I was recently asked this question by a reader and thought it would be a great blog post topic: how to tell if wood furniture is real or fake. It’s something that I have wondered about in the past and had to learn more about as I started refinishing furniture. So, how can you tell if your furniture is solid wood versus laminate or veneer? There are several ways to determine this.
Weight
Solid wood furniture is heavy. Really heavy. If your furniture is fairly light-weight, it’s probably not solid wood. (Unless it’s MDF, which won’t have any grain.)
Drawer Construction
A great indicator of solid wood is dovetail construction. Your furniture may still have veneer fronts, but it’s most likely constructed of solid wood if you see that tongue and groove construction where the drawer connects to the drawer front.
Sides/Bottom
Take a look at the sides and underneath your piece of furniture. If there is a veneer, you will be able to look at it from the side and see where the sheet of veneer attaches to the front of the piece.
Also, if you see unfinished wood underneath the furniture, it’s probably wood and not laminate which tends to cover the furniture from top to bottom. Veneer will also have a horizontal grain pattern on the edges, whereas solid wood will have no grain on the edges.
Grain
If you can feel the grain and see a varying pattern, it’s probably solid wood. Sometimes it’s hard to feel with your fingertips if it has been sealed, so you will have to use several ways of inspecting the piece to know for sure.
If you see the grain but the pattern tends to repeat and it lacks texture and feels perfectly smooth, it’s probably veneer. If it lacks grain altogether, it’s most likely laminate.
This is our cheapo filing cabinet made out of particle board. This “fake” is easy to spot because of its light weight and overall poor quality construction. No dovetail joints, no grain, and when you open it you can see the particle board on the back of the drawer.
Carved Details
If the wood has an ornate or carved detailing, it is wood. Laminate and veneers cannot be carved.
Cost
Plain and simple, solid wood costs a lot more.
Many veneers are made of real wood, and just because a piece of furniture has veneer on it does not mean it is not good quality or durable. Real wood veneers can even be stained. Just be careful sanding veneers, as you do not want to damage it or sand it off completely.
I hope this is helpful. Let me remind you that I am not an expert. I am simply learning as I go and sharing tips that I’ve picked up along the way. If you have any questions, or anything to add to this, please let me know!
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Great info, Erin! I’m a “drawer checker” when it comes to furniture shopping. 🙂
xo Heidi
Thanks Heidi! I do the same thing.
Pictures above are really great and nobody can tell in first look that it is wood or steel. The main thing is that it is beautiful and cost effective.
The main thing to check that furniture is real wood or not, just check its weight, real wood is very heavy.
solid wood furniture
The solid wood is heavy in weight and thick in dimension. The products which are made of these woods sustains for long duration of life. They can be crafted easily in any useful product.
How would you paint a piece of furniture that is both wood and laminate? My coffee table top seems to be real wood but the legs are definitely laminate.
Hi Jessica,
You can use the same process, just be very careful when sanding the laminate part. Just barely sand it enough to rough up the surface so that the paint can “grab” onto it. I have a furniture painting tutorial which you can find here: http://diyonthecheap.com/how-to-paint-furniture-a-beginners-guide/ – just take extra care with the laminate part. I have painted laminate with no problem in the past, just be sure to seal it with something so it doesn’t crack or peel after it dries.
I’m sorry I do not agree with your comment about real wood being very heavy. Press board is so much heavier than real wood. We move all types of furniture every day and have found this to be true in all pieces. We use the weight test when looking to purchase pieces for our Shop and if it’s super heavy it’s less likely to be real wood and be made from press board which makes a piece of furniture very very heavy. Laminated is the term for the top coat on a piece of furniture real wood or fake, laminate is not what the piece if made out of.
Are you referring to MDF? Laminate is generally light weight. You are right, MDF is quite heavy. I have had several pieces of furniture in the past made of plastic laminate and it is very lightweight. There are also laminate topcoats, you are right. I mention how to tell if there is a laminate coating as well. There are several types of laminate.
