Unfinished Furniture For DIY Enthusiasts

If one were to talk about some of the most coveted and high prized kinds of furniture, the term Amish Oak Furniture is bound to crop up. The Amish furniture making tradition is legendary for its high quality and durability. One of the chief features of Amish made furniture is the quality of wood used: only the highest quality of hard woods are used, which grow slowly and are therefore extremely long lasting. This particular choice of wood when making Amish furniture, coupled with their unique manufacturing process ensures that Amish oak furniture and other Amish furniture is of the best possible quality.

Oak wood has always been prized for its attractive grain markings, especially when quarter sawn. To add to its visual appeal, oaken wood is also known for its great strength and hardness which makes it naturally resistant to insect and fungal attacks. The specialty of Amish Oak Furniture is the quality and manner in which it is handcrafted, using a minimum of mechanization and modern technology. For instance, when you look at a chest of drawers made in the Amish tradition, you will see that the joints are dovetail joints and the side panels of the items of furniture are handcrafted from solid wood; that is to say that no particle board is used in the making of Amish Oak furniture.

Like the great poet said, ‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’, and so it is with Oak furniture and in particular Amish Oak Furniture. And since people can be quite particular about the finish and color of oak wood, they may often be interested to stain their own furniture. This is possible by buying unfinished oak furniture and then staining it yourself. Staining furniture yourself makes a lot of sense, especially for people who enjoy working with their hands and are the DIY sorts and who also want to save themselves some amount of money in the process.

So what exactly is staining of furniture? Basically staining is the process of giving your furniture the color finish that you particularly desire. There are a wide range of stains available which you can mix and match as per your own requirements. The four main or basic shades are Light Oak or tan, mahogany or red, maple or yellow orange and walnut, which is your basic brown.

In order to do your own staining, you can experiment with different colors to first achieve the desired shade and then use those proportions to mix up enough of the stain so that all of the furniture that you want to complete can be done. Because remember it is possible that you may not be able to get the exact correct proportions to reproduce the exact same hue the next time so make as much as you are likely to require.

So the next time that you consider buying furniture consider the timeless allure of Amish handcrafted furniture which you can have customized to suit your purposes, or which you can stain by yourself in the alternative, by buying what is known as unfinished oak furniture.

The author has recently purchased a pedestal table teamed with contemporary dining chairs. It makes for a great dining set.