Vermont’s cherry trees are just starting to leaf out and will soon be blossoming this Spring.  It’s hard to believe that these gangly trees covered with flakey gray, scales can be transformed into some of the world’s finest cherry furniture like the Cherry Moon Bed shown above.

Spring is the time of year when the (normally homely) black cherry tree gets to dress up and strut it’s stuff.  Hard to believe isn’t it– that these gangly trees with rough, scaley bark will be transformed into beautiful flowering flora (and perhaps one day into natural cherry furniture like the Cherry Moon Bed above).

But it’s true.  In a few short weeks they will be bursting with  fragrant white and yellow blossoms which will give way to delicious black cherry fruit.  These are the trees that provide a sustainable source of wood for over half of the furniture customers purchase from our store, Vermont Woods Studios.

Interested in learning more about cherry trees and natural cherry wood furniture for your home?  We are the experts!  Check out some of the many “cherry wood” articles we’ve written over the years and give us a call to let us know if you’ve got a question we’ve yet to answer.  We’ll jump right on it!

• Cherry Wood Characteristics
• Natural Cherry Wood Furniture: What Color Is It… Really?
• Solid Cherry Wood Furniture: Is it Real?
• Cherry Wood Furniture:  Where Does It come From?
• Solid Cherry Wood Furniture: 3 Ways To Tell If It’s Real
• Natural Cherry Wood Furniture Characteristics: Grain Variations
• Natural Cherry Wood Furniture Characteristics: Color
• Natural Cherry Wood Furniture Characteristics: Mineral Deposits
• Solid Cherry Furniture: 18 American Made Collections From Vermont

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The post Natural Cherry Furniture: Blossoming in Vermont appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Since the late 1700′s Shaker has been a popular furniture style. Originally, most pieces of Shaker furniture were either painted or stained to make the piece of furniture more attractive, and as a way to protect the wood. Today, painting shaker furniture is a rarity; however, the wood species remain the same. Cherry Shaker furniture is one of the most sought after designs in the furniture industry. Like the original Shaker furniture designs, we wouldn’t dream of importing exotic wood, like mahogany, for furniture. Vermont Woods Studios’ Shaker furniture is made from sustainably harvested American woods, with cherry being the most popular. Natural cherry wood is one of the most prized hardwoods in the United States, and is excellent wood for furniture. Many would no longer dream of painting such a distinct, fine wood. Instead, a clear finish is applied to the furniture offering optimal protection for the wood.  A clear finish helps enhance the natural beauty of the cherry wood, instead of covering it up by paint.

If you’re looking to add a piece of cherry Shaker furniture to your home, now is the time. Right now we are having a Winter Shaker Style Furniture Sale. We offer over 200 pieces of Shaker influenced furniture, ranging from traditional styles to a more contemporary style. Save 10% on one piece, 15% on two pieces, or 20% on three or more pieces of Shaker style furniture. Each of our Shaker furniture pieces are backed by a lifetime guarantee and come with free shipping!

Shop for your new cherry Shaker furniture securely, easily, and conveniently from our online gallery. Our furniture specialists are also available to assist you through our Live Chat option (located in the top right corner of our online gallery), by phone (888-390-5571), or by email.

This sale ends on Thursday, January 17 at midnight.

*Sale excludes Copeland Furniture

The post Cherry Shaker Furniture appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.

Because we sell most of our cherry wood furniture online, we focus our website on ensuring our customers understand what natural cherry wood looks like.  We've created detailed descriptions of cherry wood, we offer wood samples and we feature great photos that show the color and grain of the wood. 

One thing we always point out to customers is that a single cherry wood board can have grain contrasts.  The lighter grain was closer to the tree’s bark (sapwood) and the darker grain was closer to the tree’s center (heartwood). This picture shows a cross section of a cherry tree.  The dark center of the tree is the heartwood and the light outer ring is the sapwood.  When choosing boards for your furniture, we focus on the darker heartwood however we cannot guarantee there will be no trace of sapwood.

For example, if you look closely at the top of this table, you will see some of the grain contrast.  We minimize the appearance of the sapwood by flipping the boards so that the heartwood is on the tabletop.  If you were to look at the tabletop from underneath the table you would see a bit more traces of sapwood.

Cheaper furniture that is mass-produced is usually made of wood that has undergone a multi-step chemical process of bleaching, texturizing and staining in order to masque these natural characteristics of the cherry wood.  In fact, most so called "cherry furniture" is not made of cherry wood at all.  It's made of veneers and woods like poplar or alder that are heavily processed and do not look much like natural cherry at all. 

At Vermont Woods Studios our natural cherry wood furniture is the real thing.  We do take the time to select and join boards that have the best available grain match, but we cannot guarantee the kind of uniformity in color that you will find in heavily processed laminate surfaces.  For more information on grain contrast or to order cherry wood furniture made exclusively of heartwood give us a call.

The post Natural Cherry Wood Furniture Characteristics: Grain Variations appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.