Timber Transformations: 13 Space-Expanding Interior Wood Inserts

Modular Plywood Partition
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This L-shaped plywood insert in a renovated ‘80s apartment adds storage and benches while walling off a sleeping area, maintaining an open and airy feel.

Unfinished Plywood Bed Nooks & Bookcases
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A mostly-white modern home gets some warmth and coziness thanks to the application of plenty of unfinished plywood, including a fireplace room divider, built-in bookshelves and a bunk bed nook beside a series of closets.

Fun Houses Within a Restaurant
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Commercial spaces can benefit from similar ideas, like the three wooden ‘fun houses’ that divide up a combination restaurant and children’s play space in Argentina.

Wardrobe and Sauna Cabinet Combination
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What looks like an ordinary wardrobe cabinet from one side is revealed to be a self-contained sauna on the other. Says designer Anna van der Lei, “The Dutch version of the Finnish sauna. You don to have to have a large garden or a great deal of space to accommodate it: the dressing room and the bathing space are integrated in a single large closet made of larch wood. The specially designed joints expand when they become wet, ensuring that the bath closet remains fully watertight.”