I’m so glad someone addressed this!
Also, something can be a genuine, solid wood piece of furniture but be lighter because it is really pine with a veneer or laminate on top of it.
MDF, once dinged up, can’t really be fixed like actual wood can be.
I should also mention that I have many solid wood pieces, all of which are extremely heavy and much heavier than my plastic laminate pieces.
**Moderator please notice this is a duplicate but revised submission, thank you!!**
I was waiting to see someone bring this up as I have had several pieces that were a combination of real and faux wood. From time to time, I will come across wood pieces that have very little, if any real wood, yet are still pretty darn heavy. You are absolutely correct as going by weight to determine the authenticity of your wood/wood furniture, is more often than not, NOT the most accurate way to test your pieces and it certainly isn’t ideal.
Just an additional tip and comment: There are so many different types of finishes such as paints, stains, etc etc that your wooden pieces may be covered in which can make it extra difficult to determine whether or not you are dealing with real or fake wood, when using some of the testing techniques mentioned in this blog. I am not saying that the suggestive techniques are wrong, they are just not the best when dealing with certain finishes and such, simply because things vary.
Unfortunately, determining the authenticity of wood can be rather frustrating. So collecting tips, suggestions and advice such as the ones in this blog as well as from the thousands of other blogs, how-to videos, wood working book and magazine articles, local word of mouth and so on is always helpful, but the best way to really find out is through personal experience and trial and error. Every individual piece is so unique, different and tricky in its own frustrating but interesting and fascinating way, so obtaining your knowledge first hand, hands on and as you go, if of course you are one who plans to do these kind of projects as ongoing work rather than just as a one time thing, is always going to be your best answer. As cheesy as I know this sounds, I am a self established, self taught woman who has been wood working, be it a simple refinish job, a full restoration project or a much larger self designed, custom build from scratch, for just over only 2 years now and I used these kinds of searches and more for my many questions over time and while I had an evenly fair share of both excellent advice and very poor advice, I still learn so much to this day and firmly believe that I always will. But those tips and things along with mostly my own experiences and challenging trials and errors that have truly caused me to want to cry, scream, pull my hair out, totally give up and never return to finish many of my projects, I have stuck to it and stayed determined, regardless of the intense frustrations and extreme difficulties and have since come a long way. I have succeeded greatly and I am very proud of that because I have such a big love and loyal passion for wood and wood working. It like many other passions I’m sure, is highly rewarding and always proves to have been totally worth it in the end, every time!! I truly hope that all of you will be able to celebrate and enjoy huge successes too!! Best of luck to you all and have fun!!
I bought a desk recently and I think it might have real cheap wood but with veneer over it. I think it is veneer because it is peeling in some places. I really want to paint this desk white. I think the whole piece is veneer including a drawer and hutch that it has, and I’m not sure how to sand all that. Do you have to sand veneer projects? If so, then how far do you sand to keep the piece not ruined and still smooth? Also what is your tips on sanding? This is my first ever painting job on such a large desk and I want it to go well, but I don’t even know how well it will turn out with sanding it, what is your advice? Thanks!
I do recommend lightly sanding just enough to rough up the surface so the paint will adhere. Be very careful sanding laminate or veneer though! It doesn’t take much. Jenna at SAS Interiors has a great tutorial which applies to laminate or veneer here: http://www.sasinteriors.net/2012/08/how-to-paint-laminate-furniture/ Good luck!
One thing I just learned the hard way – the legs on dresser I just purchased off Craigslist are curved but upon closer inspection I realized that carved part of legs is plastic! The give away was that the curved portion is attached to wood leg. So one thing you could add to your article is to see if the legs are all one piece or not.
Wow! Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Although a good start, it’s not always true that real wood is indicated by carvings. Carvings have been made of pressed and glued sawdust or nut shells, for many years. Modern carvings can be molded in plastic (easy to spot those!)Also there is a manufacturing technique that can wrap an extremely thin layer of real wood veneer around a complex molding. Looks like wood, but is really pressed wood or paper fiber.
