What is Veneer?

Veneer is a thin, decorative piece of wood  that is fitted to a solid core, which is less likely to warp and come into contact with moisture. Because of this, veneer can offer a durable alternative to solid oak furniture. When specified as oak veneer, the veneer used is 100% real and is purely used to protect the solid core and create a more consistent, decorative finish where needed. Many of our ranges, for example, are made using a solid oak core and oak veneer.

When it Comes to Quality…

It’s commonly thought that solid oak furniture provides better quality than veneer, and that solid wood will provide a better look as well as extra durability.

However, the truth isn’t quite so clear.

In order to answer the question of which is better, we firstly have to define what we mean by the word “veneer”.

A veneer is a thin panel of wood about 5mm thick, although size varies from model to model. It can be applied to anything from MDF to solid wood but the base material doesn’t necessarily define the quality of the furniture.

In short, some of the most expensive and high quality furniture you can buy might be made using veneers, while some of the cheapest can be made from 100% solid wood – in this case, it comes down to the quality of the wood itself.

Solid wood furniture varies in quality due to the way the wood is selected and assembled. The production process, source and quality of the wood all play a role in how durable and attractive the furniture is considered – so solid furniture can be higher quality than veneer, but veneer can provide better quality than solid furniture.

It works both ways.

The quality of veneer usually comes down to the size of veneer and the methods used to attach each panel to the base material. Thin veneer can splinter easily while poorly applied veneer can come off altogether, exposing the base material.

We offer a diverse collection of solid wood and veneered furniture, but all our ranges are selected for the high quality materials and processes used to produce them. While we sell both solid and veneer furniture, we’d recommend comparing each range to find the furniture that suits your home, budget and personality best.

Interested in Buying Oak Furniture?

The vast majority of our oak furniture has been made using veneer. If you’re interested in seeing our collection then you can filter products down in each of our categories using the “Filter” function to show oak furniture.