Furniture 101: What Is Veneer?

Have you ever been shopping online for a media stand or a desk and came across the word hardwood veneer cover? What does that mean? Is it the same as wood? Is it higher or lower quality? Let’s start with what veneer is.

Hardwood Veneer: (n.) a thin layer of wood permanently bonded to a thicker core. The most beautiful grain patterns are used for the outermost layer (or face veneer) to furniture pieces.

Which means a veneer is actually a strip of hardwood either placed over another piece of hardwood or a piece of MDF (read about what MDF is here). It most commonly is used on large flat surfaces and furniture legs on things like desks, dressers, and tables. You can see in the picture above that when it was cut some of it chipped away like actual wood.

Furniture has hardwood veneer for two reasons. Firstly, to make sure what is seen on the furniture is the most attractive grain of wood possible, even some solid hardwood pieces still use a veneer over the top to make furniture pieces more appealing. The second reason can often be to cut down on costs of hardwood. A solid hardwood piece can be extremely pricey and very heavy, so if a company uses mostly MDF and lays a quality piece of veneer over the it really saves on weight and saves on hardwood. Not to mention it’s better for the environment since MDF is often made of recycled woods and saves a couple of trees here and there.

Now, there are certain things to beware of, you have to be careful not to get a piece of furniture with printed veneer on it. There is a difference between hardwood veneer and stamped or printed veneer. A printed veneer is simply that, it is a piece of thick paper with a print of hardwood on it and then glued to a piece of furniture.

Check out our gallery below of quality hardwood veneers.

Now, don’t you feel a little bit more like a furniture expert? I know I do.