Furniture can be made from anything. In college, it wasn’t uncommon to see students dragging home large empty cable spools to use as tables and concrete blocks and planks of wood for bookshelves. Mattresses were kept off the floor on discarded wood pallets.

Although furniture manufacturers use better products and quality craftsmanship in the design of their furniture, many of the materials used in furniture making is still the same.

Wood Furniture

Standard wood furniture can be made out of most any hardwood such as oak, alder, poplar and ash; or softwood such as pine, spruce or fir. Artificial veneers can be overlaid on plywood or particleboard, which is lighter, less expensive and more forgiving if damaged. If damaged, particleboard will often fracture because the material is so hard it cannot absorb shock.

Wood furniture can be put together using dovetails, nails, glue, or any combination there of.

Upholstery Furniture

Upholstered furniture can be made from most any fabric or leather. The type of fabric used is usually based on the amount of use the furniture piece will get. For example, a well-used sofa in a family room, will hold up to long-term wear better if it is upholstered in leather, denim or microfiber. While an occasional chair that sits by the wall in your great aunt’s home may be fine if it’s upholstered in silk or chenille.

Upholstered furniture also includes some sort of quality springs, to withstand use; a frame, and depending on when and where it was made, the actual padding could be anything from horsehair to straw to down to synthetic materials.

Outdoor Or Patio Furniture

Outdoor or patio furniture can be made from a range of materials. There are the old standbys of wood (teak is most common), metal including aluminum, iron, wrought iron; resin, wicker, faux wicker, plastic, latex and concrete. Of course, if you are willing to protect your outdoor furniture from the elements, your outdoor furniture can be made from any materials so long as you remember to cover it or bring it inside when the weather changes. For patio furniture that stays outside year round, keeping wood furniture well-oiled and metal furniture protected from rusting is the easiest way to assure long lasting outdoor furniture. Certain materials like resin and concrete can be easily hosed down and will last year and after with minimal wear and tear.

Outdoor fabrics have come a long way in recent years introducing new fabric colors and patterns. The easy clean fabrics with waterproofing material also makes it an ideal fabric for some in home uses, but beware some of the chemicals used on these fabrics to maintain their outdoor life. They may not be good for in home use.

Reuse And Recycle

Some alternative furniture materials have included cardboard, recycled auto tires, blow up furniture and recyclables like plastic bottles and aluminum cans. The creativity from recycled and reused materials for furniture are only as limited as your imagination and a search on the web will pull up a variety of photos of creative industrial design students producing furniture from reused and recycled materials.