There is a narrative that cracked wood is a natural, charming feature of handmade furniture; it does have a nice charm to it, and can be used to tell a story of that wood’s journey as well as the piece of furniture that it ended up in. But cracks and imperfections should not be used as an excuse for sloppy work. As a custom furniture maker based in the high desert outside of Denver, Colorado, I have built my career on a simple, non-negotiable principle: furniture should be built to last for generations, and that longevity is a choice, not an accident.
You may have seen the disclaimers, often buried in the fine print: “cracks in the assembly joints or in the wood itself… [do] not affect the structural integrity,” or “due to the hand-built nature of our furniture, measurements may vary.” In my view, this language is not a quaint explanation of artisan character; it is carefully crafted to manage expectations downward and excuse quality issues that are, in fact, preventable.
The Foundation: It All Starts with Dry Wood
At Benham Design Concepts, our entire process begins with one critical step: sourcing the best material and ensuring it is properly dried. We believe the stability of the finished piece is directly determined by the quality of the wood we start with.
There are two primary methods used to dry wood. Air-drying takes significantly longer—a good rule of thumb is one year per inch of thickness, a good fan creating air movement is a minimum, while a climate-controlled space with good air movement and ventilation is ideal. So space and time are its downsides, but it can preserve the vibrant natural colors in species like Walnut.
However, for the absolute stability, we use kiln-dried lumber in most of our projects. This is a reliable way to ensure the hardwood for your furniture is stable, locking in imperfections so the material is far less likely to crack, warp, or split in your home.
Why Where It’s Built Matters
This is where our location becomes our greatest advantage. Furniture built in our arid Colorado workshop and sealed with an industrial-strength finish can move effortlessly into a more humid environment. It will expand slightly to accommodate the moisture, but it will not break. The inverse, however, is a common culprit for furniture failure.
If your furniture is built overseas, it arrives carrying the inherent humidity of its place of origin. When it acclimates to a dry climate like Colorado’s, the wood loses that moisture. This rapid drying is what causes the catastrophic splits, warping, and cracking that so many dismiss as “natural.”
In short, the dryness of the wood and quality of the joinery are the two greatest predictors of your furniture’s longevity. At my workshop, we believe precision in our design and build process should be the standard, not the exception. And no layer of wax or varnish can ever compensate for a foundation built on poor wood choices and shoddy joinery. The choice is yours: accept the excuses hidden in the fine print, or invest in a piece where the only feature that develops over time is its legacy.
Curated Projects
