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Using basic home-improvement supplies as interior design details is par for the course these days. First came pegboard storage, then bare plywood cabinetry, and now, we're seeing another material take off: oriented strand board, or OSB. Never heard of it? To sum it up in a sentence, OSB is particle board's stronger cousin. (Both are engineered wood products made from wood pieces combined with resin; OSB features long wood "strands," while particle board is comprised of much smaller wood chips.) But unlike particle board, OSB has quite the attention-grabbing texture—those layers of wood strands create a funky motif that looks kind of like a flattened hay bale. All you have to do is construct some cabinet fronts or a wall or a headboard with the stuff and you've made a big design statement—just check out the inspiration we found. Of course, as with any material, there are pros and cons to this one. We also talked to Elizabeth Moody, Home Depot’s plywood merchant, to find out everything we should know about OSB:

The pros

The biggest pro of them all is cost. "OSB is generally less expensive than construction plywood for the same relative thickness; it can be anywhere from $4 to $10 per sheet," Elizabeth explains. "The price difference varies based on market conditions; both plywood and OSB are commodities, and pricing changes weekly." And when it comes to durability and versatility, OSB measures up to plywood. "In construction situations, for the same thickness, OSB is as strong as plywood," she says. Plus, it's easy to cut down to size and, though it will feel rough when you buy it, it takes well to sanding. If you'd rather not leave your OSB au naturel, it can be finished with a urethane sealant, which Elizabeth says will help stop any strands from flaking off; "OSB is also paintable, though I recommend a high-quality acrylic latex paint."