The most popular material in use to make furniture has been, and probably will be for many years to come, wood. The wood can be categorized in a couple of distinct groups namely hardwood and softwood.
Hardwood is considered the most prized type of wood, it comes from longer lived deciduous trees in the main and they produce high quality wood such as oak, beech and ash. The lumber that you get from hardwood trees have less imperfections than what you will find from softwood trees.
Softwoods are generally conifers such as pine and although the timber is lighter, it is perfectly suitable for using in the manufacture of quality furniture. In fact some of the finest antique furniture pieces are pine furniture.
Regardless of what kind of wood that has been used to make a beautiful piece of furniture, you can be sure it will last for a long time and bring a measure of depth and warmth to the room in which it is placed.