Here's the Truth About Wood Veneers
When you learn that a piece of furniture has a veneer, does it make you cringe a little? Admittedly us, too. But wood veneers, in fact, are a traditional and structurally significant aspect of furniture-making that still come into play in contemporary design. "Wood veneers have been used in furniture-making and millwork techniques for over 200 years," says interior designer Cate Caruso , of Studio C, who uses them for all kinds of high- quality custom furnishings . In woodworking, a veneer is actually a "paper thin" cut of wood that's applied to both sides of a strong core surface , like furniture-grade MDF or substrate material, to seal and stabilize it—which is critically important when you're fashioning built-in furniture or anything with a mechanism. The reason is simple: Solid wood expands and contracts as the temperature changes, and your apartment isn't temperature controlled no matter how powerful your A.C. unit is. A dining table, for instance...