If you are thinking about buying new pine furniture for your home, the first thing you should do is take a little time to learn more about this beautiful wood. Pine is considered a soft wood not because the wood is weak or soft to the touch. Rather it is because pine trees are coniferous and all of those trees labeled as hardwoods are deciduous. You will find that pine is one the most popular woods in the word as it is light in color, open grained and often has many dark knots in it that give each piece of wood great character. There are many reasons why people prefer pine, some choose pine furniture for it light color that can brighten up a room, others because it is far less expensive than furniture made from the various hardwoods. One thing that people tend to like about furniture made from pine is that you can buy it unfinished, this allows you to finish it your own way with stains, varnishes, paints or you can wax it and leave it au natural. As you can imagine the quality of pine furniture will vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer. As a soft wood pine can be made into furniture that will last for many years or if you are not careful you can find furniture that is made from very cheap pine that has not been dried properly and will not last long. You should of course expect to find knots in the wood as they are all part and parcel of pine, however be aware of where the knots are located and check to make sure that none of them are going to fall out and leave holes. Quality pine furniture should have enough knots to add character without there being so many that they actually weaken the wood and in turn your new furniture. Pine will warp if it gets wet or has been exposed to too much humidity over a long period of time. If you are looking at pine dressers, check to ensure that the sides are straight and that the drawers slide in and out smoothly.