THE ROLE OF WOOD IN NIGERIAN HOME INTERIORDECORATIONS (A CASE STUDY OF OGUN STATE AND LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA, SOUTH-WEST)

Abstract

Home is the base for each family member; it is, therefore, important to make it as comfortable and attractive for proper development and relaxation of the family members.  Wood is one of the interior materials, that gives elegance and warmth ambiance to the room decorated.  Many people prefer to use wood for interior design and often times, outdoors design.  A wide range of modern interiors are more preferred in many contemporary homes in recent times. This paper covers the level of interest of consistent users of wooden materials in home interior design in Abeokuta, Ogun State and Surulere, Lagos State and also writes on the role of wood in Nigerian home interior decorations.  The study was carried out in Abeokuta South local government of Ogun state and Surulere local government areas of Lagos state.  Five wards were selected from each local government.  From each ward selected, ten homes were selected randomly.  Questionnaire was used for data collection based on the role and usage of wood in interior decorations.  The data collected were analyzed using percentage, frequency distribution and barchart.  The result of finding shows that 74% of the respondents are interested in the use of wooden materials for their interior decoration articles and 40% of the respondents have quality of wooden furniture as the highest factor that influence the usage in home interior design.  The study recommends that families should be well informed about the care and maintenance of wooden furniture and users of wooden furniture should consider the comfort of the furniture before purchase.  The visual analysis describes the variety of the wood end use design, interior fitting, high classical joinery and veneers.  Various spaces of teak woods are used in making furniture such as afara, mahogany, sida, ebony.  These unveil interesting designs in home interior.  A majority, about 75%, of teak woods are good as interior materials.