A read on what designers and architects are actually commissioning this year, drawn from the briefs we've quoted at PitchPro between January and now.
1. Wide-board flooring, again.
Six- and seven-inch boards in white oak, walnut and rift-sawn pine are back. Designers want the long quiet lines wide stock gives a room. We're milling more 7×1.25 boards in white oak this quarter than in the whole of 2024.
2. Visible end-grain.
End-grain panels — in joinery, kitchen islands and bar fronts — are the small detail showing up on every other moodboard. Specify it carefully: end-grain absorbs finish at four times the rate of face-grain, so a sample is essential.
The trend that quietly died: heavily white-washed Scandi pine. We haven't quoted a job in that finish since November.
3. Reclaimed Douglas fir, properly graded.
Reclaimed timber is no longer a novelty. Clients now ask for source documentation, fastener-removal certification and metal-detection passes. We work with two demolition partners in Portland to keep a small reclaimed inventory on hand.
4. Furniture-grade plywood disappearing.
Where the budget allows, designers are quietly stepping away from veneered plywood and asking for solid timber millwork — even on small builds. Five years ago we'd build one solid bookshelf for every ten ply units; the ratio is closer to one in three now.
5. Naturally greying decking.
Outdoors, the steady move is away from rich pigmented stains and toward natural greying. Fewer maintenance days, more honest patina. We're now finishing more cedar decks unfinished than oiled.
What stays.
Soft-modern walnut tables, white oak kitchens, and exposed beam ceilings remain steady year on year. There's a reason they don't fall out of style — they were never about the style in the first place.