Best Wood Home Siding Ideas for Indoor-Outdoor Living

How we live in our homes is constantly evolving. Strictly separated spaces have made way to open floor plans and outdoor rooms. Naturally, this has created a growing demand for spaces that flow from indoors to outdoors, and the elegance of wood siding plays a starring role in achieving an elegant aesthetic.

 

Indoor outdoor living spaces have increased in popularity since the pandemic in 2020.

 

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Learn more about designing with wood siding with a free download, The Ultimate Guide to Wood Rainscreen Siding, here: 

The Allure of Wood Siding

Natural wood siding offers a timeless beauty and warmth that no other material can offer. It's incredibly versatile, easily integrating and enhancing a variety of architectural styles, from modern and minimalist to rustic and traditional. Wood exteriors offer rich textures and come in a variety of natural colors that suit any design vision.

But the benefits go beyond aesthetics. Mataverde wood siding:

• is a sustainable resource, harvested responsibly. 
  

• offers impressive ratings for strength, durability, insect resistance, and rot resistance
  
  
• have naturally low maintenance, needing only basic cleaning as needed and reapplying the UV resistant oil based finish to maintain the color of the wood. Or, let it weather to silver-gray and just clean as needed.

• high fiber density hardwoods and thermally modified Hemlock siding, offer low maintenance siding options especially when compared to pressure treated wood and unmodified softwoods.
  
  

Entryways covered in real wood soffits are impressive and welcoming.

Indoor-Outdoor Design Ideas with Siding

Architects, home builders, and homeowners alike can utilize wood siding to create either intimate or expansive indoor-outdoor living experiences.

For unparalleled durability, low maintenance, and a naturally stunning look, consider Mataverde's hardwood options like Garapa, Ipe, Jatoba, FSC Machiche. These high-density hardwoods offer  beautiful colors and grain patterns plus exceptional weather resistance and low maintenance needs. Ideal for both indoor and outdoor applications.

Thermally modified wood like ThermaWood Hem-Fir and fire-retardant treated counterpart ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir, gives a comparable durability to hardwood. They also have a clear vertical grain that mimics the look and color of Western Red Cedar, but with a lower price point and much better availability.

4 Wood Siding Projects To Inspire Your Design:

1. Seamless Outdoor Rooms

Sliding glass walls or double doors open up your living space to patios, decks, pools, or screened porches, making the indoors part of the outdoors. 

Cladding these outdoor areas with the same wood siding used indoors completes the cohesive designer look.

In California, a custom home was created to take advantage of the valley view. The goal was creating indoor rooms that effortlessly became outdoor living spaces. The architect chose ThermaWood Hem-Fir, a thermally modified Hemlock, for this design. 

ThermaWood has excellent durability for both interior and exterior use. Available in several sizes and profiles, and can be installed on ceilings, walls, soffits, and exteriors. 

ThermaWood Hem-Fir was used on doorways and the ceiling of this home. The ceiling matches the exterior soffits that are above the sliding wall to the pool, shown below.

Fire Retardant Wood Siding Is Possible:

You can achieve the indoor-outdoor aesthetic you desire while adhering to local fire safety building codes. When fire safety is a priority in your location, Mataverde ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir offers an exceptional solution. This thermally modified Hemlock boasts IWUI and WUI approved permanent fire-retardant treatment.

The thermal modification process and the fire-retardant treatment are both non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and the North American Hemlock lumber is sustainably harvested with a small carbon footprint. 

RELATED: Is ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir Redefining Fire Treated Wood Siding?

On the exterior walls and soffits, fire-retardant treated Thermawood FR Hem-Fir was installed vertically and also cover the soffits. The exterior was stained to a lighter color. 

The pool house was built to match the main house, with the same ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir on the exterior and ThermaWood Hem-Fir interior. Inside, there is vertical paneling and a wood covered ceiling. A pergola overhand and exterior soffits were included. 

