Stress levels reduced by lighter wood colours

Lighter coloured stains on wood may be better options than darker ones.  Burnard and Kutnar tie an oak finish to lower stress levels in workplaces, but found that a walnut one didn’t have the same effect. They report that when “human stress responses were compared in experimental office settings with and without wood. . . .  as indicated by salivary cortisol concentration. . . . overall stress levels were lower in the office-like environment with oak wood than the control room [white furniture], but there was no detectable difference in stress levels between the office-like environment with [American] walnut wood and the control room. . . . it is possible to use wood furniture as a passive environmental intervention to help office workers cope with stress.”  David Fell’s dissertation work showed that seeing wood grain is a de-stressing experience.

Michael Burnard and Andreja Kutnar.  “Human Stress Responses in Office-Like Environments with Wood Furniture.”  Building Research and Information, in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2019.1660609