Since our hardwood is made in nature, there will be beautiful variations.

At Dapwood, every piece we make is unique. Not just a bed frame, table, nightstand, nightshelf, desk or bookcase– but every piece that goes into that furniture. We source our premium hardwoods in various lengths with random widths. Our craftsmen inspect each piece of lumber and have to decide how to make pieces flat, straight, true, and free of cracks. Our craftsmen also have to determine what side would present better and which side can be put to the inside of the furniture and not seen. For headboard glue-ups, our craftsmen hand select every piece and try to find exceptional specimens. More often than not, we gravitate to the interesting instead of the boring. We understand that beauty is in the eye of the beholder but we have worked a lot of wood over the years and have developed a good eye.

Furthermore, this lumber evaluation process extends to each individual support slat. Every single piece is evaluated and worked in this manner. Internal Dapwood studies have determined that with all the straight lining, defecting, ripping, crosscutting, etc, that we have a fall-off rate of 40%. In other words, out of a single piece of lumber, only 60% of the lumber is top quality to us. This is a huge percentage of “waste” for a precious material so that is why we are working hard with other craftsmen and community organizations to utilize this fall-off.

On a rare occasion we get a comment that a piece of furniture is not completely homogenous in color or grain pattern. We appreciate all comments but would like to offer a counter-view. Because of massive marketing budgets of international corporations, we understand that most people are more exposed to furniture made in a far off land by the container load. These products are highly automated to squeeze out every penny of cost. Wood color and grain are often photographs or engineered products to be “wood-like”. They are manufactured to be stamped out and look exactly alike. We take a much different approach. Instead of making everything monotone, let’s highlight and celebrate the beauty and diversity of a natural product. Granite counter tops are sought after for natural color variations and graining and is a much different product than a plastic laminate countertop. The same holds true for a natural, solid wood product versus a wood-like product. While we would like to be all things to all people, we understand that is impossible so we will continue to showcase nature’s beauty.

Variations you may see in Dapwood Furniture include: figuring, quilting, ray flecks, mineral inclusions, color variation, small knots, sapwood, heartwood, insect bores, shotgun holes and on and on. These character variations enhance the uniqueness of your furniture and are your assurance that you are only getting the highest quality solid hardwood.