See the whole project here: How One Design Team Found Better Fire Resistant Wood Siding

Ready for more design ideas using fire-retardant treated wood siding? Download the ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir featured project portfolio here and get inspired!

2. Extend the entryway

Keep the beauty of your wood siding going from the doorway to the interior as if it was all one piece. This creates a dramatic first impression.

Since this project is in Boston, the design was a tribute the the ships in the nearby harbor. The exterior soffit was design to look like a ship's hull. Using FSC Garapa wood, a lighter toned hardwood, the soffit curves up and around the roofline as guests pass under it to the entryway. 

Curved millwork soffits in the glass entryway, above, flows from the edge of the soffit at the window, down to the wall,  bringing the same organic shapes to the interior. Natural wood warms the cement ceilings and floor of the entryway. The design mimics the waves of the sea and continues the feeling of a ship in the water.  

3. Bringing Nature Indoors

Utilize the same wood siding on both your interior and exterior walls, and on a ceiling out to to a soffit where it meets the window.  This trick keeps the eye moving from inside to out and makes your space feel larger,  blurring the line between interior and exterior living. 

Ipe wood rainscreen siding wraps all of the exterior on this Tennessee home. From the entryway to the soffits, and all around the exterior walls. This natural wood aesthetic contrasts nicely with the stone foundation and creates an inviting curb appeal. And it extends into the interior in a beautiful way. The installation used Climate-Shield Rainscreen Siding, which creates wrapped corners and attractive window trim without "flattening" the exterior. 

Want to know more about rainscreen siding? Download your copy of the Ultimate Guide to Wood Rainscreen Siding now for more projects.

Inside, the Ipe wood ceilings were installed to match up with the ends of the soffit boards. This creates the optical illusion that the wood boards pass through the glass to the outside. Imagine being seated in that room, relaxing and feeling like you are outdoors. 

For a truly custom detail, this homeowner chose to use Ipe wood on the interior wall including pocket doors. The entire home was designed to feel welcoming and feel like you are in nature, even indoors. 

See more details created in the project blog here:  Spectacular Wood Rainscreen Project in Tennessee

Acclimating Your Wood Siding for Interior Use:

Whether for exterior or interior use, your wood siding will need to be acclimated on site properly to ensure the longevity and durability it offers.

RELATED: For exterior acclimation, check out this guide

For interior acclimation:

It is essential that your wood siding boards earmarked for interior use be acclimated inside your home, separate from the exterior material that will stay outdoors. The siding needs to acclimate to the moisture content of the interior atmosphere.

Our experts suggest adding the standard 10% to your interior material in order to accommodate for any boards that move or change shape during acclimation. Then you have the option to cut away and discard any of those pieces before installation.

Thermally modified wood advantage:

Mataverde thermally modified wood, like ThermaWood FR Hem-Fir, requires very little acclimation for interior usage. The modification process takes the Hemlock down to an interior-level moisture content, saving you a step. This also makes a much less brittle siding board compared to comparable species of pressure treated wood.

4. Interior Room Opens For Al Fresco Dining

In sunny Cardiff-By-The Sea in California, you will find a gorgeous modern home with FSC Machiche wood siding that wraps a sliding wall to bring the inside outside. 

FSC Machiche has a range of chocolate brown tones and beautiful grain pattern, bringing interest to wall behind the outdoor kitchen area and the frame of the sliding glass wall to the left. The pergola is also FSC Machiche wood. 

FSC Machiche was used on the interior wall by the sliding wall, and the exterior siding hides the sliding glass door from the deck when it's open. 

See this project in its entirety: FSC Certified Wood Siding Accents Sunny California Home

Incorporating wood siding into indoor-outdoor living spaces creates a home that effortlessly blends interior and exterior elements, fostering a connection with nature and a uniquely special living experience. Choosing the best siding option for your your home design, one that will elevate and enhance your home, is essential. With the quality wood siding options offered here, you can be assured of long lasting natural beauty and low maintenance needs so you can enjoy your indoor-outdoor living for many years to come.