wonder wood

Modern veneers are fast becoming a textural moment in design, elevating the best qualities of wood's natural form

- HUGH METCALF 

there’s sometimes a stigma attached to f urniture made using veneers – perhaps because of the value put on timber as something of natural beauty. It follows that solid wood is the purest way to embrace the material, and bring its qualities to an interior design scheme.

However, it’s worth noting that not only are veneers generally real wood, they’re a surprisingly sustainable way to design with wood, too. But not just that, they’re a material which, thanks to the processes used to ma ke them, are undergoing exciting innovations to draw new forms and textures from this time-old material.

These modern veneers explore the opportunities to enhance colour and pattern in the medium of wood. 'Veneers are very interesting materials, from classic oak to technologically modified, which are really limited only by our imagination,' explains interior designer Dawid Konieczny, founder of Dawid Konieczny Interiors. 'Solid wood is very expensive itself, and the method of its dyeing is mainly limited to wood stains, which is why the use of veneers gives a wide range of colour and pattern possibilities.'