIY project to repair and refurbish it.