False timber

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In our village, my grandfather once said, "A good house is one where the logs are visible and the cold doesn't come." Back then, we chopped logs for the winter, but now we use boards that look like they're from the same logs, only ten times lighter. Fir faux timber—that's its name. It's flat on one side, like regular clapboard, and on the other, it has a textured edge, like a real log, only without the back-breaking, wallet-busting thickness.

I first installed it in the hallway because the walls looked like cardboard: straight, but lifeless. Over the weekend, things changed – the narrow 20 x 120 mm boards stood upright, like the columns of an old house. The knots inside are vibrant, bright, without any dark spots; when the light hits them, they seem to move. Kiln drying did its job: the ends don't warp, the tongue and groove fit tightly, and after two coats of varnish, the wall shines like it was just planed.

Installation was like playing dominoes. I screwed the starter block horizontally, then inserted each subsequent board into the groove, tapped it gently with my palm, and it settled into place. The fastenings are concealed, so the screws are invisible. I lined the corners with baseboard, covered the joints with H-profile, and no one would be able to tell that the wood inside wasn't actually logs, but just twenty millimeters of wood. I left a half-centimeter gap at the floor to allow the wall to breathe.

Where should it be? Anywhere you want the warm, log look without the extra weight: in the bedroom, living room, summer house, sauna, even in a cafe, where the walls should speak, not remain silent. The Twilight is lightweight, so it doesn't weigh down the frame, and the smell in the room becomes so enticing that you want to stay longer.