Rattan Furniture and the Environment
Why should you buy rattan furniture? That’s a good question. Here are a few reasons to consider cane furniture – the economy, the environment and envy.
Cane Furniture and the Economy:
Imagine you have two chairs in front of you. One is made of molded plastic and the other is weaved together with natural canes. The first may be a little cheaper than the cane furniture, but does it save money in the long run?
By spending a little more money to get genuine cane furniture, you can get something that will last a long time and is stylish. The stylish adds to the value if you ever want to resell the cane furniture. I am sure plastic molded chairs are available for sale in a used condition, but I imagine they go down in value rather than increase in value.
Not all cane furniture will increase in value, but if you take care of it, it can be a good long term investment for you and your family. With the right tender loving care, it might be something your family can pass on for generations to come.
Rattan Furniture and the Environment
Rattan and bamboo are easy to replenish sources of materials for cane furniture. This makes it environmentally friendly – or at least moreso than oil based plastics.
Not everyone considers the environment when making furniture buying decisions, but if you do, you can know you’re helping to do your little part for our planet.
It may not seem like you’re doing a lot by considering cane furniture, but when it comes to the planet, every little bit helps. And using a furniture made out of materials that are easy to replenish is a good thing.
Cane Furniture and Envy
We’ve all sat in those plastic one piece chairs you find at all the large chain stores. Everyone and their grandmother seems to have at least one around somewhere. You don’t want to be just another person with the exact same molded plastic chair, do you?
Cane furniture allows you to be a little different, to be unique and the envy of all your neighbors. Cane furniture can be an extension of your personal style.
With just a little effort to hunt it down, cane furniture can help you show your style to the world – be it classical and tasteful or modern and a little weird.
Cane Furniture and the Future
Cane furniture has been around for centuries and is sure to be a style of furniture that’s used in a lot of different places for years to come. Be sure to shop around and take your time when choosing your cane furniture because with proper care, you’ll enjoy it for many, many years.
A Solution Made for Teak Lovers
Teak has been known and adored since the era of shipbuilders for its beauty, resistance against extreme weather conditions and durability. Since it has high oil inside, it covers the wood from dryness.
There are a variety of types of teakwood. Teak is grown in tropical climate of South East Asia. The best one and most required after is Indonesian. Many sources of teak wood have been found out side those countries but have no better qualities than them. Because of its quality many people local and international put teak as top listed furniture to buy.
The Indonesian forestry ministry declared a rule that every timber for export have to get listed. If the teak is under age it can not be manufactured. That’s why a solution to market demand has to be found immediately. As a result furniture manufacturer produce a new product from trash. Here, trash means a teak substance that is ever used for something else. It can be found from demolition site of old buildings, railroads, old houses, docks, boats among the other thing.
The best thing from reclaimed teak furniture is that they are recycled items. They have less environmental impact as these woods are old and are not made from cutting living trees. Regardless to the eco friendly matter, reclaimed teak has more durability compared to the new teak products in store. The 18th century woods are such immense supply for avoiding nightmare of them dying out.
Wooden furniture lovers won’t think twice to go to this new old teak creation, will they?
A Fresh New Look For Spring
Conservatories are one of the most popular improvements homeowners can make to their properties. Not only do they add value, they also offer a pleasant, sunny space in which to work or play.
Yet, conservatories are often forgotten when it comes to interior design, with shabby, sun-damaged furnishings dulling what could be a cheerful, airy room. As the transitional space between home and garden, conservatory furniture faces much more wear and tear than in other rooms and is easily stained by mud or grass. And no matter how effective your blinds are, furnishings can quickly become faded or bleached by the sun. Conservatory furniture has to be hard wearing and functional to survive, but that doesn’t mean you have to compromise on style.
This spring, why not breathe new life into your room with made to measure furniture covers that instantly transform the look of your space. There are many suppliers such as Plumbs, that can cover loose seat and back cushion covers are perfect for wicker and rattan furniture.
