Live edge wood topics Archives

Posted on September 29, 2021November 2, 2023 by admin — Leave a comment

What is live edge wood furniture?

You might wonder what live edge wood is, let us break it down for you.

Live edge wood furniture refers to the inclusion of the unique natural edge of a tree in the lumber being used for a product. Typically this is the sapwood with the bark removed. In standard lumber this edge is milled off, live edge wood, however, maintains the natural form of the the tree.

Live edge wood furniture is meant to display the natural edge of wood without the manufactured edge that you would find in most furniture or box stores. More often than not most of the furniture you find in stores today are MDF, plywood, or even plastic made to look like wood.

Check out some of our videos where we are creating some new products.

The biggest thing that sets us apart from other stores is that our products are 100% natural wood. We buy our wood locally and in slab form, dry, cut, and plane the wood and then create beautiful pieces for your home. Plus no two products we create are the same. As each piece of wood has unique characteristics so do our products, even down to our smallest coaster set. Each coaster while made from the same piece of wood is entirely unique.

Interested in seeing what we make? Check out our gallery and our shop

We keep our designs as unique as our customers, no one will have an exact duplicate product you have purchased from us. Even our colorants for the epoxy rivers vary from piece to piece. The color itself or the way the epoxy has been swirled varies from piece to piece.

Posted on August 10, 2021November 2, 2023 by admin

What is the difference between live edge wood and manufactured wood?

We actually get asked this question often.

Here is a brief breakdown of the difference between live edge wood and manufactured wood. The wood that we use is solid live edge wood. We purchase our live edge wood slabs directly from a wood mill that is local to us. I am not necessarily going to name names, but Flower City Milling is one of our main lumber providers.

Most furniture stores or big box stores sell manufactured wood or more commonly called MDF. MDF is basically made through the process of heating, gluing, and compressing wood chips and sawdust together to create a wood-like composite. Most people know this, and some don’t care because MDF furniture is cheaper, more affordable. The problem with that is, it also doesn’t last long and you often end up chucking it to the curb and buying new pieces.

What they don’t tell you at the furniture store is:

Manufactured wood contains formaldehyde; a known carcinogen.
Manufactured wood cannot be recycled. Because of this, unwanted MDF gets sent to the landfill.

Okay so enough about MDF.

Lets tell you what is so great about live edge wood

Live edge wood comes directly from a tree, from nature. It is the natural form of wood. It is not processed or treated with harmful chemicals. Also, it is the only wood we use, it is important to our business and our values to only use natural live edge wood for all of our products. The live edge slab we use come right from nature, why would we change that? Why wouldn’t we want to enhance nature’s natural beauty and create something wonderful for your home?

Now the big question, is live edge wood more expensive than MDF? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is, live edge wood can be more expensive to purchase initially, but after you have gone through 2 or 3 coffee tables made from mdf, live edge wood doesn’t look so expensive anymore. In the long run live edge wood will outlive mdf furniture time and time again. Live edge wood furniture can certainly have a higher price tag than mdf furniture. But at the end of a few years, you won’t be kicking our furniture to the curb because it is chipped or broken.

We hope this answers some of your questions, maybe in our next post we can talk about care of live edge wood products

Posted on August 4, 2021November 2, 2023 by admin

Why buy live edge furniture?

During Covid a lot of us sat in our house staring at our furniture just wishing we could freshen it up. Live Edge Slabs are the perfect way to liven up your home!

From the kitchen to the living room to the dining room, Live edge wood tables and river tables add a unique touch of character to your home. These rustic, slabs add a unique, element that other furniture just can’t match. The beauty of live edge furniture is the uniqueness each slab of wood has, no two slabs are the same, so there are no cookie cutter tables, each piece has its own quirks. You can find a slab with smooth grain or a slab with lots of texture and cracks and knots waiting to be filled with epoxy. The possibilities are endless.

We create and design custom live edge furniture for your home. All of Nightshade Nook’s live edge wood cutting boards, table tops, and furniture are made from hand-selected wood slabs. The live edge wood slabs are chosen for the slab’s size, unique grain, and patterns. The wood is then dried to remove any excess moisture to prevent any future cracking or warping.

The best part of live edge wood furniture is it requires very little maintenance to remain water and stain proof. Dust with microfiber towels. Use natural cleaning products for a natural wood piece. Polish live edge wood with a conditioning cream.