When people walk into a room that contains pieces of wooden furniture, a natural response is for them to touch the wood; to run their hands over it and ‘feel’ it. Some people even smell it. Wood talks to our senses of sight, touch and smell. It creates more of an emotional reaction than any other type of material does. According to Mrs Coba Smit, an Area Manager for Ericssons Mattress and Pine, choosing a solid wooden piece of Pine furniture for your home makes sense for many reasons: “Pine is a solid wood (so it’s the luxury of owning a solid wooden piece of furniture but at an affordable price) that will last for many years.” The suppliers of Pine timber in South Africa, kiln dry the timber at approximately 56˚C to treat it against decay and rot. The whole industry, of which furniture manufacturers are by far the smallest buyer, gets supplied from this same pool of treated timber. The Pine is treated to make it last; stopping it from rotting increases the longevity of the product. Mrs Smit explains further that another benefit of raw Pine is that it takes paint really well and enables you to ‘colour match’ it to any other furniture in your home. This fact also allows you to change the colour of the furniture with little effort should your colour schemes or tastes change. A further advantage for young families is that “Pine furniture is inexpensive and creates the opportunity to buy furniture for young children which can then be replaced with furniture for young adults without breaking the bank”. Wood can always be re-used for other projects once its original purpose has been served.
She shares that “most customers paint the raw Pine as a DIY project. Customers love to show us pictures of their completed projects, as it is something that they are proud of. At Ericssons, we sell Gripseal, a water-based product that colours and seals Pine furniture. We have over 40 colours to choose from. Gripseal dries within 30 minutes of applying the first coat. The more coats you put on, the less wood you see and the darker the colour will be on the wood. Gripseal gives the end product a ‘matte’ finish but should you prefer a shiny finish, you simply apply a varnish on afterwards”. Mrs Smit adds that “should you not be the DIY-type, Ericssons Mattress and Pine will stain your purchase in the factory in an ‘Oregon Stain’ (reddish-brown colour) and some factories can even paint it black or white for you; for more personalised effects, we can also refer you to a well-priced professional who offers various paint techniques”.
