Many interior and furniture applications today use the natural aspects of wooden materials as a sales advantage. Defects such as knots, colour variations and rough surfaces are called rustic, natural or vintage and will be considered as an appreciated feature by the consumers. This approach changes the traditional view of wood quality for technical uses, and also the industrial processing of the material. As a consequence, more variables of the material than before must be handled in the production. A specific challenge in the furniture industry is to treat the raw materials under this view with as small volume losses as possible. One way of decreasing losses could be achieved by fewer processing steps. The present study aims at exploring the possibility to relate the dimensions of the trees already in the forest in relation to specific furniture components, and furthermore to leave the bark on for creating specific aesthetical characteristics to the end product. In Nordic countries, birch wood has gained interest in furniture and interior applications due to its unique aesthetic qualities. In today’s forestry industry, the small-dimensioned material from harvesting operations of birch forests is normally used by the pulp industry or as fire-wood. For the interior and furniture industries these fractions may be a new source of raw material supply. However, a proper utilization of the material requires a better knowledge of its properties. The potential of using un-barked material in round form also sets special requirements in the process. The present study presents results from initial testing concerning the behaviour of the bark in round wood pieces. For the experiments, round specimens of downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) measuring 450 mm in length and with varying diameters from 30 to 80 mm at the top were used. The green wood was dried with and without bark as to study the drying velocity in relation to dimensions. The bark was studied in respect of changes in bonding to the wood and its characteristics. The preliminary results are promising for using the material in interior and furniture applications. However, there are still some shortcomings to be addressed in the future, such as the impact of the bark in the drying process as well as the bark bonding.