Eco-Friendly Wood Furniture: Go Green with Your Home Decor

We all share this beautiful planet called earth! And we all are equally responsible to save it by doing every little bit we can. The easiest way to do this is using eco friendly products. When it comes to our home decor, we can buy wood home furniture that is eco-friendly. I'll tell you how to go green with your furniture wood but before knowing some tips about buying eco friendly furniture, it is helpful to know in what ways furniture affects environment and how we can minimize this environmental pollution by going for green furniture?

What is Green Furniture?

We all know that furniture wood is a forest product. Many trees are harvested for getting that fine wood for your home and office furniture. However, green furniture is not green because it comes from forests but it is green in the sense of its being eco-friendly. Furniture is considered eco-friendly according to its impact on the environment. How the wood is harvested and to what extent this contributes to forest depletion, whether it has eco-friendly upholstery on it, how much chemicals and toxic paints etc. are used in making them, how it will affect the surrounding air quality- all contribute in defining a furniture as eco friendly. When a wood furniture causes minimum deforestation, uses non toxic materials for finishes and do not pollute the home environment, it is called an eco-friendly wood furniture.

How to Buy Eco-friendly Furniture?

Here are certain tips on how to buy green furniture? Follow them and be a responsible and proud earth dweller.

• Buy FSC-certified woods. They are researched and certified as socially and environmentally harvested by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). This council is an international non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization which works for promoting responsible management of the world’s forests.
• Buy reclaimed and recycled wood products. Many wood furniture manufacturers reuse discarded furniture and lumber.
• Refrain from buying endangered woods. Select furniture made from "secondary species" which are less depleted. These species include sweetgum, madrone, and California oak.
• Buy lower grade woods as lesser timber is needed to produce a low-grade wood product than a high-grade product. Many low-grade woods are rated low just because they show knots and streaks.
• Ask the manufacturer, where and how the wood was harvested.
• Particleboard, plywood, and other pressed woods contain formaldehyde, a possible carcinogen leading to poor air quality in your home and office. As such, avoid pressed woods and go for second-hand solid wood, or FSC-certified new wood pieces.
• Do your furniture shopping at antique stores, garage sales, and thrift stores where you can find furniture made from solid wood.
• Buy furniture made from rubberwood. It is very sustainable and one of the most eco-friendly lumber used by the modern furniture industry. Most of the other woods are obtained from trees that are cut down just to make furniture. However, rubberwood is harvested only after it completes the cycle of producing latex and dies for about 18-25 years before dying.
• Buy those furniture pieces that are finished with nontoxic paints, stains and varnishes.
• Buy bamboo furniture. Bamboo grows fast and is able to replenish itself quickly. This makes it eco-friendly otion for furniture making.
• Buy locally made furniture to reduce the pollution created from shipping them long distances. If any how you want to buy a furniture that is made in a particular region, you can buy it from local retailer and help in cutting down on transport.
• If you find eco-friendly furniture costly, start small. Don't try to change all your home furniture at once. Buy small pieces initially and buy one by one as and when you can manage to spend on expensive furniture. Also you can first buy something having only one sustainable component such as reclaimed wood but treated with a conventional stain and finish. These are less expensive and you can find them easily. Additionally, you can choose unfinished wood and finish it yourself with eco-friendly products.
  

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Tips For Buying Wood Furniture

Wood was perhaps among the first few materials which were used for making furniture by man. Whether you inherit from your ancestors or buy yourself, there will be always a few items placed in your home that is made from wood. There's no doubt that wooden furniture- used, new or antique- make our home decor more attractive. Nowadays, wood furniture manufacturers make wide variety of such furniture. They may be hand carved in small workshops or can be mass produced in bigger factories. When you go to buy a wooden furniture, you can get better deal if you keep certain factors in mind. Here are certain tips for buying wood furniture.

• Durability of furniture depends on quality of wood construction. Solid boards are always better than veneers or particle boards.
• Many artificial veneers have plywood or particleboard overlaid on them. A plywood core, although light weight and less expensive, will swell when wet. Particleboard, on the other hand, will fracture because this hard material cannot absorb shocks.
• Check whether there is any crack or splits on the wood. Also check splits in joints. These joints will eventually come apart, when you'll place the furniture in a centrally heated room.
• Check the back panel of wood furniture for nails and screws. Make sure that it is not just stapled.
• If you are buying a wooden cupboard or something having doors, check whether the hinges are solid, secure, and strong enough to support the weight of the door.
• If buying larger furniture like dressers, check whether they have traditional mortise and tenon joints in them. In such larger items, even screws, nails and glues fail sometimes.
• Ensure there are levelers on the bottoms of large furniture pieces. If buying chairs, see that they do not wobble. Check on how easily they stand on all four legs.
• When buying wooden drawers, don't take the one without guides as it can make the drawer bind when opening and closing.
• If buying used old furniture, know about its finish. If you want to change the color or repaint the furniture, you should know that factory finishes are often difficult to change.
• If you want the old furniture to have a light color, check the original color of the wood by rubbing across an exposed unfinished part (you'll find such portion on the back or inside of the furniture) with wet finger. By this, you will come to know what the color of the wood will be when varnished with natural stain. Also remember that naturally dark wood can't be lightened.
• Old and badly stored chests of drawers may get damaged by dampness. This leads to swelling which in turn makes it difficult for drawers to open and close smoothly. Check whether the drawers can be repaired using beeswax which helps in sliding the drawers smoothly. If its beyond repair, don't buy it.
• When buying antique wooden furniture, make sure you buy real antiques and not mere reproductions. Seek advice from an antiques expert.
• Antiques were specially made for specific locations. Ensure before buying the larger antique pieces that they will fit into the doors of your home.
• Check for any boreholes and active woodworm. Tap the wood for detecting any fresh woodworm. Dust coming out from the holes means there are active woodworm there in the furniture. Even if there are no active woodworm, treat the antique or old furniture as a precautionary measure.
  

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