These Are the Most Common Types of Wood Used in Flooring, Furniture, and Decor — According to Experts

When undergoing a renovation, the process seems easy from the start. Choose a few common materials, install them, and voila. It’s not until you actually undergo the project that it hits you: Wow, there sure are a lot of options to choose from. And wood is one of those familiar materials that surprisingly comes with a ton of grains and finishes to sift through. 

“Without proper research, you risk choosing a wood that’s difficult to work with, expensive, or prone to weakness, which could lead to potential failure or added costs,” says Luther Fors, merchant at The Home Depot. “You want to choose a material that’s easy to work with, durable, and visually appealing. This can save you money and result in a lasting, attractive project.”

But where do you start? It can be overwhelming to choose the “right” wood when there are so many options on the market, which is why I’ve created a cheat sheet that describes the types of wood that are best for a range of well-known projects. Read on to save yourself from second-guessing in the future. 

When shopping for wood that’ll be installed as flooring, you’ll want to pay attention to two factors: What level of durability you need, and what look you’re hoping to achieve. “Hardwoods like oak, hickory, and mahogany are excellent choices for their resilience against scratches and dents, as well as their ability to age gracefully,” Fors says. “These woods also accept stains and finishes well, offering versatile aesthetic options, too.”

One important tip to keep in mind: Always get more wood flooring than you’ll think you need, and store any surplus for future repairs. Buying all the wood at once ensures that you’ll get the same coloring throughout, whereas a future batch may have a slightly different finish — which will look noticeable if they’re installed side by side in the same space.

“Grain is a tree’s unique growth pattern, meaning no two boards are identical,” Fors adds. “The grain can be straight, wavy, curly, or irregular, depending on the tree type and how it’s cut. When working on projects, paying attention to the grain is crucial for achieving the desired appearance.”

If you’re using wood to build your own furniture, then the needs are slightly different. Fors has three different recommendations based on the type of project you may have in mind: 

Pinewood: “Pinewood is a versatile and readily-available softwood that’s perfect for furniture projects,” he says. “Its ease of cutting and shaping makes it ideal for DIY work, and its natural grain can be left rustic or customized with stain or paint.” 

Medium Density Fiberwood (MDW): “MDW, a resin-bonded blend of hardwood and softwood, is ideal for hidden cabinet parts and shelving,” he says. “It’s smooth, stable, warp-resistant, and easy to paint, making it durable and cost-effective for less visible areas.”

Poplar: “Poplar is a cost-effective hardwood ideal for furniture projects,” Fors explains. “Its fine, even texture takes paint and stain well, allowing it to resemble more expensive woods. It’s also ideal for high-traffic areas.”

If your project is more about small-scale decor, Fors says the type of wood still matters according to how your finished product will be used. Keep in mind, too, that you’ll likely want to enhance the wood with a stain or paint later — and that could influence which wood you pick. Here’s what Fors advises: 

Plywood: “Made from thin sheets of wood and cured under heat and pressure, plywood is ideal for DIY crafts, shelving, and subfloors,” he says. “It can be used untreated, painted, or stained and is available in hardwood and softwood veneers.”

Hardwood: “Hardwood options such as hickory, oak, mahogany, maple, and walnut are ideal for projects like cabinetry, flooring, and woodworking due to their durability and elegant appearance,” Flor notes.

Softwood: “Softwoods like pine and cedar are ideal for home construction,” he says. “Pine is versatile for indoor use, while cedar, with its natural rot resistance, is perfect for outdoor projects like decking and fencing.”

There’s a common misconception that all hardwoods are hard and all softwoods are soft. While that’s generally true, there is a lot of variety in the hardness of both hardwoods and softwoods. The main difference between them is actually the group of trees from which they originate: deciduous or coniferous. 

“Hardwood is identified by trees that are deciduous. They lose their leaves annually and most produce fruits or nuts. Trees such as maple, cherry, and oak are hardwoods,” says Char Miller-King, an Atlanta-based woodworker known by her Instagram handle, @woodenmaven. “Softwood trees are known as evergreen or coniferous, and have cones. These are trees such as pine and fir trees.”

The differentiation between the groups goes far beyond their leaves and reproduction methods, too. “Hardwoods are deciduous trees that grow more slowly and therefore have tighter rings. They are, for the most part, harder, but not always,” says woodworker and welder Kelly DeWitt of Austin-based KKDW Construction. “Softwoods grow relatively quickly, and that quick growth is what creates a generally softer wood.”

The relative hardness and softness of various woods isn’t just based on a feeling. Woods are ranked for durability using something called the Janka Hardness Scale. “The Janka Hardness Scale identifies at what point a 11.28-millimeter [0.444-inch] steel ball will embed itself halfway through a board proposed for flooring,” says Miller-King. If you’re looking for durability, you’ll want want a something with a Janka rating of at least 900, but ideally 1200 for heavy-wear uses like high-traffic floors.

“Hardwoods are better suited for areas that are more susceptible to wear and tear, such as cabinets, flooring, and countertops,” adds Sean Walsh, CEO of California-based Walcraft Cabinetry. “Softwoods often find their place in the home as picture frames, crafts, shelves, moldings, balusters, and even handrails. It is also common that furniture is crafted with softer woods such as pine, poplar, or fir.”

While woods are often painted or stained, they inherently have their own colors. “Woods from different regions around the world each have very unique colors and grains, all of which are only species-specific,” says Walsh. “They are not affected by where they are growing, only what they are in species.”

Most woods fit in brown and red families, but there are also black, green, orange, and purple woods — most of which are only revealed beneath a tree’s bark.

“Purple Heart is the only truly purple wood,” Walsh adds. “Jatoba, also known as Brazilian Cherry, has a deep reddish-brown base with streaks of black running through it and a very straight grain. American Cherry has a more wavy grain and is an orangish red color that turns darker with age and exposure to sunlight.”

Grain is evaluated separately from color. It refers to two main characteristics of the wood: the striping and the texture. “What you see when you are looking at wood grain is the orientation of the wood fiber cells. Trees can have open grain or closed grain, which is all based on the pore size of the cells, the rate at which the tree grows and when it was cut,” says Miller-King. “There are many ways to cut a tree: plain sawn, quarter sawn, and flat sawn to name a few. This influences the grain pattern that is revealed.”