When it comes to woodworking, few decisions matter more than the type of wood you choose. It affects everything — from the look and feel of the piece, to its durability, weight, and even how it ages over time. But for most people, choosing a wood species isn’t something they do every day, and the options can get overwhelming fast.
At M2 Lumber, we help customers through this process all the time. Whether you’re building a dining table, a conference table, a mantle, a set of nightstands or a simple shop project, understanding the characteristics of different woods will help you make the right choice for your space and lifestyle.
1. Hardwoods vs. Softwoods — What’s the Difference?
Let’s clear up one of the biggest misconceptions right away: “hardwood” and “softwood” don’t necessarily mean what they sound like.
- Hardwoods come from deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves each year) like oak, maple, cherry, and walnut. They’re typically denser and more durable — perfect for furniture that needs to stand up to daily use.
- Softwoods come from conifers (evergreens like pine, cedar, or fir). They’re lighter, often easier to work with, and great for certain rustic or decorative applications.
In general, if you’re building a piece meant to last for generations, hardwood is the way to go. But softwoods can still be excellent choices for specific styles or budget-conscious builds.
2. Popular Domestic Woods and Their Characteristics
We’re fortunate here in the Southeast to have access to a wide variety of beautiful, high-quality domestic hardwoods — many of which we personally mill and dry in-house. Here are some of our most popular choices and what makes each one unique:
Walnut
Rich, dark, and timeless — walnut is prized for its deep chocolate tone and elegant grain pattern. It’s strong yet workable and develops a beautiful patina over time. Ideal for dining tables, desks, and statement pieces that need a touch of refinement.
Cherry
Cherry starts out as a warm pinkish tone and gradually deepens into a rich reddish-brown as it ages. Its fine, smooth grain gives it a polished look that pairs perfectly with traditional or modern designs. A favorite for heirloom-quality furniture.
White Oak
Known for its durability and water resistance, white oak has a prominent, bold grain that adds visual texture to any piece. It’s a versatile favorite for everything from dining tables and mantles to custom cabinetry and built-ins.
Red Oak
Red oak has a slightly more open grain and warmer hue compared to white oak, making it a classic American furniture wood. It’s strong, affordable, and takes stain beautifully — a perfect option when you want durability with a bit of character.
Ash
Ash is light in color, with a grain pattern that resembles oak but a softer, more modern feel. It’s strong, flexible, and a favorite among designers who want a clean, minimalist look with a touch of natural texture.
Hickory
Hickory offers dramatic color variation — from pale cream to deep brown — giving each piece a rugged, rustic personality. It’s incredibly tough and impact-resistant, ideal for furniture that needs both strength and natural beauty.
Maple
Maple comes in two main types — Hard Maple and Soft Maple — and both make excellent furniture wood.
Hard Maple is one of the hardest domestic species available, known for its light, creamy color and smooth, consistent grain. It’s a great choice for modern or minimalist designs, especially for tabletops, desks, or countertops that need to stand up to daily use.
Soft Maple, on the other hand, tends to show a little more color variation and interesting grain figure — perfect if you want a piece with more visual character. And despite its name, Soft Maple is still plenty strong and durable for solid wood furniture of all types.
Ambrosia Maple
Ambrosia maple is maple with gray, brown and sometimes blue-green streaks left behind by the ambrosia beetle, so no two boards look alike. It works and finishes just like regular maple, and it’s a favorite for tabletops, cutting boards, shelves and accent pieces when you want a little more character.
Birds Eye Maple
Birds eye maple is hard maple covered in small, swirling “eyes,” a rare figure that only shows up in a small share of maple trees. It’s at its best where people see it up close: boxes, inlays, drawer fronts, panels and accent pieces.
Poplar
Poplar is an affordable, easy-to-work hardwood with a pale cream to greenish color. It machines cleanly and takes paint better than almost any other wood, which makes it the go-to for painted furniture, trim, drawer boxes, jigs and shop projects.
