Using Wood to Define Your Space: A discussion with Architect Anita Rogers

Homeowners embarking on a remodeling project face many decisions but one of the most significant will be the selection of the wood they use for flooring, cabinetry and all their interior trim, including door and window casings, built-ins, and wainscoting. Wood can be painted or it can be finished to enhance its color and grain. The details of its installation can result in an interior that can run the gamut from formal to informal and from traditional to contemporary.

Selection Process

Certain architectural styles, both "mission" and "prairie" styles, for example, rely on the beauty of natural wood for their vision. But for most interiors we can be guided by the owner's personal vision. Commonly available woods such as pine, maple and oak are less expensive than exotic species including hickory, black cherry or walnut. Bamboo is becoming more popular as it is both an environmentally and economically friendly choice. Homeowners looking for a more "green" approach may also use wood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), as coming from responsibly managed forests.

Wood characteristics

Beyond the appeal to the eyes, wallet and conscience, it is important to understand wood characteristics. How durable is the wood you have selected? Does it accept paint or stain? Will its color change over time? How well will your selection hold up in a humid environment? These are important questions you will need to answer before making your final selections.

Wood durability is based on hardness. Resistance to denting and abrasion defines a wood's hardness and that can be particularly important in high-traffic, heavy-use areas, such as kitchens, mudrooms, and playrooms. Imagine the soccer cleats flying into the mudroom baseboards. Surprisingly, harder wood is not always better. Since heavy hardwoods have less dimensional stability than lighter woods they might not be the best choice in a humid area.

Choosing the right finish

Anticipating the amount of wear and tear on your woodwork will also help with your choice of finish. Painted finishes offer protection to the wood beneath and can usually be repaired when damaged. Oil finishes can give millwork a furniture quality, but polyurethane will provide better overall protection. A good finish will help reduce moisture absorption in humid areas, but it will not prevent it entirely.

Whether you are contemplating exotic species to ecologically minded wood for your project, working with your architect and/or interior designer to make these decisions will ensure you make the best choices for your space. Selecting wood can be a fun and exciting process that marries design with practicality and environmental consciousness with elegance.

* * * * *

FSC-certified Wood - A Conscientious Choice

Ali Corwin, Byggmeister Green Committee

Wood makes up the backbone of our society. While paper accounts for the fastest growing sector of the world wood economy, building lumber has a hearty impact too.

Here at Byggmeister, we are making a concerted effort to review our wood use and adopt more environmentally friendly means of working with it. This includes using wood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as coming from responsibly managed forests. FSC is an international nonprofit organization that establishes and monitors stringent standards of environmentally sound forest stewardship, including protecting the social rights of indigenous peoples and forest workers, minimizing the impact on wildlife, and encouraging the economic well being of the forest product industry.

We recognize that certifications are just one tool for evaluating environmentally sustainable products, and know that it may make more sense for us to use non-certified wood from a local source than certified wood from halfway around the world. But with "green" as the new market buzzword and supposed environmentally friendly products flooding the industry, we are conscious of being "greenwashed". The FSC offers a formal consensus process that provides transparent and stringent standards of environmental responsibility and stewardship throughout the FSC-certified wood product industry, giving us the option to choose wisely.