Also, don’t dismiss furniture because it has laminate on it. Many every expensive and now collectible pieces from the late 1920’s to the 1980’s have Formica tops.
Great article!
This is actually a question;
How would you differenchate between a faux wood TABLE and a real wood TABLE,
Looking to redo my bedroom.
Hi Ryan! The best indication is weight. Real wood is significantly heaver than laminate. You can also look for patterns in the grain. If it appears to repeat the same pattern over and over, it’s probably laminate. Some real wood does have a wood veneer on top, and that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good solid piece of furniture, just something to be aware of if refinishing since you don’t want to sand the veneer off. Good luck!
I have a coffee table that seems to be real wood in all factors that you displayed. The top surface is marred and would like to refinish. I’m concerned to start any sanding, it seems that all is real wood for the exception of top surface? Could that be the case?
It is possible that the top could be veneer, so I would take extra care not to sand too much as you do not want to remove the veneer completely. Painting it is the easiest fix, but real wood veneer can be stained. Laminate can’t be stained.
Hi, I like your advice and, Thank You for website. My question is not about furnisher but a wood floor. We recently Jan 2016 purchased a wood floor, well at least we think it is wood. I’m concerned if it is real wood “hard wood” like we thought and paid for real hard wood. Nowadays composite “wood” floors looks much like real wood. We purchased 1500 sq/ft of Brazillian Hickory 3/4/ 3/1/4 Select grade, We canot sure the big company we urchased it from. Just days after it was installed we had immediate problems, ledges, humps by joists, gouges, discoloration spots. and couple cracks.
We’ve been instructed in accordance with the manufacture warranty to keep humidity no lower than 30/50 no higher. More to story but,
With the ongoing and current class action suit againt the retailers we purchased our flooring from , and their unwillingness to repair but blame our environment or honor their commitment of satisfaction to us,concerns me as to the product we purchased is truely hard wood.
I read your posts about real furnisher wood and fake. How can I truly know if this floor doesn’t have formaldehyde in it. I am not trusting this company to believe there label or even invoices. Please help! Can I take my wood piece and have it tested?
Oh no, Carolyn! I’m so sorry to hear that! Unfortunately, I don’t have experience with flooring, but I do know that you can purchase formaldehyde test kits online. Amazon has them, as well as several other retailers. You might even be able to pick one up at The Home Depot. I would do that if you are concerned. As far as knowing whether the flooring is real wood, I would look for a repeat in grain pattern, as that typically indicates laminate. If each piece appears to be unique and the grain varies, it’s likely real wood. Good luck!
Hello Erin: I recently purchased a restored French Louis XVI style ebonized buffet from a dealer on a high-end online marketplace, but now I am questioning its authenticity and quality. Specifically, I was told it’s solid cherry wood, dated circa 1890. However, it doesn’t feel very heavy, and the interior appears to be laminate. Even though the dealer claimed there was no maker’s mark, when it arrived I noticed a metal plate on one door’s interior with a manufacturer’s name- “Au Bucheron- Jh. Aguettaz, GRENOBLE”. I can’t find much data online regarding this French manufacturer, and now I’m worried I over-paid for this piece. I thought I was buying a French antique (i.e. handmade) solid cherry wood buffet, but it looks like I may have a 20th C/ post-war piece that was likely machine-made, and not solid wood.
Are there online resources to research old manufacturers like “Au Bucheron” in Grenoble, France? Maybe “Au Bucheron” was a respectable furniture maker, or maybe it was the IKEA of its day. It was a relatively expensive piece, so I’m very concerned that I was duped into overpaying.
Any advice you can share is greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Hi Linda! I’m so sorry that you are dealing with this. I hope that your piece really is as valuable as you had hoped! I’m not sure about online resources on this, if you’ve already run a search and didn’t find anything. I would recommend talking to some local antiques dealers and seeing if they can provide you with some insight, or at least point you in the right direction. Good luck!
