Why You Want a Walnut Table or Ash Table instead of a Pine Table | Loewen Design Studios

Why You Want a Walnut Table or Ash Table instead of a Pine Table

Josh Loewen

Wood Type

At Loewen Design Studios we make our heirloom quality tables with Maple, Walnut, Oak, and Ash. These varieties of wood are all hardwood. 

What is Hardwood?

Trees are generally considered to have hardwood or softwood. Softwood is typically used for home building, for making paper and as it relates to furniture, for making some less expensive pieces. Hardwoods like Ash, Maple and Walnut are appreciated for their robust nature. These trees grow more slowly and their wood is denser and harder. Depending on the variety you choose, they may have interesting grain and / or color patterns. Hardwoods are durable and long lasting. Hardwoods are more likely to be found in high-quality furniture.

What is Softwood?

Softwood is cheaper and softer making it easier to work with. It is more commonly used than hardwood. An example of softwoods are pine and cedar. It is used for building houses, making paper, and MDF.

What type of wood do we use at Loewen Design Studios?

Ash 

 

Ash is a light colored, smooth-grained hardwood. It is durable, lightweight, aesthetically pleasing, and shock resistant. Ash has that typical Oak two tone effect that we have become accustomed to. Very few people can tell the difference between oak and ash.

Walnut 

Walnut wood is known for its strength, durability and vibrant color. There are a number of different types of walnut around North America. We’re fortunate to have our shop located in the North East where Black Walnut is the prevalent species. Walnut is beautiful. With different grains and colors, you can really see natural beauty come to life. The wood next to bark in a walnut tree (the sap wood) is blonde on a walnut tree. Live edge walnut tables will feature this blonde edge framing the sides of the table. We think it’s one of the most naturally beautiful woods out there. 

Oak 

Oak is a timeless wood. It’s been being used for generations. It will continue to be used for generations. It’s a wood that you can have in your home for the rest of your life and pass along to your children and their children. At Loewen Design Studios we build tables that will last a long time, and oak is a perfect wood for this concept.

Rock Maple 

Maple wood is very beautiful and durable, a favorite among woodworkers. It is very dense and resists scratches and dings. Maple has a very tight grain and is typically very blonde. It’s hard nature and clean aesthetic make it a popular wood for furniture.

Why do we use Solid wood vs Veneer

In an effort to save on material costs, furniture makers have used wood veneers to build furniture that looks like solid wood. The wood veneer is a thin slice of wood glued to a sheet of furniture board (medium density fibreboard). While furniture that is built in this way may cost less, it is susceptible to damage and is less easily repaired.We use solid wood because it is stronger, more durable, and less likely to scratch and damage. If it is damaged, it’s more easily repaired. It ages more gracefully and if cared for, will last for multiple generations.

 

Featured Products

Check out the products from this article.

Why Choose Us

We’ve been making solid hardwood dining tables for a long time, and with decades of furniture building experience on the team, we know we will make you a dining table that you will be proud to own for many years.

Custom Made in Ontario, Canada

We expertly craft every piece of furniture one at a time with a specific customer in mind

Find Our Tables in All 50 States

We have happy customers across the US and Canada who are all enjoying their custom solid hardwood tables

Simple Collaborative Design

Through calls, drawings, and samples we’ll work with you to find the best design for your needs

Crafted From Premium Materials

We use solid hardwoods that we finish with industry leading all natural sealants

What Our Customers Say

Our customers love to share about their experiences working with us on their custom wood table projects

Rated

By Our Customers

Canadian Made & Built To Last

30 Years+ Woodworking

From the beginning Loewen Design answered all our questions and was very easy to work with.

The table arrived exactly as ordered without any freight damage do to Loewen Designs careful packaging.The craftmanship of the table exceeded our expectations and we are very happy to recommend Loewen Design Studios to anyone looking for reliable custom table builder.

Scott

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Amazing table

and amazing experience with the team at Loewen.

Yuval

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We love everything about our dining table from Loewen

Especially the craftsmanship and the customer service! You can tell this table is thoughtfully designed and well made from solid wood.Definitely a lifetime piece. We felt very taken care of.

Alyson

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We absolutely love our new table from Loewen Design Studios.

The table is beautiful and has become the main centerpiece of our home.The team at Loewen was very easy to work with. They were extremely helpful and very responsive to all our questions leading up to the purchase. Finally, the table was packaged really well and arrived without a scratch. I definitely recommend Loewen Design Studios if you need a piece of custom furniture.

Allan

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Absolutely love our table!

The service and craftsmanship was unbelievable

Jason

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Exceptional quality and customer service.

It was delivered on time and in fantastic condition. It is so beautiful. No regrets. Get one for yourself!

Liz

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We LOVE our table.

After getting two damaged tables through Wayfair, we decided it was worth the investment to get a real wood table. I'm so glad we did. This table fits in perfectly with the vintage mid-century chairs we had already purchased, and it looks great in our home.

Kuleen

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Our table from Lowen Design Studio is absolutely incredible!

Not only did they help design the table from scratch for our space, but they carefully constructed and deliver our table from Canada. The quality of the woodwork is impeccable and we would recommend working with Lowen Design Studio to anybody. We are so happy with our purchase!

Clara

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The quality of this table is outstanding.

The communication was excellent. I could not be happier!

Matthew

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Exceeds expectations! Beautiful table and expert craftsmanship.

This custom designed and sized table fits my room perfectly. The surface protectant wax material on the wood is great and keeps my kids messes easy to clean up. Highly recommend!

Kevin

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Our Blog

Everything you need to make sure you can get the perfect table for your home.

It’s Your Table - Make Your Statement

It’s Your Table - Make Your Statement

You’re unique. What you do is special and wonderful. That's something to be proud of and your space should reflect your specialness. And the table in that space should be unique too. That’s right, it always comes back to tables.

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The Nitty Gritty of Delivery

The Nitty Gritty of Delivery

Imagine this scenario: You’ve been waiting anxiously for this day - the day that your custom hardwood table is being delivered. You can’t wait to see how it fits in your space. The delivery team arrives and … uh oh … the table can’t fit in the elevator, or through the door, or up the stairs. Now what do you do? 

If only you could rewind time.

That’s actually how we like to deal with it. It requires some forethought and planning. Sometimes large tables need to be done as two pieces. Sometimes we need to see if the elevator ceiling can be lifted. Sometimes a crane is needed to bring a table in through a window.

As part of the design process, it’s important to consider how your table is going to get into your space. Consider the doors it will need to go through. How wide are they? Are there corners to navigate? If getting the table into the space requires taking it up or down stairs, it’s useful to look at ceiling clearance and how many stairs. 

Getting your custom table designed, built and to your front door are three important steps to creating the space you’re imagining. The last step is to get it successfully into your space. Talk to us about what your space looks like so we can make sure your delivery day lives up to what you’re anticipating.

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5 Must-See Pics from a Recent Delivery Trip

5 Must-See Pics from a Recent Delivery Trip

Where possible we like to deliver furniture ourselves instead of handing it off to other carriers as this helps us ensure its safe arrival at its new home and we love the opportunity to meet you. We care about the pieces we build and it makes us happy to see them set up and ready to use in your space. Check out these highlights from a recent delivery trip that may provide some inspiration for your project.

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