As you’ve probably already noticed, using wood as a natural material in interior design has become trendy again. Everyone wants it!
The 70s are here with styles like Wabi Sabi and Japandi to decorate our homes. With a desire to live a simpler life, we peel off and scale down. We want to spend more time in nature and we also want to incorporate nature into our interior design.
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These days, we do everything we can to capture the essence of nature and its harmony in interior design. Looking back, we are horrified by the old interior of mountain cabins and saunas. Or are we? What do we really think these days about the equally beloved and hated pine wood?
We wish to achieve a warm and inviting feeling in our homes, our workplaces and our home offices so we cherish the tactile materials around us. It is only fitting then that solid wood flirts with the tactile while being rustic and vibrant.
In the past when we have decorated with wood, we have used the same wood type throughout the entire interior design. Alternatively, the wood type has been expressed in just one piece of furniture, a statement object or small wooden details in a light or beige interior environment.
Using wood in these environments creates a warmth and eye-catching interior. It also adds a nice contrast to a light interior, which can otherwise look quite stripped-down.
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The popular tone on tone trend is often dominated by neutral and beige tones. These days it’s sometimes replaced with different types of wood instead of being...wait for it... tone on tone.
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We add color to an interior using different types of wood for the sake of variety. These days we’re even mixing light and dark wood to further enhance the contrasts in the room. We have come a long way. Isn’t it nice to look at?
The above picture to the right is borrowed from @tonekrok, an Instagram account we highly recommend you follow! The account is run by Norwegian interior designer and stylist Tone Krok. Her taste inspires beautiful contrasts in colors, shapes and styles. This picture is from one of her styling gigs in which she has mixed woods in a beautiful kitchen from HTH. Isn’t the contrast between the light wood parquet and the dark stained solid oak shutters very appealing?
To conclude, we no longer consider mixing different types of wood as ugly. Instead we now see the many benefits of mixing wood in an entire furnishing, in furniture or interior details.
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You may be surprised to hear that pine wood is popular again. The speculations about pine wood are connected to how we look at consumption and sustainability these days.
There’s an increased need to care for old furniture, such as the old yellowed pine bench. These days, we want to maintain and refine. The desire to create a sustainable society encourages us to upcycle and recycle furniture.
These days, your old pine wood furniture could go for several hundred dollars at auctions. So go for a treasure hunt in your basement or attic and never throw away your old beloved pine bench, cabinet or dining table.
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Pine wood is a durable wood and a true gold mine. Grind, stain and repaint if needed, but don’t throw it away.
Using wood in interior design also comes with health benefits. In a long-standing research project with a holistic perspective, researchers investigated how using wood in interior design affects our health.
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The study included questions about the tactile feeling, expected use of wood types indoors, how the wood material moves when exposed to moisture, and the possibility of new innovative ideas about wood types as interior material.
The research showed that wood in interior design has a positive effect on our well-being and improves air indoors. In addition, the tactile structure of the wood makes us feel good.
Another “mixed wood” trend includes using plywood boards as a comprehensive base. Plywood is not only beautiful to look at with its winding veins, patterns and fresh yellow-brown tones, it is also a sustainable material.
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Isn’t it fantastic when we don’t have to choose between function, health and design? By implementing wood in interior design, we get all these three things. After reading about all this, how do you feel? Will you start increasing the amount of wood you use in your home and in your interior? Will you start mixing woods? Or are you nostalgic now about that 50-year-old pine bench in the attic?