3. Exotic Woods — When You Want to Make a Statement
Exotic species like Monkey Pod, Parota and Sapele can add a completely different personality to a space. These woods often have striking colors, unique grain figures, and excellent strength properties — but they also come at a higher cost.
Sapele
Sapele is an African hardwood in the mahogany family: reddish brown, with a shimmering ribbon figure on quartersawn boards. It’s stable, strong and finishes to a deep glow, a great choice for furniture, doors and accents. Its interlocked grain can tear out, so take light passes when planing.
Monkey Pod and Parota
Big Costa Rican slabs, wide enough for a true one-piece tabletop. Monkey pod is dense with deep, rich color; parota is much lighter but softer. Read our monkey pod and parota guide before you buy.
We source exotics responsibly and use them selectively when a customer is looking for something truly one-of-a-kind — like a statement conference table or a live-edge slab dining piece.
4. Choosing Based on Aesthetics, Not Rules
When it comes to hardwood furniture, there really aren’t strict rules about which wood should be used for what. Once you’re working with a quality hardwood, any species can perform beautifully in almost any application — it’s more about the look, tone, and character you want than the function itself.
Some people are drawn to the bold, dramatic grain of white oak or hickory. Others love the warmth and glow of cherry, or the rich sophistication of walnut. The right choice often comes down to the mood and personality you want the piece to have in your space.
So instead of worrying about whether a certain wood is “right” for a dining table or a desk, think about what style fits your vision — light and modern, warm and classic, or dark and refined. From there, we’ll guide you toward the hardwood that brings that vision to life. To learn more about various styles, check out our Furniture Styles blog post.
5. Consider How It’ll Be Finished
Different woods react differently to stains, oils, and finishes.
- Open-grain woods (like oak or ash) have more texture and absorb more finish, highlighting the grain pattern.
- Tight-grain woods (like maple or cherry) take finishes more evenly and result in a smooth, polished appearance.
At M2, we use professional-grade spray finishes that bring out the natural beauty of the wood while offering exceptional protection and clarity. For customers who prefer the natural warmth of an oil finish, we can absolutely do that too — but we’ll always guide you on where those finishes are best suited (for example, on mantles or shelving rather than tabletops that see food and liquids). Learn more in our Finishing 101 blog post.
6. Staining Wood - When and Why?
Staining is an optional but powerful way to customize the final look of your furniture. It allows you to shift the natural tone of the wood—whether you want something lighter, darker, warmer, or more modern—while still letting the grain shine through.
We typically recommend stain when you’re trying to match existing décor, add contrast to a room, or enhance the grain of species like oak or ash. Each wood takes stain differently, so we always create real samples on your chosen species to ensure the color is exactly what you’re looking for. Below is a chart of our standard stain options.
7. How Our Lumber Is Sold
- By the board foot. A board foot is 144 cubic inches of wood: a board 1 in thick, 12 in wide and 12 in long.
- Surfaced three sides (S3S). Our dimensional lumber comes planed on both faces and straight-lined on one edge, ready to rip to width.
- 5 board foot minimum. Order in 5 board foot increments. Thickness, lengths and widths are listed on each lumber page.
- Live edge slabs are sold individually. Each listing shows the slab’s serial number and size, so the slab in the photos is the slab you get.
8. Sustainability and Sourcing
We take pride in sourcing most of our lumber locally — often milling and drying it ourselves right here in the Upstate of South Carolina. That means we know exactly where the wood comes from, how it was dried, and that it’s been handled with care from log to finished piece.
This not only supports local forestry but also reduces waste and ensures each tree that’s used finds its highest purpose — becoming a piece of furniture that’ll last generations.
9. Final Thoughts
Choosing the right wood is as much about personality as it is about practicality. Each species tells a story — through its color, grain, and how it ages over time.
Not sure which species fits your project? Call us at 1-864-GOT-WOOD (864-468-9663) or stop by the lumberyard in Laurens, SC, and we’ll help you pick. And if you’d rather have the piece built for you, our sister shop M2 Furniture Company will walk you through every step — from selecting the species to designing the perfect piece.