This is a natural wood solid product and therefore will have unique patterns, grain variations, and occasional knots in the wood surface. This will not have any impact on durability, strength and integrity of the furniture. Wood lives on in the furniture and it breathes and moves over time so minor movements that may occur are totally natural. This range is trying to reproduce historic furniture and thus in natural wood you will get surface scratches and marks from everyday use. We hope you will love these the marks as a historic record of good honest furniture use. Following purchase aftercare: - This product is made from natural wood and had been hand scrubbed to produce an authentic honest vintage look. It therefore has no sealant on the surface. - If you accidently spill something on the surface please use 1/3 bleach 1/3 water and 1/3 ecover detergent and very gently scrub the surface with the grain and leave to dry. Over scrubbing may reveal the redder tones of the solid wood bene