Why is Finnish Wood so unique?

Let’s talk about cold climates.

Cold countries are not that popular holiday destinations. But to be honest, with the current climate warming situation, I wonder how long we will be able to enjoy the snow and frozen lakes? In December, we went with kids to Norway in a search for White Winter > you can see my blog post about it here, and in May, we decided to come back to Scandinavia, but this time to discover Finland.

Finland has a special place in our hearts because Rafa-kid’s furniture is made from plywood made here

A great product starts with great material.

Finland has a special place in our hearts because Rafa-kid’s furniture is made from quality Finnish plywood. This country is covered 65% by forests. What makes it unique are the cold nordic winters influencing the trees. Finnish Silver Birch used for Rafa-kids furniture takes its time to grow in that cold environment. This slow-growing process makes the wood extra dense and robust. It is uniquely named North-European birch hardwood. Finland has developed its expertise as the major European plywood producer over the last 100 years. Today Finnish processed birch plywood is one of the most advanced wood-based panel products and is the perfect material to make kids’ furniture!

What is plywood ?

Plywood’s a natural product made from a renewable resource. Therefore, it is one of the most environmentally friendly decorative products available! It’s made by peeling thin veneers from a tree log. Veneers are then glued together, forming a strong, uniform board – perfect for furniture production. It is super strong. Pound for pound, plywood is stronger than steel! Thanks to its unique cross-layered structure and special glue holding the veneers together. Plywood is actually stronger than the wood itself.

Almost the whole tree log is used when producing plywood, so there is only little waste! This way, we make much better use of high-value wood chosen for Rafa-kids furniture.
And we can’t forget about beauty – As architects and designers, we prefer the beauty of wood over any other material. The light tones and subtle nerves of birch are simply breathtaking. And to make it even better, Rafa-kids plywood is extra thick. Instead of standard 18mm, we use 21mm thick plywood made of whooping 15 layers of wood!

Walks on a frozen lake.

We found this beautiful wooden house in the middle of the Finnish forest. The WOW factor was the view of a lake! We planned to swim every morning and use a boat around the islands. You should see our faces when we came here and discovered that the lake was frozen in May!
Can you believe it? Local people told us it was a cold winter in 2021/2022, which makes us smile, as this means more strong wood for Rafa-kids furniture!