Material IQ Blog

Formica NG Luxe Mango farmhouse table in residential setting

Material IQ Episode 006: How the abuse of sustainability terminology impedes climate progress

October 16, 2026

Living room with a full-height warm walnut wood-grain feature wall behind a gray loveseat, beside tall black-framed windows.

Material IQ Webinar: Restyle, Resurface, Restore — Specifying Architectural Film for Commercial Interiors

October 16, 2026

This AIA-certified CEU is made possible by AMBTRA, Inc. and Altyno Architectural Finishes. It focuses on how architectural film lets designers restyle, resurface and restore existing commercial interiors in place, keeping sound cabinetry, walls, doors and fixtures out of the waste stream.

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The Shores family seated in front of their sod house with chairs, barrels and a team of horses

The best way to protect the environment? Understand the inherited wealth of the land

October 15, 2026

Best way to honor nature is to use furnishings designed to last Before about 1880 in the United States, people would travel to a photographer’s studio to have their “likeness” taken. A new genre of photography developed around 1880 as photographers could bring mobile cameras with them. The result was entire families standing outside their ... Read more

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Two of Thomas Chippendale's original ink-and-wash chair designs, one Chinese and one Gothic, pinned to a polished mahogany surface

Ancestral furniture designers, craftsmanship, and the nearly extinct wood you’ve probably never seen or heard of

October 7, 2026

Before Henry Ford, there were furniture makers moving through an early precursor to the assembly line. See how one famous furniture designer was almost forgotten to history.

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Exposed balloon framing behind removed siding, showing continuous studs notched to carry a horizontal girt that supports second-floor joists

America didn’t invent the wood house, but we did do a lot after the invention of the nail

October 6, 2026

English colonists were constrained in every building supply but wood. And America's history with it has shaped our housing style, choice, and aesthetics for 250 years.

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Material Leaders at IWF 2026

August 25, 2026

Four Material Leaders sit down for short interviews about the work they and their colleagues are doing across the industry.

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Sunlit office lobby with hardwood plywood reception desk, wall, and ceiling

Material IQ Webinar: Plywood? Seriously!

August 24, 2026

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A photo of a bedroom with wall panels featuring veneer core.

Material IQ Episode 005: “Specifying Fire Retardant Veneer Core Plywood for Interior Use (CFP 2026-1)”

July 30, 2026

In this episode of Material IQ, host Kenn Busch sits down with Alicia Powell of Columbia Forest Products to unpack the first domestically manufactured, third-party certified Class A fire retardant veneer core plywood.

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Material IQ Episode 004: A History of Decorative Laminate

July 20, 2026

Formica's brand historian Renee Hightree Darrington joins the Material IQ Podcast for a rare deep dive into the company's century-long design legacy — from its 1913 origins as an electrical insulator to the birth of mid-century modern icons like the "Skylark" boomerang pattern and Raymond Loewy's postwar pastels. Along the way: the real story behind matte finishes, Color-Core, and how paper (not plastic) built an industry — plus an unexpected sustainability angle tying Formica's history to forest health and carbon storage.

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