Terra Nova Asian Furniture's WOOD YOU KNOW Series: Bamboo

Many people prize Asian furniture made of bamboo for its lightweight strength, golden color, and the luminous beauty it brings to a room.  It appears to be lit from within and has a warm, honey colored glow.  However, did you know that bamboo is not a wood? The bamboo is one of the planet’s fastest growing plants, belonging to the grass family. A stand of bamboo can grow to maturity in five years or less. In certain conditions, a stalk of bamboo can grow 36 inches in one day. This quality makes it very appealing to those who are conscious of environmental issues and sustainability. Additionally, it is very versatile and adaptable to many uses.

The nature of the plant causes it to grow in a columnar fashion, rather than tapering from base to top. This creates a consistency of size that is very useful in furniture making, when the bamboo shaft is used for legs and support. The wood also has very high compressive and tensile strength, giving it a great deal of durability, while retaining a lighter weight than comparable materials would have.

The sectioned regularity of bamboo shafts makes it an appealing choice for design purposes. As you can see from the Asian bamboo nightstand, above, it easily invokes the sense of its natural growth, giving an added aesthetic impression to its use in furniture. However, inclusion of bamboo shafts is not the only means by which this wood can be used in furniture. Laminated bamboo has come to be used in many forms, from flooring to panels for cabinets, to complete pieces of furniture such as tables, chairs, and bedframes. A good piece of bamboo furniture can last many years.

If you decide to purchase bamboo furniture, search for pieces that are made from real bamboo, for there are less expensive bamboo look-alikes. If the piece states that it uses sustainable bamboo, that means that it was grown and harvested naturally, allowing for new growth after the harvesting. If you are ecology-minded, make sure that any bamboo veneers use nontoxic glue, and water-based stains. If the furniture was made in small villages, the artisans involved are likely to come from generations of bamboo-workers.

The Asian bamboo console table above, as well as many other unique console tables, can be found on our website, http://www.terranovadesigns.com/bamboo-console-table-if020.html.

Symbolically, in Asian cultures, bamboo can represent several favorable qualities. In Chinese culture, the plant’s long life makes it a symbol of an upright life. In India, it represents friendship. Because if its durability in harsh conditions, the Chinese also consider bamboo one of the “Three Friends of Winter,” along with pine and plumb blossom. Being aware of this background of meaning can give the owner of bamboo furniture an extra level of pleasure.  If you are looking for a beautiful piece of Asian bamboo furniture in Los Angeles, be sure to stop by our store, located at 

2251 S Sepulveda Blvd., 

Los Angeles, CA 90064 or give us a call at (310) 

478-0228.  Feel free to check out our local Yelp website for more information - and to read what our customers are saying about us! http://www.yelp.com/biz/terra-nova-designs-los-angeles-2