Why A Wood Parquet Can Uplift Personal Wellbeing

April 23, 2020

The interior of your home plays an important role in how you feel. Color affects our emotions on more than a cursory level. You walk into a room with a blue wall and a sense of calm washes over you, similarly an energized feeling is bound to result upon sight of a red wall. Grainy and fundamentally earthy, brown is the color of wood and most closely linked to nature. Humans have an inborn affiliation for nature which explains our immediate attraction to wooden flooring. However, now we have an even better reason for installing a rich and classic parquet floor: It’s beneficial for our personal wellbeing.

In Japan, forest bathing (going for a leisurely walk in an ancient forest) has been a popular form of preventative medicine for many years. According to a field of study there, being surrounded by trees for an ample time has a healthy effect on a human being’s cells and neurons, and in many cases was able to reduce heart rate, blood pressure and even bring down stress levels. Further research in many countries has shown that interacting with nature has a positive impact on memory performance and attention spans. Keeping these details in mind, an indoor setting containing natural elements such as a living room floor covered with a rich shade of oak or ash can end up having significant health benefits. Many offices are taking these factors into account as well and in order to increase employee productivity, are designing their spaces with nature in mind. 

Since it’s quite difficult to plant tall trees in the lobby and conference rooms, one of the best ways to incorporate a touch of forest is to install wood flooring. A way to make sure that the wood on your floor has come from an actual living tree is to take a good look at the knots in it. Knots are the remains of branches in a tree trunk. Although pieces of wood where you can see a few knots can be visually appealing, the presence of too many knots are not seen as a positive sign by both buyers and manufacturers alike. People purchasing wood for their home interiors don’t like particularly knotty wood surfaces because they can be distracting and manufacturers shy away from producing wood with too many knots because it can lead to an unwarranted reduction in mechanical strength.

Wood being a natural product can be beneficial for human health and well-being in various ways. Due to the fact that it reflects long-wavelength light, wood automatically gives off a warm and natural impression. At the same time, because it produces little reflectance of UV light from its surface, a person faces less stimulation and as a result experiences less fatigue. Compared to other flooring options, wood flooring can also improve indoor air quality. Where pollen, dust, mold and animal dander can accumulate in carpet fibers, wood floors can act as hypoallergenic because they have no fibers to trap such allergens. Breathing clean air can help you destress and improve your physical and mental well-being.