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The 10 Most Luxurious and Expensive Woods for Furniture

By Alex Holmes

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Published on

luxurious living room
Designer: Leyla Salayeva

Wooden furniture is delightfully solid, sturdy, and, with the proper care, durable and long lasting. Though high-end wood furniture can be very expensive, it’s often well worth the cost for such a long term, reliable piece that can be handed down across generations and remain useful for decades, if not centuries.

That said, not all wooden furniture is the same. The finish, style, and, most importantly, the wood itself can set some pieces apart from others. Knowing the best types of hardwood can make the difference when selecting luxury wooden furniture for your dream home. Let’s take a closer look at the 10 most luxurious woods out there. 

Sandalwood

Sandalwood
natureinbottle.com

You know a wood is quality when it’s used in soaps as well as furniture. Sandalwood is incredibly fragrant and versatile. Both the wood and its oils are fragrant, and the trees themselves are decently sized for plenty of timber.

Hawaii used to be covered in sandalwood, but overharvesting for the burgeoning trade between the United States and China took it’s toll. As a result, it’s now a lot rarer and more expensive. How expensive? One kilogram in China can go for over $130 USD.

Purple Heart Wood

Purple Heart Wood
woodworkerssource.com

Yep, that’s right, there’s timber out there that’s purple. Found in specific regions of South America that experience heavy rain, the wood changes color as the tree ages, making a versatile as well as gorgeous timber.

A simple 4/4 of the stuff can cost over ten dollars per foot, so it tends to be used on smaller projects. Also, make sure the wood is direct trade from ecologically responsible methods, as the rare timber industry has its fair share of unscrupulous dealers in some circles.

Pink Ivory

Pink Ivory Wood
Woodcraft

Also known as red ivory, this wood is a hardwood found primarily in Zimbabwe. It’s beauty and hardness make it ideal for pool cues, pens, and knife handles.

Very rare and desirable for its hue and durability, small pieces for woodworking often costs around fifteen dollars, and it’s very rare for larger pieces to be made from the wood. Hence why it tends to be made into pens and the like, and furniture pieces are less likely to be found.

Agar Wood

Agarwood
Attar Factory

Beautifully multi-colored, lightweight, with mild resin qualities, this rare wood is not truly grown. Instead, synopsis plants are injected with mold. This creates the light, fragrant wood as a side-effect, because molds are weird like that.

The wood is highly desired in perfumes and incense for it’s fragrance, and, as one might imagine from such a process, is quite pricy and difficult to obtain in large quantities. A small piece can go for as much as fifty dollars, depending on quality.

Lignum Vitae

Lignum Vitae
cookwoods.com

This multi-hued wood comes from slow growing trees, and is thus dense as well as beautiful. It’s often used for cricket balls and similar applications.

The color looks painted, but it’s not, obviously. Pieces generally go for around fifteen dollars, depending on the size, of course.

African Blackwood

African Blackwood
woodpeck.com

As the name suggests, this wood is black in color and can be found in the dryer areas of Africa. The timber is highly desired for its color. Costing as much as over one hundred dollars for lumber, pieces fashioned from this wood are definitely luxurious as well as beautiful.

It should be noted that while the outside color is black, the inner wood tends to be lighter in color, which can make for some interesting variations and design choices when the wood is used.

Bocote Wood

Bocote Wood
rockler.com

This wood is actually comprised of a variety of species, several hundred in fact. The grain patterns of all of them are gorgeous and naturally formed as the wood ages. This makes the lumber beautiful and great to use in a variety of applications, but can be pricey as a result.

Great for furniture or flooring, prices can vary but ten bucks for some smaller pieces is a good start. it’s often considered the most expensive wood for flooring, but the looks are certainly worth the price.

Ebony Wood

Ebony Wood
cookwoods.com

Similar to blackwood, except deeper in hue and vibrancy, this wood is delightfully dense, making it ideal for furniture. Whereas blackwood has a dark surface and more standard wood coloring inside, ebony is dark throughout, which makes it more versatile in some aspects.

Pieces of the wood can easily cost fifty dollars. The dark color lends itself well to age and furniture, and tends to be used for such purposes.

Bubinga

Bubinga wood
Woodcraft

Besides being fun to say, this wood’s bright, vibrant look is the result of young wood found in wet areas around lakes and rivers. The wood is commonly found and harvested in India.

Considered the most expensive furniture wood available, finished pieces made from this red hued lumber can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Dalbergia

Dalbergia
cookwoods.com

A type of rosewood from more tropical areas, the wood’s multi hued grain gives it a delightful color variation. The regions it grows in are pretty specific, hence the high cost.

Fifteen dollars is a safe start, and it’s important to note that as it grows in several different areas, being part of a varied group of trees and shrubs, cost and hues of the grain can vary. Red is obviously, a common color.

Conclusion

Though their cost and quality can vary, rare woods such as those previously mentioned certainly offer a vibrant, gorgeous and luxurious look to anything made from them. Whether looking for a pen, knife, chair, table, or some other form of wood based accoutrement, the previously mentioned woods are some of the most gorgeous, luxurious pieces to make into such pieces.

Some of them make for truly expensive furniture, so finding them can be tricky. Paying for them is, of course, an entirely separate matter, but, when it comes to looks and quality, it’s hard to beat such pieces.

Generally, it’s hard to knock the quality and precision that goes into wood furniture. Pieces made from the previously mentioned woods are naturally carefully designed and crafted, and that makes each piece a unique fixture worthy of owning and admiring. If you’re daring enough to actually use such luxurious furnishings is of course an entirely different matter.

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About Alex Holmes

With over 10 years of experience in media and publishing, Alex is Luxatic's director of content, overlooking everything related to reviews, special features, buying guides, news briefs and pretty much all the other content that can be found on our website. Learn more about Luxatic's Editorial Process.

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