Choosing the wood for a room

The wood you choose can make or break a room: its furniture, its cabinets, its walls. Three materials do most of the work.

Plywood

The backbone of most interior work: the board a wardrobe or a cabinet is built from.

Decorative ply

Ply with a fine wood face already on it, for furniture, flooring and panelling.

Veneer

A thin leaf of fine wood, laid onto a plainer board to give it a luxurious face.

Whatever is underneath, people see the face. Choose it as carefully as you would choose the room’s colour, and ask to see a sample before you decide.