Our advice on choosing a hardwood timber that’s right for you!

Here at Natural Bed Company, we pride ourselves on using solid timber from sustainable sources. To help you in choosing from our hardwood timber beds, we’ve taken a look at each timber we offer in detail to help you in your decision.

We work with well-managed forests and never use endangered tropical hardwoods. For example, our pine is from Scandinavia and we source our hardwoods – ash, oak, maple, cherry, walnut and beech – from North America or Northern Europe.

Our clients choose particular timbers for a wide variety of reasons. For instance, they may want to match other furniture, or they may fall in love with a timber due to its the colour or pattern. Price may also be a primary concern, as well as ecological or environmental considerations. Each of the timbers we offer provide their own unique colour and style. Beds are priced according to the choice of timber, size and design.

Oak Wooden Beds

For an example of beds made in Oak, see our Kelham 4-poster bed or Zanskar bed.

We use American White Oak sourced from eastern coastal forests of the USA and Canada. These large forests are amongst the best managed in the world and, due to careful management, are increasing in size.

Oak has subtle variations in tone and colour cast. These variations give life to our solid timber beds in comparison to the uniform, flat colour of veneered furniture. Differences in the tight, pronounced grain pattern reflect the differences between the original trees. Small knots or burrs may be present even in the most carefully selected timber – these are all part of the natural beauty of wood. Also, over time, Oak can deepen in colour, resulting in a deep golden tone.

American Black Walnut Beds

Take a look at our Hoxton or Hathersage beds for elegant examples of a beds made in Walnut.
We source our Walnut timber from the eastern coastal forests of the USA and Canada.

Walnut has a dramatic grain in tones of rich chocolate, dappled with areas of paler sapwood. In addition, this deep chocolate colour can also soften and become gradually lighter and more honey-toned over time. Please request a timber sample if you are looking to colour match with current furniture. Where possible, if you are interested in ordering a collection of items from us, we recommend ordering them at the same time. This means the whole collection will develop in colour together.

Solid Maple Beds

You can see examples of hardwood timber beds in Maple on our Orchid bed page and our Pimlico bed page.

As previously mentioned, the eastern coastal forests of the USA and Canada are the source of our Maple timber. Maple is a very pale, blonde wood with a smooth grain and a contemporary appearance. It is the lightest of all the hardwood timbers we offer. Maple can deepen over time to a richer, more golden shade and displays a beautiful, swirling grain as part of its natural variation.

Our most contemporary bed styles are particularly popular in Maple. For example, the low level, loft-style Oregon bed or the minimalist Nevada bed.

Ash Wooden Beds

As an example, you can see a beds made in Ash over on our Kulu bed and Carnaby bed pages. Our Ash is sourced from the eastern coastal forests of USA and Canada.

Ash is a light colour timber with a cream cast, often showing a strong figure in its grain. Occasionally, some darker areas of grain can occur, and over time the tone of the wood will increase in warmth. As with all timbers, there are natural variations in grain and tone: part of the beauty of a natural product. If you are looking to colour match with current furniture feel free to request a timber sample from us.

Ash is a particularly popular choice for many of our classic bed designs such as the Cochin and Zanskar beds.

Beech Beds

Take a look at our Java bed for an example of a bed made in solid Beech.

Our Beech timber is sourced from well-managed forests in Germany. Beech is a light coloured timber with a slightly pinkish cast and a tight, speckled grain. Similarly to our other timbers, over time Beech can deepen in colour and grow warmer in tone. This timber has the least obvious natural grain and produces a more solid-colour overall. Beech is a popular choice for our chunky Ocean bed.

Cherry Wooden Beds

For an example of our Cherry beds, take a look at our Sonora or Cochin hardwood timber beds. In the same way as many of our other timbers, the eastern coastal forests of the USA and Canada supply our Cherry wood.

Cherry is characterised by a smooth grain and a reddish/brown colour, which deepens quite quickly. In addition, small areas of lighter colour sometimes occur, and small knots or burrs may also be present even in the most carefully selected timber – these are part of the natural beauty of wood.

Cherry is a bold choice and has been a popular option for our dramatic four-poster beds; for example, the Orchid bed and the Oasis bed.

Though we always try to use the best-matched timber sections for your bed, the colours and grain cannot be guaranteed due to natural variation. The final colours only appear at the later stages when the timber is sanded and lacquered. Of course, if you have any questions about this, please feel free to get in touch with us.

Leave a Reply