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Our message is slowly being heard. This makes us immeasurably happy. However, we still find ourselves explaining very often that: “no, it’s not artificially aged wood, it is genuinely aged wood, reclaimed from structures that are hundreds of years old”. Why is this so important?

 “A Table with a wooden, hand aged countertop” or: “Those beautiful boards that are hand aged”. No, unfortunately you won’t find these on our stores. Or should I say, fortunately. Because what we are doing, we do purposefully, and for a reason. Regalia crafts tables and other furniture using solely reclaimed, naturally aged wood. Why is that so important to us? Well, there are a few reasons…

First and foremost is due to our philosophy. We do not pretend, and we do not cheat. We aren’t an imitation, we are genuine, natural and authentic. And so are our products. As such, why would they imitate something, that they really aren’t, why would they be just a copy? A table made with aged wood, that isn’t actually… aged? Something isn’t right there.

It’s completely logical. Why make something that is worse, when we are able to make something much much better – According to Wojciech Sobieranski, the creator of the Regalia brand.

Unaged, I.e. authentically old wood

The second issue is the environment. Old wood is simply wood that has been reclaimed from another structure that no longer needs it. For the creation of our products we do not cut down a single tree, we do not have to give the wood “character” through the use of chemicals. We take wood, in the state in which it is, and we bring out its natural soul and character.  It is the age, the history, and what a piece of wood has been through that gives it uniqueness, character and style.

– It’s not that we have anything against furniture made from new wood. Wood is a renewable resource, and it’s very good that it is used to produce all manner of items. – remarks Wojciech Sobieranski. He adds: – I believe it’s more important to realise that only around 10% of wood reclaimed from demolished structures is reused. If the resource then is so abundant, then why would we artificially age new wood when we can use the authentic aged wood?

The third issue is a more technical issue. Industrial wood used for the mass production of furniture has very little in common with the wood of old that we use. Mass furniture manufacturers rarely take into consideration the age of the tree from which their wood comes, and even rarely do they take into consideration when in the year it was felled. And both of these variables have a huge effect on the strength of the resulting wood, as does it’s history.

Why do they have such a huge effect? Naturally aged wood contains not only history, but also a type of hardening that can only result from many many years of exposure to the elements. Logically, if a piece of wood has already survived so many years of rains and storms, heat waves and chills, or days and nights, then why wouldn’t it be the perfect material to use as part of a dining table, a coffee table, or a bathroom vanity? Naturally aged wood is by far the better material to use. Artificially aged wood… Who knows?

Old wood, AKA Genuine wood

– The topic is rather interesting – remarks the creater of the brand Regalia. – Reclaimed wood is of course an abundant resource. Still only 10% of reclaimed wood is used for manufacturing furniture. Why so little? Why if it’s so abundant are there so few companies that use this resource to manufacture furniture? We know it’s not due to the scarcity of the materials, could it be due to the difficulty of acquiring it? The real reason is much simpler. As always, it comes down to money. Preparing such wood takes time and as we know, time is money. The same can be said about the skill required. Professionals know how to prepare the wood very well, but they cost money, and cannot be replaced by machines. There are a multitude of tasks that need to be performed in order to prepare our wood: it needs to be cleaned, dried, de-nailed, and after the furniture is made it needs to be hand waxed. In our case all of these processes need to be carried out by hand, which of course impacts the coast of manufacture. The truth is that the preparation of this material often times takes as much time as creating the piece of furniture for which the material is needed.

And that’s just it. Wood acquired from the demolition of an old structure does not become a table straight away. As said before, reclaimed wood has to be de-nailed, it has to be cleaned, and dried and only then can it become a piece of furniture, where it is given a new life. Ofcourse, each part of the process also has to be done in such a way as to not disturb the natural petina that it has acquired over the years that it has been a part of a building.

In short, let’s not pretend that something is what it is not. Genuineness is beautiful. As is furniture made from reclaimed wood.