If you don’t currently have rattan furniture then now is a good time buy as more and more natural fibers are making their way into our homes, in light of our desire to become more eco-friendly. It is best to choose natural surfaces and materials for our home furnishings, fabrics and finishes wherever possible. Not only do they look chic and trendy, but they wear brilliantly and have minimal environmental impact. Choosing natural products for our homes is not only imperative for the homes atheistic appeal, but also for our homes health.
You could even replace your iron coffee and end tables with natural rattan tables. This fabulous summer texture and earthy material will give an entirely new look and feel to the room. Remember, the very best rooms always employ a diverse use of textures.
Make sure you don’t get carried away with the addition of rattan, you could leave your room feeling like a tiki tiki hut, which probably isn’t the best idea. Adding rattan to your rooms brings the outdoors in – as our desire to blur the line between exterior and interior spaces continues.
Fresh floral cottons are massive this spring and are perfect for conservatories, as they emphasise the link between nature and the inside space. For a classic spring-time look, opt for pretty florals in pinks and blues and for a more contemporary feel, go for bold geometric prints on scatter cushions and accessories.
Make the most of your conservatory, so that you can get back to enjoying the long awaited spring sunshine.
Furniture Design Trends of 2008 – Top 10
People love to think about what’s hot and what’s not, both in fashion, car style, and don’t forget home design and furniture trends that define the essence of your home. Fashion is about style and preference of product that makes you feel a certain way. And car trends go from getting a sports car to a SUV, and also the hottest color is no longer silver anymore, it is Pearl white for luxury cars. Now let’s get into the topics on the 2008 fashion, style, and color of furniture and design trends that will make you a design professional.
Strong mix and match colors. Of course you can mix colors like red and green or else your home would look like a home from a Dr. Seuss story. But popular colors you see at stores like Bloomingdales are using it, such as Black and White and Silver. Contrasting colors add depth to your decor and you should choose colors from matching palettes, such as contrasting earth tones, or baby colors, etc.
“X” Marks the spot. I remember the XO dining tables and coffee tables back in 2000 and as fashion trends come back and rotate by decades, the X seems to be marking the spot in 2008. You will begin to see it in many featured furnishings from retailers and manufacturers, but before a lot of metal was used and now wood seems to be the material of choice for the X.
Exotic Style. Don’t you like going to eat Thai food or Moroccan food? Or at least curious about trying it out? Well, furniture is getting to be the same in home design too. Trends are moving toward furnishing homes with the more tropical, exotic, and simple styles of tribes and countries with a different taste of culture and heritage. You can find items in this category like dark weaved wicker or rattan, or items made of bamboo, or Oriental carvings and accents. If you don’t want to make a long term investment in matching up this piece, you can go for some pillows that you can swap out when you get tired of them.
“Super-size” it. Many designers preach proportion and balance in their design. But as trends move toward things like “odd number of shelving” for wall decor, same goes for the size of your furniture, such as an oversized sectional or coffee-table ottoman. But be sure leave enough room in your floor plan or else your home will just look small, but with the super size factor in a focused piece of furniture it will help you center your design as you make your furniture choices.
Spirituality. Yoga? Zen? It is continuing to be a main theme in design and especially now when the public is focusing on an eco-design and eco-friendly world. Placing Yoga, Zen, spiritual and meditation elements into your design is a great way to ring in the 2008 eco-centric concepts that everyone is raving about.
Well, these are just some of the basic furniture and design trends of 2008 and hopefully will help you define your home that sports a pro-designer look.
Furniture Industry Set To Go Green
For years, the threat of global warming has been predicted by scientist to become increase. Unfortunately, there were only a few who heeded the call for more eco-friendly products. Today though, the awareness regarding climate change has increased. This increase in awareness has paved the way for different industries to produce green technologies and products.
The furniture industry is also taking strides in joining the ranks of industries battling global warming. Heading this initiative is furniture importer Palecek. The company pointed out that retailers can support the sustainable furniture movement without sacrificing profits. Allan Palecek expressed his message to retailers at the Sustainable Furniture Council meeting in Atlanta recently.
