What Is Parkay Furniture?

Parquetry

• Before you can understand parquet furniture, you must have a basic understanding of the parquetry process. Parquetry involves crafting wood veneer into assorted geometric shapes, creating a mosaic or kaleidoscope of wood pieces and forming a single uniform surface. The most common parquetry shapes include squares, lozenges, which are diamond-shaped, and triangles. These small, wood veneer shapes are typically arranged with one another to create more complex shapes. Aside from furniture, parquetry is used in wood flooring.

Parquet Furniture

• Parquet furniture refers to large furniture pieces, such as tables, dressers and nightstands, which come together as a result of the parquetry process. For example, a parquet tabletop will contain an arrangement of small shapes, often comprising different colors of wood veneer in order to provide a visible contrast between the different shapes. A piece of parquet furniture may include a single shape, like a square, repeated along the entire surface, or it may contain multiple shapes that create different patterns.

Types of Wood

• Parquet furniture is as varied as other types of wood furniture. Types of wood commonly used include oak, boxwood, purpleheart, walnut, cherry, sycamore and ash. Since these woods contain different colors and different wood grain designs, a piece of parquet furniture may incorporate more than one of them. The cost of a piece of parquet furniture will depend in part on the type and scarcity of the wood(s) used.

Cleaning

• You can clean parquet furniture using most wood-cleaning solutions, as long as the solution is safe for the type of wood finish applied to your parquet furniture. For example, vinegar may damage some polyurethane finishes, but commercial wood cleaners can provide safe and effective cleaning.