It’s easier to lower your standards than it is to raise your budget.
That’s today’s sauna thought. Too many people get stuck in the weeds overthinking, overcomplicating, and overspending. When the truth is, you don’t need perfection to start. You just need a sauna.
Ugly saunas are underrated. In fact, I’d argue they should become the new standard. Ugly is interesting. Ugly is UNFORGETTABLE. A sauna built with mismatched boards from your uncle’s garage, a stove that’s a little too big, or benches made out of whatever you could find locally, all of these things tell a story. And when there’s a story, the design becomes beautiful. The quirks aren’t mistakes, they’re signature features.
Take my own shop sauna as an example. It’s about as rudimentary and “ugly” as it gets...local lumber from the hardware store, no finished door, and a new “feature” every time I light it up. It took me about 4 evenings to build it, and its functioning well enough to invite friends over. Some sessions reveal a new bench height, others a different bathing situation. It’s always in motion, always evolving. And that’s the point. A sauna doesn’t need to be polished or final; it just needs to work.
Here’s what really matters: stick to the Big 4.
1. A heater properly sized for your space or build style.
2. Good airflow so the room breathes and dries.
3. Enough rock to make endless steam.
4. A way to cool down—get outside, dunk in the lake, roll in the snow, cold plunge or a garden hose shower.
If you have those four covered, everything else is forgivable. And yet, too many people get paralyzed waiting until they have more money, better plans, or the perfect set of materials. Instead of diving down the rabbit holes, go climb onto the benches of as many saunas as you can. Try different shapes and sizes. Learn by experience.
As a sauna designer/builder, I encourage my clients to do the same: use reclaimed materials, incorporate something local, add an element that has a story. I’ve worked with shipping containers, reclaimed timbers, oddball stoves, even one-off tools or ancient building practices I may never use again. Each of those choices added something memorable. They gave me more to talk about, more to learn from, and more variety to draw on for the next project. Compare that to the rinse-and-repeat builds where everything is safe, predictable, and factory-standard. While those might be efficient and profitable, they’re also forgettable.
And here’s the truth: most of us don’t have $20-40k lying around for a prepackaged sauna. Most of us are working within limits:budget, time, or space. And honestly, those limits are often where the best stories and the most rewarding builds come from.
So lower your standards, focus on function, and just get after it. The health benefits that drew you to sauna in the first place won’t show up until you’ve been at it for decades, so the sooner you start, the sooner those benefits begin. (*side note - I personally take a sauna because I love how I sleep better and it’s a great way to connect with friends and get my bathing in all at once.)
Anyways, you can always fine-tune later, or build another sauna down the road. Every imperfection is just another signature feature. Every build adds to the story.
Good luck!