Tabu veneers — colour from timber

The current 555.18 collection in its thirteen colour folders — natural species, dyed veneers and multilaminar Caleidolegno and Newood structures together. Select a colour to browse its veneers; every code can be sampled through our sampling service.

The Tabu range unlocks colour combinations in timber that no other process achieves, making it the defining surface material for schemes where warmth, depth and material authenticity must coexist.

• Feature wall panelling
• Cabinet and joinery faces
• Bespoke furniture tops
• Hotel headboards and bed surrounds
• Reception and lobby features
• Fitted wardrobes

The difference between a dyed veneer and a stained one is depth. Water-based dyes are driven through the full thickness of the leaf, so the colour survives sanding, edge profiles and wear — and because the dye saturates the fibre rather than sitting on it, the grain stays legible inside the colour. A deep green leaf still reads unmistakably as timber; that is the whole point.

Dyed natural veneers take real leaves of a single species and shift their colour while keeping every quirk of figure — the choice when the design wants natural variation in an unnatural hue. Multilaminar (reconstituted) veneers go further: dyed plantation-grown leaves are laminated into blocks and re-sliced, engineering both the colour and the grain pattern itself. The result is perfectly repeatable — useful across editioned furniture and large schemes — and relieves pressure on rare species, since a plantation poplar can be engineered to carry the look of an endangered exotic.

• Marquetry – dyed leaves are the marqueteur’s extended palette: consistent blues, greens and greys that no natural timber supplies, and the same design re-colourable for different schemes.
• Veneer matching – book, slip and quarter matches behave exactly as they do in natural veneer, with the added discipline of perfectly consistent colour across every leaf.
• Statement surfaces – cabinet fronts, wall panels and table tops where colour and grain need to coexist rather than compete.

As an authorised stockist we hold a substantial reference library and can source any specification from the full range — samples through our sampling service, with the wider vocabulary of cuts and matching covered in our veneer glossary and on the wood veneer page above this one.

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327f2c - Code 05.XXX

Figured Taba - TABU T33327dd8 - Code L1.S.XXX

Figured Anegrè - TABU T33327da2 - Code 01.S.XXX

Figured Sycamore - TABU T33327dca - Code 09.S.XXX

Figured Anegrè - TABU T33327da3 - Code 01.S.XXX

Figured Sycamore - TABU T33327da5 - Code 09.S.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327dd9 - Code 05.XXX

Figured Sycamore - TABU T33327dec - Code 09.S.XXX

Quilted Maple - TABU T33327dea - Code D7.P.XXX

Quilted Maple - TABU T33327deb - Code D7.P.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327ded - Code 05.XXX

Figured Sycamore - TABU T33327df3 - Code 09.S.XXX

American walnut - TABU T33327e39 - Code 51.XXX

Figured Movingue - TABU T33327e6f - Code D5.S.XXX

Figured Movingue - TABU T33327e35 - Code D5.S.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327e00 - Code 05.XXX

Madrona Burl - TABU T33327de6 - Code 46.XXX

American cherry - TABU T33327df1 - Code C3.XXX

Figured Anegrè - TABU T33327e3d - Code 01.S.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327e01 - Code 05.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327e17 - Code 05.XXX

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327dd6 - Code 05.XXX

MW Caleidolegno – Crown structure - TABU T33327da6

MW Caleidolegno – Crown structure - TABU T33327e6b

MW Caleidolegno – Crown structure - TABU T33327efc

MW Caleidolegno – Wavy grain - TABU T33327e3c

MW Caleidolegno – Wavy grain - TABU T33327ee3

MW Caleidolegno – Woven pattern - TABU T33327de5

Light brown wood texture with subtle grain pattern

Close-up of a beige textured surface, possibly fabric or wallpaper, with fine vertical lines.

Light oak wood texture with vertical grain pattern

Light wood grain texture with thin vertical lines

Close-up of a light brown wood texture with visible grain patterns.

Bird's eye Maple - TABU T33327ee8 - Code 05.050

Madrona Burl - TABU T33327ee1 - Code 46.050

Figured Taba - TABU T33327ee7 - Code L1.S.050

American walnut - TABU T33327e39 - Code 51.XXX

MW Caleidolegno – Crown structure - TABU T33327da6

Light brown wood texture with subtle grain pattern

Close-up of a beige textured surface, possibly fabric or wallpaper, with fine vertical lines.