6 exotic wood species for a unique parquet floor

An exotic wood is a species that comes from a so-called “exotic” country, from the time of the great explorations made in American, African and Asian countries. It is also known as tropical wood, as opposed to native species. For a long time, it was considered a noble and high-end wood, but these species are becoming more democratic and easily find their place in our contemporary interiors.

Discover the 6 exotic wood species that we work with the most at Design Parquet and for which we observe the strictest specifications.

Ipe, the “green ebony”. Ipe is a species from the tropical forests of Central and South America. It is a very stable and durable wood, which makes it a good choice for a terrace, bringing a certain cachet to your exterior. Its red-brown-brown colour spectrum makes it very eye-catching for an interior floor, which will play with the fineness of its veins and the colour contrast to offer you a unique aesthetic atmosphere.

Merbau, the red wood and unknown cousin of Ipé The exotic species of Merbau has similar technical characteristics to Ipé, although it is slightly less dark than the latter. Its brown shades, ranging from yellow to red, will tend to vary and evolve over time, and its robustness makes this wood ideal for laying solid exotic parquet in living areas. Merbau grows mainly in South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia but also in Papua New Guinea.

Jatoba, the inimitable wood species Native to South America, Jatoba (or Courbaril) is an exotic species full of character, with its warm colours (beige/pinkish brown to reddish brown). When used as a parquet floor, it brings a warm and hospitable atmosphere to your home with its inimitable colour, and will allow you a wide choice of decoration. As an exotic species, it is very resistant and ideal for living areas and high traffic areas.

Doussie, the light exotic wood from tropical Africa Doussie is the perfect all-rounder, thanks to its stability, strength and resistance.  Thanks to its properties, Design Parquet offers this species in solid parquet and Loft Pro (exotic plywood parquet), but also in Navylam+, a parquet specially developed for the bathroom. Its orange-red colours bring warmth and luminosity to living rooms. This African wood will enhance any type of decoration.

Wenge, the popular dark wood The exotic species of Wenge comes from West and Central Africa (Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Mozambique, etc.) and offers a very dark, chocolate-brown wood. Its aesthetic qualities and its durability and stability make it a much sought-after choice. It is perfectly suited to living rooms, offering you a colour close to black which gives an irresistible charm to your interior. Take advantage of the contrasts by installing it in your bathroom, thanks to the Navylam+ parquet specially designed for this purpose.

Teak, the best known

Teak is a tropical tree, mainly from Asia, which produces a precious and rot-proof wood, widely used for boat decks and garden furniture. Its qualities of durability, strength and density make it the wood of choice for wet areas such as bathrooms, but also for decking to create a terrace that is resistant to the elements. At Design Parquet, we also take advantage of it to make an elegant parquet floor, where its brown colour will bring out a contemporary decoration and its high density makes it a natural choice for high traffic rooms, resistant to daily use.