How to select a cherry desk

Cherry is a rich and beautiful wood often used in both traditional and transitional furniture styles. Cherry lends itself especially well to french country, Victorian and Queen Ann style furniture, although almost any style piece can be made in a cherry wood and be enriched because of the beauty of the wood grain. Cherry is often also inlaid with other wood, especially along the top of the desk, to create interesting and intricate pieces of furniture. When you are buying a cherry desk, you should be aware that it will usually be more costly than a wood or pine desk because it carries more of a premium as far as wood species. You should also carefully consider the features and options you are looking for when making your purchase, to ensure your investment in a wise one.

Finding real cherry

The first thing to verify when selecting a cherry desk is that the wood is actually cherry. Due to the popularity of cherry wood furniture, many expensive wooden office desk pieces are stained to look as if they are cherry wood, when they are not. For example, you may find an oak or maple office desk that has had a cherry colouring put on it. This is fine, if that is what you are looking for, but not fine, if you are actually interested in a real cherry desk that will have all of the characteristics and features of cherry wood. A cherry veneer desk is also a common lower cost option for people seeking cherry, but again this is not real cherry wood.

The wood species

The next thing to consider when buying a cherry desk is that you actually have a few different variations of real cherry. There are two main types: Brazilian cherry floors and American cherry. Brazilian cherry may be a little bit harder of a wood and thus less susceptible to dents and dings than American cherry. Depending on availability and the location where you live, Brazilian cherry may also be more expensive.

The stain

The final consideration is the wood stain on your cherry desk workstation. Cherry can be left natural or can be stained a variety of different colours to bring out the red. Remember, cherry office furniture is light sensitive and will darken over time, so keep that in mind when picking your stain colour.