Materials
Materials
Solid Woods
All of our materials are hand-selected for their beauty, strength, and longevity.
Working with specialty suppliers, we responsibly source domestically-grown timber of the highest quality. Each wood species is chosen for its set of characteristics that make it optimal for fine furniture making, such as the grain, density, and colour. Learn about our preferred types of wood with the swatches below.
Order wood samples to view the swatch in person.
Natural Ash
Ash is a lightweight yet highly durable wood—a great choice for heavily-used furniture. The finish enhances its distinct blonde patterns. Ash’s light, airy colouring has a casual & contemporary feel, which perfectly suits a Scandinavian aesthetic.
Whitewashed Ash
Ash absorbs wood stains well, and whitewashing gives it a fresh and relaxed look. The wash softens the wood's natural appearance, providing it with a slight grey undertone, while still maintaining the beautiful wood grain.
Blackened Ash
This finish elevates ash to a bold, contemporary material. Though the stain is jet black, it offers subtle warmth highlighting the wood's characteristic grain. Not to be confused with black ash wood, which isn’t as strong as white ash.
Natural Oak
Oak is prized in fine furniture making for its durability, strength, and beautiful grain pattern. There are many types of oak in North America—we tend to use white oak for its versatile, soft colouring and effectiveness in taking stain colours.
Whitewashed Oak
Finishing hard-wearing oak with a subtle whitewash brings out some of the wood's natural cooler tones. It gives the wood's varying grain pattern and character a fresh look. This muted look works with a variety of decor styles.
Extra White Oak
"Extra white" means the wood has been finished with a thicker whitewash which subdues the grain pattern. This contemporary look is a bolder statement than the regular whitewashed oak, and has grey tones.
Oxidized Oak
When a natural oxidizing agent is applied to oak, the wood gains varying tones of ashen grey and charcoal black while still keeping plenty of character. This finish creates a distinct look for every piece of furniture.
Natural Walnut
Walnut offers strength, stability, and rich colour. Its excellent shock resistance makes walnut ideal for heavily-used furniture. We use a natural finish that enhances the deep chocolate heartwood. The lighter-coloured sapwood is also available.
Reclaimed Fir
Prized in construction for its excellent strength, reclaimed fir carries the richness of its past. This wood is full of character and imperfections, giving your furniture a rustic or industrial feel. The wood colour is mostly amber and red with some browns.
Alternative Materials
Sometimes your project, budget, or intended use isn’t a good fit for solid wood. We’ve chosen these high-grade alternative materials to be used across many different applications, especially in commercial environments. They’re lighter in weight and often provide more flexibility for customization, such as colour.
By using these materials, fine handmade furniture is made accessible to more people.
Baltic Birch
This is an affordable, stylish alternative to solid wood. We utilize the highest-grade plywood made exclusively from layers of solid birch veneer. The superior uniformity in its layered profile gives it a contemporary appearance.
Forbo Furniture Linoleum
Made from environmentally-friendly and recycled materials, Forbo is a unique surfacing material with long-lasting properties suited for high-use applications. The matte finish has a warm, fine texture. Email us to see the range of colour options.
Veneer
If you require long term stability, veneer is a good alternative to solid wood. It consists of an ultra-thin layer of wood applied to both sides of furniture-grade MDF or plywood. Available in a variety of wood species—email us for your veneer options.
Metal
Metal is truly a natural complement to wood, in its raw beauty and strength. Tables with steel frames or bases offer great resilience and stability, as well as structural consistency during their long life cycle. Lightweight and easy to work with, we also appreciate the architectural simplicity of incorporating metal into our designs.
Darkened Steel
We oxidize steel with a natural patina to create this finish. The patina is a surface coating that provides depth and varying interest of blueish-black and warm earth tones. It's a living finish, meaning that surface will occasionally change or rust in spots—and that's okay, it’s part of the process.
Powder Coating
Powder coating is a hard, protective coating applied to steel. The process produces a long-lasting, durable, and attractive finish that’s tougher than paint and guards from corrosion. Our favourite finishes are matte black and white, but there are infinite colour options. Please contact us about other colours.
Our Protective Coatings
With the right care, solid wood will last for generations. Protective coatings are the hand-rubbed clear finishes applied to your furniture & woodwork to help keep your investment looking good for life.
Our finishes are either applied directly on the raw wood or on top of a pigmented stain color. We have two types of protective coatings:
Commercial Grade Finish - This polyurethane-based finish is our standard. It's the most durable option and best suited to horizontal surfaces that receive heavy use. This thin, hard topcoat has the highest level of liquid, abrasion, and scratch resistance. Called “commercial-grade” for good reason, it provides the most hard-wearing surface while maintaining the natural tones and grain of the wood.
Sheen: Matte
Feel: Durable without feeling thick
Food Safe Oil - Derived from natural vegetable oils, this finish is mostly used on our small wares. The oil is microporous, filling the pores of the wood grain. Because this finish saturates the wood, it can easily be spot-repaired or renewed with a rub-on application. It does not protect from staining (e.g. red wine, coffee) but is 100% food safe.
Sheen: Matte
Feel: Most natural
Need more details about our finishes?
You can easily order 1/4" thick 4" x 4" samples of all of our solid wood options.
We're a friendly crew—don't hesitate to reach out with questions or custom requests about any of our furniture finishes.
If you're a designer, architect or other design professional, register for our trade program to receive exclusive benefits.
