There is a satisfaction with solid wood furniture that its composite equivalent just cannot manage to equal. It comes from the certainty that one can associate with well crafted chairs, tables and cupboards. Traditionally, hard woods such as oak and mahogany were the favoured choices, but these have always cost a pretty penny. However, one more affordable alternative to more expensive hard wood furniture is ash furniture.

The ash option boasts the same type of impressive grain work that lends such earthiness to wooden furniture. It can be hard to resist the bright, golden lure of pine kitchen furniture, or for that matter painted pine furniture. But, for most of us, rustic quality of ash is the key attraction, while for designers of contemporary furniture, ash offers a lot of possibilities through its flexibility.

Ash is amongst the most popular woods used to manufacture furniture, and it is not difficult to see why. As a hard wood, it is durable and holds a natural resistance to decay, which in turn means it requires much less maintenance.

Surprisingly, despite being a hardwood, ash is very accommodating to the processes used in making furniture. So, nails and screws are easier to insert and the wood retains them securely. It also boasts a flexibility that allows it to bend with relative ease. As a result, it is used by furniture designers of all types, from traditional to contemporary, to create some of the most innovative forms.

It is, in effect, one of the most user friendly woods in use today. However, perhaps the biggest reason for the popularity of ash is its low cost. Ash is grown in greater abundance than most other hardwoods, bringing the price down and making them an extremely affordable option.

However, it is also a highly attractive wood to use in solid wood furniture, with white ash, for example, resembling oak and sharing many of the same structural qualities that oak is famed for. And, as it has a light, bright shade, ash furniture is loved in areas of a home where light is considered important, such as the bedroom, dining room and kitchen.

The kitchen, in fact, is a perfect room in which to point out the respective advantages of furniture made of ash and pine. Kitchen furniture made of pine have long been highly popular. It is no secret that light makes a huge difference to a kitchen. After all, it is a room in which the vast majority of family activity occurs, and the room that must marry a sense of industry with a welcoming atmosphere. This marriage can be helped by a flood of sunlight that makes spending time there all the more enjoyable.

Pine matches the brightening abilities of ash, but there are some obvious differences between ash wood and pine, not least that the latter is a soft wood and has a natural pale yellow colour. The similarities chiefly lie in the fact that pine is also abundant and is therefore very affordable, lends an airiness to rooms and is hard wearing, making it ideal for children's furniture and kitchens.

Amongst the popular ash kitchen furniture is the traditional farmhouse style kitchen dresser, in which utensils, plates, cups and dishes of all sorts can be stored. The grounded qualities ash brings a sturdiness to the dresser and a greater sense of class. And, while pine versions are quality products to grace any kitchen, the ash version, with its distinctive grain highlighted by oils that brings the surface to an impressive shine, can catch the eye more readily.

Meanwhile, painted pine furniture can add a sense of elegance to a room. A perfect example is provided by the Camden painted pine range, which boasts an ivory finish that can create an eye-catching contrast with a pine or oak floor.

With wood that resembles oak so perfectly, ash furniture offers a type of sophistication that pine does not. However, both have individual styles that enhance a room, both in terms of its brightness and in its comfort, whether it is painted ash or pine furniture for the bedroom of a child, or ash or pine kitchen furniture for the newly developed kitchen drenched in the light of a conservatory.