Regardless of your home décor or personal tastes, one thing for sure, wood Urns will add a warms and style to your home. There are so many more wooden urns for ashes now than even several years ago. First, it would be helpful to have an idea of what you want from a wooden urn. There are three basic questions to consider when shopping for a wooden urn.

• What kind of wood do you think you want the urn to be made from? Do you want a darker wood or lighter wood?
• What shape or style would you like? Do you prefer a traditional wood cremation box or are you looking for something unique..
• Who is the urn for? An adult, child, pet or for two people.

Where will the urn go?

This is an important question to ask yourself. Where the urn will be placed will help you answer many of the other questions as to what type of wood and what type and how much decoration or ornamentation you want on it.

• Burial urns can be placed in a cemetery graveside plot or placed anywhere outdoors where it is buried.
• If keeping cremated ashes at home is your preference, memorial urns can be tastefully displayed with consideration given to style.
• An urn for two people is when two people wish to have their ashes co-mingled wither in one chamber or divided into two chambers.
• Niche Urns are made to specific dimensions to fit a cremation columbarium niche.
• Biodegradable wood urns are usually made from Bamboo or catalpa wood that biodegrades quickly.
• Mini keepsake urns, hold a very small portion of ashes and are made in many shapes and designs. Hearts, boxes, stars and many more options.

Types of wood:

Almost all wood urns are made from hardwoods. There are a variety types that urns are made from. Below we listed the woods that are used most often. They all have their own distinct beauty and the type of wood you choose is very important when it comes to décor or personal taste. Some are more expensive than others. Some urns are made from a combination of woods that are absolutely beautiful.

• Cherry
• Maple
• Oak
• Rosewood
• Walnut
• Mahogany
• Bamboo
• Cedar

Style:

Not all wooden urns are shaped like boxes. The wood can be turned on a lathe to make them vase shaped or cylindrical. You can also find modern style urns that have odd shapes and add the look of a work of art to your home.

• Religious themes such as crosses and praying hands are popular to name just a few. Most are made from hardwoods and have either appliques, inlays or are laser engraved.

• Military wood urns are very popular having a distinguished look to them featuring Military branch emblems. The triangle flag holder urns serve two purposes; one to display the flag and the other to hold your loved one’s ashes.
• Clock urns are just as described, they are urns that feature a clock in them to be displayed on a mantle or desk. They can be found in all hardwoods. Oak, cherry, walnut mahogany.
• Cremation Boxes are rectangle or square wood urns that either are without any embellishment or can have images on the front or carvings on the top or front. Just because you choose a simple cremation box does not mean that it will be dull. There is a company, Red Tree Creations that embellishes cremation boxes with vivid beautiful images from traditional to very unique and special interest or hobbies.

Some of these urns can be engraved right onto the wood and others usually offer a metal engraving plate that may be attached onto the urn.

Prices range from approximately $50.00 – $500.00. If you purchase urns made in America, they are almost entirely made from wood indigenous to America. They are hand crafted in the USA and usually made to order.

You may also purchase woods imported mostly from India where they mostly use Rosewood, a reddish brown wood that is a little softer than North American hardwoods and many urns are carved with floral or scroll designs. They are much less expensive than American made, but some say the quality of craftsmanship is not on the par of American Made, but if budget is important to you, these urns are most definitely the way to go.

Whatever you decide, with wood there is no wrong choice because of its natural beautiful and durability.