Construction Expert on New Trend: Sauna Boards Are Even Being Glued to Living Room Ceilings

According to Mari-Liis Mihkelson, the head of the Tartu branch of Puumarket, the Baltic region's largest timber retailer, wood sales have increased significantly over the past year due to low prices, and one of the major trends is the use of parquet, wooden slats, and even sauna boards on living room walls and ceilings.

According to Mari-Liis Mihkelson, the use of wood instead of wallpaper has moved from countryside homes to the most modern city apartments. "Particularly popular is the use of wooden slats in living rooms and bedrooms. Typically, one wall or certain elements are covered with wood material, but in very modern 1960s-70s style modernist design homes, entire walls and ceilings are done with slats and valuable wood," said Mihkelson.

"The main purpose of using wood is to make the home more interesting and warmer. Wooden slats also improve room acoustics by reducing echo, and together with a felt base layer they dampen sounds coming from other rooms. Slats are easy to install, often they are simply glued to the wall," said Mihkelson.

"In addition to slats, completely ordinary floor parquet and also thermally treated wood, generally intended for use in saunas, are applied to walls and ceilings. Thermal treatment brings out the beautiful pattern of the wood, but you should keep in mind that such material has a stronger ripe wood smell, which may not suit everyone," added Mihkelson.

According to the Puumarket branch manager, in interior design, gray, green, and blue tones are also very popular in addition to wood stained dark. "Often black and lighter tones are also combined with each other as a contrast," said Mihkelson.

"Since wood prices have fallen significantly over the past year, it is being used a lot in home renovation and refreshing. In terms of volume, for example, terrace material was purchased this year almost half more compared to last year, and indoor finishing wood sales have also increased by a third. In terms of price, we've probably hit the bottom now," added Mihkelson.