Building better bathroom_vanities_exotic_wood_veneers_for_a_pricey_look_without_the_price (3)

Building Better Bathroom Vanities: Exotic ...
by S. Lewis - http://www.homethangs.com/blog/2012/06/building-better-bathroom-vanities-exo
tic-wood-veneers-for-a-pricey-look-without-the-price/

Building Better Bathroom Vanities
: Exotic Wood Veneers For A Pricey Look Without The Price
There's nothing more beautiful than furniture made with high quality, exotic wood. The very best wood has its own
natural luster, with intricate natural patterns and deep, varied colors, and even a little natural shimmer and shine -
no stain needed. But rare woods are becoming increasingly, well, rare - difficult to find and expensive to obtain -
and many of the most desirable patterned woods aren't even suitable for solid construction. Using exotic wood
veneers is the ideal solution, because they're just as beautiful, but less expensive, more flexible, and can be laid
over a different kind of solid wood to combine beauty and stability

Barrister Bathroom Vanity With Mahogany Veneers From Sagehill Designs

So what are exotic wood veneers exactly? Basically, instead of turning a log of, say, mahogany into boards of
mahogany, the wood is heated and soaked with moisture to make it pliant, then sliced extremely thin, about 1/42
of an inch, to create a smooth, flexible board. Slicing rather than cutting eliminates sawdust waste, and making
the boards so thin increases the amount of face material by about 4,000%. This dramatically compounds how
much use you can get out of a single piece of wood, and dramatically reduces what you have to pay to get the
same beautiful wood look, making a gorgeous mahogany vanity like this Barrister vanity from Sagehill Designs
something that an average homeowner can afford.

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Carlton Corner Vanity With Cherry Veneers From Xylem

One of the cool consequences of cutting wood so thin is that, while full sized boards or planks tend to have a lot of
variation in grain, a series of several sheets of exotic wood veneers are nearly identical. Because they're removed
so closely together, and with so little waste in between, the pattern from one sheet to the next is almost the same.
That means that you can use multiple veneer sheets to create gorgeous symmetrical or radial patterns. Take this
Carlton Vanity from Xylem - it uses sequential veneer sheets to create a checked pattern of alternating,
symmetrical waves. Plus, because the sheets are so thin and flexible, it's easier to affix them to a vanity with a
curved face like this one without wasting wood by having to shape it.

Walnut Vanity With Burled Walnut Veneers From Legion Furniture

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Veneering became incredibly common during World War II in response to material rationing, and if you have a
bad initial reaction to the word "veneer" it probably comes from the products that were manufactured in that
period. Because adhesives were also being rationed, it was common for veneers to simply peel off the furniture
they were stuck to. These days, though, we have better adhesives and better access to them, so exotic wood
veneers are truly bonded to whatever you stick them to, and won't peel off with time. That means that something
like this Burled Walnut Vanity from Legion Furniture isn't some cheap throw-away piece to tide you over until you
can afford the "real thing" - it's a furniture-quality piece made from the best materials and designed to last a
lifetime.

Oxford Vanity With Cherry Wood Veneer From Avanity

The simplest exotic wood veneers you'll find take a standard log of an exotic wood like mahogany or cherry, cut it
into thin sheets, and then adhere the pliant veneer to a sturdier but less expensive base material, often MDF. This
effectively disguises the underlying material as whatever expensive kind of wood you want, giving you the stability
of a more solid material, the cost of a cheaper material, and the appearance of a very expensive material. This
Oxford Vanity from Avanity combines a solid wood frame with MDF paneling and rich cherry wood veneers, giving
the best of all three worlds. It's also a more eco friendly vanity, because you're using a waste-free exotic wood
veneer, paneling that's made from salvaged wood scraps (MDF), and only as much sustainably harvested wood
as you need to keep it standing.

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Warm Chestnut Normandy Chest Vanity With Birch Burl Veneers From Hardware Resources

But exotic wood veneers can also be used not so much to disguise a less expensive material as to highlight the
beauty of the material you're using. This Normandy Vanity from Hardware Resources is made of 100% solid birch
through and through, a totally solid wood vanity, but instead of opting for a standard wood grain, it layers the front
and side faces with birch burl veneer to give the vanity a more elegant pattern.

Legacy Vanity With Maple Burl Veneer From Avanity

There are a couple different kinds of "patterns" that are considered valuable for exotic wood veneers. First and
most desirable is the burl. This type of wood is only found in places that a tree has been damaged and grown
outward to repair itself - usually in a big, warty-looking bulb near the base of the tree. This material is extremely

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hard and has an amazing chaotic pattern, plus its own natural shine that you won't find in most any other kind of
wood. But burl wood is not only extremely expensive, it's also terrible for construction - hard to work with, and not
good for supporting weight. Instead, its primary use is in exotic wood veneers. Just seeing it in action on this
Legacy Vanity will show you why - the gorgeous pattern and golden shine is all the accent this vanity needs.

Mount Vernon Vanity With Crotch Patterned Veneer From Kaco

Another common pattern in exotic wood veneers is "crotch" wood, which is a v-patterned wood created where a
tree has branched into two forks. Again, harder to get your hands on than just a regular piece of wood, and again
with an amazing natural ripple pattern that turns your bathroom vanity into a beautiful, antique-quality piece all by
itself. This Mount Vernon vanity from Kaco uses the veneers only on the door faces, but the natural simmer and
movement of the wood grain bring the whole piece to life.

Dorchester Vanity With Mahogany Veneers From Kaco

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Finally, veneers can be used for smaller wood accents as well as larger panels or for all-over coverage. This
Dorchester Vanity is a great example, with two layers of different patterned veneers cut into different shapes for a
sophisticated, furniture-quality finish in a reasonably priced bathroom vanity package. Whether you're looking to
enhance a lesser quality wood, or accent a well-finished, higher quality wood, exotic wood veneers add amazing
natural beauty to your bathroom vanities that you can't fake or replicate, and that won't cost you an arm and a leg.
Are you considering a vanity with exotic wood veneers? Have any more questions I haven't answered here? Let
me know in the comments!

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Building better bathroom_vanities_exotic_wood_veneers_for_a_pricey_look_without_the_price (3)