In his 17 years of refinishing wood floors, ParketBræður (“The Parquet Brothers”) Founder Arturas Mekas has done only one floor with a semi-gloss finish—the rest have been matte or ultra-matte. Based in Garðabær, a town of 20,000 in the Capital Region of Iceland, Mekas has seen wide planks and herringbone patterns surge in popularity in the last four years, while European oak has maintained its top spot throughout his career. “Between 2015 and 2018, one of the biggest trends in Iceland was finishing oak floors with white pigmented oil and then applying a clear lacquer,” he says. “Today, that same look is more commonly achieved with products such as Bona Traffic Raw and Bona Classic UX Primer.” However the Scandinavian look is achieved, his clients “want wood floors that look as close to untreated wood as possible.”
Icelandic wood floor pro Arturas Mekas says his clients "want wood floors that look as close to untreated wood as possible."All images courtesy of Arturas Mekas
Arturas used to use white pigmented oil and clear lacquer to achieve the raw, Scandinavian look. Now he uses Bona Traffic Raw and Bona Classic UX Primer.
