Vol. 81 No. 2 (2026)
Reviews

The impact of interior design materials on people's psychophysical well-being: a literature review on the use of wood

Vittorio Seravalle
Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali (DAGRI), Università degli Studi di Firenze; piazzale delle Cascine 18 - 50144 Firenze (Italy).
Elena Barbierato
DAGRI - Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agrarie, Alimentari, Ambientali e Forestali Università degli Studi di Firenze
Sandro Sacchelli
UNIFI

Published 2026-07-07

Keywords

  • PRISMA analysis,
  • forest ecosystem services,
  • psychology,
  • neurosciences,
  • wellbeing

How to Cite

Seravalle, V., Barbierato, E., & Sacchelli, S. (2026). The impact of interior design materials on people’s psychophysical well-being: a literature review on the use of wood. L’Italia Forestale E Montana, 81(2), 103–124. https://doi.org/10.36253/ifm-1242

Abstract

The use of wood as an interior design material offers numerous and well-known advantages in terms of improving thermal and acoustic comfort. In recent years, moreover, many studies have focused on wood as a material for improvement of psychological and physiological wellbeing. Quantifying these positive effects can lead to the valorisation of the raw material, with potential positive impacts on the forestry sector. Within these premises, the paper reports the results of a literature review on the topic of “wood and wellbeing”, investigating materials and methods applied in scientific research, as well as the sample of involved interviewees. This analysis highlights the main lines of research followed, the limitations of the applications, and potential future developments.

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