Real solid wood furniture is generally lighter than the fake stuff. Particle board and OSB are very very heavy.
The particleboard furniture at Ikea for example is much heavier than their pieces made of solid wood, although of course furniture made from thick hardwood will be quite heavy compared to thinner pieces made from pine. In general, though. fake wood (particleboard finished with veneer) is heavier, not lighter, than solid wood.
Correct. I was referring more to laminate being lightweight, but you are right, MDF is quite heavy.
Does it really have to be heavy? I’ve heard numerous people say it doesn’t always have to be heavy but must be strong. Reason I ask is because I’ve recently bought a dresser that wasn’t light nor heavy. The drawers are dovetail constructed .
It’s generally just heavier than laminate. Laminate is very light weight. If the drawers have dovetail construction, then it’s probably safe to say it’s solid wood.
Hello, thanks for all the info. I’ve painted furniture before, but it was for my daughter’s nursery and shes now 29! I did it right, it looked great. My sister has it in her house now and it has not ONE chip. But I used oil based paint, and I want to avoid doing that as I’m painting inside my current apartment before I move into my new one, and I don’t want the mess of oil. I’m nervous about ruining my furniture.
I have 3 projects, ranging in difficulty. My first, and easiest, project will two small book cases from Pottery Barn. (They are on the PB website, Bedford 2 shelf book case, Espresso finish.) I want to paint them a medium gray. Then, I have a Queen Anne style Desk with black legs and a cherry veneer top. Painting them grey with a pearl white top, to match the desk. I am thinking of using a little bit of silver wipe on the desk but that is still in question. Last is a what looks like a screen painted demi-lune (I have no idea how it was done but it’s not hand painted), but I want to re-paint it silver to match a small wood mirror I already have. SO, I may have a lot of questions and would be happy to provide photos for your blog :-)!) First question re: my book cases, they are maple and veneer, so will following your beginners video & process, using latex paint, do the trick? They are in good condition, with a smooth finish that looks more stained than painted. Thank you!
You should be fine using latex paint! Just follow all of the steps (sand, prime, then lightly sand between coats). Good luck!
I just bought a bedroom suite from The Furniture Gallery for $2200. Supposedly marked down from over $4000. Then I realized that apart from the very front, that the back and sides of the bedside drawers and tallboy are almost entirely particle board, covered in a very thin veneer. Even the base and back of the particle board have sightly different veneer to give the appearance of real cut wood. But the back corner is a little damaged and you can see the small particle board pieces crumbling away…
I then saw that Amart furniture is selling the same suite, except with the dressing table instead of the tallboy. Appearance, design and dimensions of the bed and bedsides are exactly the same.
They claim the suite is made from real oak. (“Quality wormy chestnut.”)
Odd definition of quality.
oh!! I am so glad that I came across your website.
Great work.
Thank you!
While laminate over particle board is very cheap…think Ikea, its common to use plywood with real hardwood veneer as the facing. It is usually furniture grade veneer and makes the difference between a $1000 cabinet vs a $3-5000 cabinet. Just my 2 cents.
I have two very heavy wood coffee tables. I am thinking of painting them to lighten our room. I love them but would like a change. What are your thoughts about painting real timber?
I paint real wood all the time! I say go with whatever look you like best.
I am so disappointed. I acquired a very cool midcentury modern dresser. I checked for dovetail drawer construction and other signs of quality. When I scrubbed the piece down and rinsed in preparation for its makeover I discovered that the top of my dresser is particle board with some kind of veneer or laminate over it. The particle board expanded and popped the veneer right off in one corner. I am going to try to glue it back together once it’s completely dried out. Is there any way to make it better?
Sorry I’m just now seeing this. Gluing it is probably your best bet. If you’re painting over it anyway then you could try a product like Bondo or something to patch it if a bit is missing. Good luck!