Posts tagged 'Appalachian Hardwoods'
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October 31, 2023Appalachian Hardwoods: America's Sustainable Treasure
How fortunate we are to wake every morning in the middle of one of the world’s unique treasures. The Appalachian Hardwood forest, wellspring of the finest furniture making material in the world, covers 200,000 square miles of spectacular high country, from New York to Alabama. The story of this ecoregion spans epochs, enfolds massive geological events and, as it has for generations, touches the lives and livelihoods of friends and neighbors. Dive into the history of Appalachian Hardwoods and, like us, be amazed and grateful. -
June 30, 2022We’ve Never Made The Same Product Twice
Nature is not in the business of consistency. There are no Formica® forests. Every hardwood tree that grows in the Appalachian mountains develops its own graining and tone depending on elevation, severity of the winters, rainfall and competition for sunlight. Once that tree makes it to the lumberyard, it’s up to our buyers to determine if it is Gat Creek-worthy.
“There are specific standards for grading lumber,” said Gat Caperton. “The National Hardwood Lumber Association has spent a century making them as confusing and complicated as possible. While we consider the standards, what we rely on is the old-fashioned eye test. Does it look like it will make a pretty piece of furniture or not.”
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February 19, 2020Cherry Furniture Color Grows Richer Over Time
If only we all aged as beautifully as cherry wood.
Time and the elements aren’t necessarily charitable to all things: that Oldsmobile sitting on cinder blocks in a field, the Persian rug in uneven light beneath a bay window, the sun-worshipper in his golden years. But cherry wood is an exception. The way it improves with age is why furniture made of solid cherry may be the most prized in America.
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January 14, 2020Solid Wood Furniture Is Smarter, Healthier, And Worth It - Part II
Gat Creek is fortunate to be located in the Appalachian Mountains, surrounded by the beautiful forests that supply our workshop. It’s a source of pride that, through sustainable management, these forests hold more trees today than they did a century ago. Environmentally and economically, our local forests are healthy and thriving. And there is even more good news when it comes to the healthy advantages of our handcrafted solid wood furniture.
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January 14, 2020Solid Wood Furniture Is Smarter, Healthier, And Worth It - Part I
If you’re confused by what is solid wood and what isn’t, we’re not surprised. The meaning has been stretched so many ways some would have you believe any furniture that isn’t hollow is solid wood.
However, the distinction matters. For so many reasons — beauty, longevity, value, the health of your family — real solid wood is the superior choice.
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November 12, 2019Forest Stewards: Gat Creek Is Certified Sustainable & Legal by AHMI
It is simply a fact of life that not everything is what it appears to be. And that can be especially true with the furniture you buy.
“In furniture manufacturing, lumber is quite often purchased from around the world,” says Tom Inman, president of Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers, Incorporated. “Unfortunately, that lumber could have been harvested illegally, with little or no consideration for the long term health of the resource and the environment that sustains it.