Held at the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market, the meeting is centered on informing retailers on what they can do to balance support for sustainability and profits. Palecek pronounced that there is a way to keep a balance between the two. He said that it is possible especially with consumers also becoming aware of the threat of climate change. Palecek also went on to say that this awareness is more apparent on younger generation of buyers.
“The job for you is to understand and to help educate the consumer,” said Palecek during the conference. The consumer needs to be aware of what is going on…There is an opportunity for younger people to get behind this.”
During his speech at the said event Palecek related that his company started out with manufacturing bamboo baskets way back in the 70s. And as part of the company’s dedication towards a sustainable future, they started offering products made from sustainable materials such as sea grass, wicker, rattan, and abaca. With the diversity in materials used for their products, the company was able to stay true to their commitment of protecting the environment.
“I brought this kind of material to the marketplace and people responded to it,” said Palecek. “Recycling and using sustainable products go hand in hand. It makes all the sense in the world,” he added.
Although Palecek said that there are ways through which furniture manufacturers can balance sustainability and profit, he said that there is still room for improvement. He pointed out that in packaging of items, plastics are still being used. Foams are also potentially dangerous to the environment and are also used in packaging furniture and other related goods such as crane mirrors.
“There is an unbelievable amount of energy wasted for packaging – it’s billions of dollars,” said Palecek. “Some of it is recycled, but for the most part, it is wasted product,” he added.
During the SFC meeting, setting a standard can help retailers tell their consumers which products are manufactured without harming the environment. This shows that the industry is working hard to make the world a better place for future generations.
Sustainable Modular Office Furniture Can Make Your Work Place Green!
I know that green is in these days, and I don’t mean the color, but living green as in environmentally friendly. For those of us who thought doing something good for the environment meant recycling our milk cartons, cereal boxes and tomato sauce cans and riding our bike occasionally, the extent of the “green” industry may be a bit of a surprise. Not only can you build your home to be “green”, but you can also get “green furniture”. There are even companies who use “green” modular office furniture.
As a matter of fact, Canada has a Sustainable Building Task Force that finalized groundbreaking environmental specs for modular office furniture purchased under state contract. Several modular furniture manufacturers bid on the contract, which goes to show that companies did not find the idea outlandish and many of them had used sustainable practices for decades. A three year contract, from 2001 to 2004 was awarded to a US company, with the idea to reevaluate and upgrade the contract after that time.
So what was Canada looking for in their sustainable modular office furniture? Well, among other requirements, some specifications included a high level of recycled content in components and packaging, no CFCs and HCFCs used in foam production, and energy efficient lighting in the work stations.
Modular office furniture and other items in the green building industry are rated. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has a Green Building Rating System. This is a nationally accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of green buildings. According to the LEED web site:
“LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building project meets the highest green building and performance measures. All certified projects receive a LEED plaque, which is the nationally recognized symbol demonstrating that a building is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work.”
LEED looks at five key areas of human and environmental health, and one of those categories is indoor environmental quality, and this includes how the building is furnished. There are more ways that your modular office furniture can be environmentally friendly that you may realize. LEED looks at the materials and resources of the furniture. This includes:
* The amount of packing material used to deliver the items to the site. Is each piece individually boxed, or is it delivered in a large truck wrapped in blankets?
* How much recycled content is in you modular office furniture?
* Is it regionally manufactured (i.e. – within 500 miles of the job site to cut down on gas transmissions)?
* Are renewable materials used in the furniture? Products made from plants that mature in 10 years or less decreases the impact on forests and longer life cycle plants.
* Are the adhesives and finishes used on the modular office furniture nontoxic? This helps to reduce harmful VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) from the office.
Many companies find that with a little effort, they can start to take steps to make their furniture more environmentally friendly. After all, the environment is not improved by one person or company doing great things, but everybody doing a little bit.
Now, you may be wondering what this type of modular office furniture looks like, after all, cubicles can already look and feel like a box! But you would be surprised. Overall, most people wouldn’t even know that your furniture is sustainably manufactured or made from partially recycled materials. Often times, items that have been remanufactured cost less, and some is quite modern and chic. I bet most people would be impressed and wonder where they could get some too!
