Shopping Guide: How to Choose the Best Wood for Your Standing Desk?
We, at ergonofis, take the value and sustainability of our products at heart. We are relentlessly obsessed with quality to offer you the best standing desks on the market. We believe that working on a great standing desk is at the basis of a productive and creative workday, that it will inspire you to thrive while keeping you healthy. This is why we put an enormous amount of thought into what kind of materials we use, where we get it from, and who crafts it.
So let’s take a closer look at our wood standing desks: what kind of wood species they are made off, why we chose to work with hardwood, what it means when we talk about sourced from sustainable forests, and why we think it is important to have them crafted locally. We have three types of woods for our standing desks: the Sway desk, available in maple, walnut and cherrywood, and the Alive desk, made with live edge solid wood, available in walnut or maple. We’ll delve a little deeper into the details to help you choose the right one for your office desk!
Why hardwood?
There are 3 overarching wood types available on the market: hardwood, softwood, and manufactured wood. Manufactured woods include plywood, chipboard, and fibreboard. These other wood types are mostly inexpensive and made up of wood chips, shavings, fibers, or wood veneers. Softwoods, which include pine and spruce, are used in construction but also for making paper and cardboard. They have a less complex structure making them less dense.
Hardwood, which is what we use for the Sway and Alive wood standing desk surfaces and includes maple, cherry wood, and walnut wood, is made of trees that grow slower than softwood producing trees, providing them with a more complex structure. This complex structure creates denser wood fibres, forming a very solid wood. Hardwood is known to be more durable, less likely to rot or decay than softwood, and has superior fire resistance. It is porous, allowing finishes and varnish to settle more deeply in the wood. While hardwood is more expensive than other types of wood, it is the highest quality type of wood there is for wooden furniture and will withstand multiple years of wear and tear, making it perfect for long-lasting, quality hardwood desk surfaces.
What does it mean when we say sustainable?
Sustainability is one of the values ergonofis was built on. It, therefore, goes without saying that we make sure the wood we use for our wooden standing desks is sourced from sustainably managed and durable forests. Our maple, cherry wood, and walnut wood come from Canada and the United States, from distributors that do not practice clear-cutting. We want to focus on the long term, making sure that the forests are managed in a way that does not harm the ecosystem, that protects wildlife, and that is going to be reseeded for future generations to benefit from.
Deforestation is a significant contributor to climate change. Forests are home to 80% of the earth’s biodiversity. They play an essential role in the water cycle, affecting the quality of drinking water and the water used for agriculture. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, helping to offset the greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. We must be part of the solution, not the problem, making sure our wood is sourced as locally as possible, and from forests that are sustainably managed and focused on the future.
More than ever, we believe it is critical to think about how our business affects our community and the environment. Buying from and working with local companies not only invests money into our community, increasing jobs, and contributing to public services, but also reduces our environmental impact by limiting the distance our materials need to travel.
Who crafts our wood?
It is fundamental for us to work with people that are as passionate about their work as we are: from the coworkers we work next to every day, to the ones who craft the surfaces for our wooden desks. This is why we work with local woodworkers who are detail-oriented and devoted to their work. We want to invest in local talents to offer you a quality product that was made thoughtfully and sustainably, while also encouraging the local economy.
The Sway desk: Why go with maple, cherrywood or walnut?
For our Sway standing desks, we chose 3 main types of high quality wood to make the surfaces: maple, cherry wood, and walnut. These desks are made of 6 to 12 wooden boards, depending on the desk’s dimensions. They are cut in a straight rectangular shape, with sharp squared edges that are 1 1/4'' thick. These types of wood are perfect for making quality work desks for the long run. Here’s why:
Maple is a wood type that is known for its sturdiness. Being the hardest and most dense of our woods, it is known for its durability. This tough wood is very strong, heavy, resistant to splitting and moisture. It has a pale color, with a straight fine grain that has some twists and swirls. Maple makes an ultra-durable desktop, easy to wash, and it is the most cost effective of our wooden standing desks.
Newest addition to the ergonofis hardwood collection, cherrywood has made its way to the best sellers for our Sway standing desks and ergonomic accessories. Much like maple wood, cherry wood has a smooth and closed grain pattern with a lustruous and satiny quality. This hardwood is known for its beautiful reddish-brown color. The texture is uniform and the wood is stable and very resistant to decay.
Walnut is our most high-end desk surface and expensive wood for the Sway desks. Known for being a very stable, relatively strong, and shock-resistant hardwood, it is our lightest wooden desktop. It has a straight, moderately open grain, and a very rich, dark color. Among the softer hardwoods, walnut must be handled with care as it is more likely to be damaged.
The Alive desk: Why go with walnut or maple?
We chose walnut and maple for the Alive standing desk for the same characteristics and strengths mentioned above. The maple wood is sturdy and ultra-durable, and the walnut is stable and shock-resistant. The hardwood used for the Alive desk, however, does have a few fundamental differences. It has live edges, fewer wood slabs, and a thicker surface (2" instead of 1 1/4"). The maple Alive standing desk is the same color as the Sway maple. However, because the walnut wood is dried differently, its original pinkish tones are preserved for a result that is closer to its natural, untransformed color.
What is the best choice for you?
By choosing an ergonofis wood standing desk, you are choosing a high-quality hardwood surface, sustainably sourced and made by passionate local woodworkers. But what type of wood surface is best for you? Here is a table summarizing our main 3 solid wood types to help you make an informed choice.
Type of desk: Alive or Sway?
| Sway standing desk | Alive standing desk | |
| Types of wood | Maple, cherrywood and walnut | Maple and walnut |
| Shapes and edges | Rectangular with sharp squared edges | Live edges wood slabs |
| Thickness | 1 ¼" | 2" |
Type wood: maple, cherrywood or walnut?
| Maple | Cherrywood | Walnut | |
| Available for | Sway and Alive desks | Sway desk | Sway and Alive desks |
| Main surface characteristic (s) | Sturdy and dense | Smooth grain and satin look | Soft hardwood |
| Durability / Stability | Ultra-durable | Extremely stable | Strong and stable |
| Weight | Heavy weight | Medium weight | Light weight |
| Color | Pale beige color | Pinkinsh-brown color | Rich dark brown |
| Grain | Straight grain with twists and swirls | Straight grain | Straight and open |
| Price | $ | $$ | $$$ |
Questions
Have more questions? Feel free to reach out! We are available to answer any questions you have for you to make the best choice possible to create your next office setups.
References:
- https://furniture123.co.uk/content/wood-types
- https://www.homemakers.com/best-types-of-wood-for-furniture
- https://www.octaneseating.com/types-of-wood-for-furniture
- https://www.livescience.com/27692-deforestation.html
- https://labellacosa.com/pros-cons-different-wood-types/#:~:text=Pros%20%E2%80%93%20Affordable%20and%20ultra%20durable,trees%20at%20risk%20from%20deforestation.
- https://www.wood-finishes-direct.com/blog/everything-you-should-know-about-sustainable-wood/#:~:text=Which%20woods%20are%20most%20sustainable,slow%2Dgrowing%20trees%20like%20Oak.