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New ways to incorporate bamboo into your home or office design

Partially due to its environmental sustainability, and partially due to its practical advantages, bamboo has become a go-to material for artists and designers in recent years. One area where it has been especially useful is residential and commercial design.

Floor to ceiling, bamboo is making a major impact on the way we live at home and in the office, and with new bamboo products coming out on a regular basis, that evolution is sure to continue.

Bamboo panels

Bamboo panels represent one of the innovative ways designers and manufacturers are increasing the versatility of bamboo as a decorative element. In San Francisco, bamboo product manufacturer and distributor Smith & Fong recently released its new line of bamboo panels, which it calls the Reveal Collection.

The carved and textured Reveal bamboo panels mesh the face layer and revealed inner core to create a remarkably visually appealing amenity that you can install in any room, public or private.

The collection, which uses Smith & Fong’s proprietary RealCore™ technology to ensure consistency and stability, comes in eight different color patterns and colors, providing you with even more options when you are designing your indoor spaces.

Just as important at the aesthetic element are the eco-friendly aspects of the panels. Bamboo is a sustainable alternative to hardwood, as it naturally regrows in a short, three to five year timeframe. And the Reveal panels are made of 100-percent Forest Stewardship Council certified bamboo, while also being free of urea formaldehyde. Those are just a few of the reasons they can help you earn three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design credits.

Bamboo furniture

During the recent Beijing Design Week, artist and designer Jeff Da-yu Shi exhibited several pieces of furniture made of bamboo. He has been working on this line of products for more than two years, and design week gave him an opportunity to show them off to the public.

Part of the reason it took Shi so long to finish his line of furniture is that he is an adherent of “slowwork,” according to Design Boom.

“It is not only rethinking of mass production, but also an important spirit from our culture,” Shi told the magazine. “Designers need to spend more time on studying the material, craftsmanship, looking into the designs from the root. By doing so, design products will have the opportunity to surpass the test of time. Therefore, research, design, verification and breakthrough are the four key factors of ‘slowwork’.”

By incorporating bamboo into his process, Shi was able to create magnificent pieces of bamboo furniture that are also true to his culture and the environment.

Plyboo Sound bamboo panels vie for Interior Design magazine award

Time is running out to vote for the Interior Magazine Best of the Year awards, and the Architectural Products category has inspired some pretty fierce competition. Among the entrants vying for the prize is the Plyboo Sound line of products from the San Francisco-based designer and manufacturer of eco-friendly bamboo products, Smith & Fong.

While there are certainly several products in the category that are deserving of recognition, Plyboo Sound offers a level of elegance, sophistication, technological expertise and practical benefit that few, if any, of its competitors can match.

What is Plyboo Sound?

Plyboo Sound is a line of bamboo panels that use Smith & Fong’s proprietary sound-dampening QuietWall™ technology to help reduce ambient noise. Made from rapidly renewable bamboo that is 100 percent certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, Plyboo Sound panels are also completely free of urea-formaldehyde.

Plyboo Sound also incorporates Smith & Fong’s RealCore™ technology and bi-directional construction, both of which ensure that the exposed cores are consistent and that stability is maximized. And it accomplishes all of that while remaining an attractive option for large open work spaces, hospitality venues and other public areas.

The many benefits of Plyboo Sound

Plyboo Sound panels offer a number of advantages – practical, aesthetic and environmental – over traditional wood or composite paneling.

With a Noise Reduction Coefficient average of 0.5, the QuietWall technology allows the panels to reduce ambient noise in public places, an important amenity in today’s design world where open floor plans have become the dominant style in many offices and commercial buildings.

They also come in eight different pre-finished or unfinished patterns and colors, and are available in sheet sizes of 4-by-8 feet, with a .75-inch thickness. That diversity of patterns and colors provides a wide range of options when it comes to creating a visually appealing environment wherever the panels are installed.

And Plyboo Sound’s environmental benefits are not to be understated. They contribute toward three Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design credits, partially based on their avoidance of urea-formaldehyde.

Although it’s a well-known cause of several adverse health effects that impact the eyes, nose and respiratory system, urea-formaldehyde is still used in many construction projects. By eschewing the substance, Smith & Fong has added yet another eco- and human-friendly element to this already impressive product.

Voting for the Best of Year awards closes on Friday, Oct. 11, so be sure to log onto Interior Design’s website and fill out your ballot today.

Plyboo Reveal bamboo panels and the annual Interior Design awards

Voting for the Interior Design magazine annual Best of Year awards is in full swing, and the Plyboo Reveal collection, from Smith & Fong, is among the entrants with aspirations for winning one of the coveted honors. And with voting taking place between Oct. 1 and 11, you’re going to want to log on to Interior Design’s site and place your vote within the next few days.

What is Plyboo Reveal?

Competing in the materials and surfaces category, the Reveal products are a series of carved and textured bamboo panels. Plyboo Reveal features a spectacular visual effect, which is created by the interplay between the exterior layer and a revealed inner core.

Offered in eight different patterns and color options, the Reveal line is also remarkable for its stability, a quality it achieves through Plyboo’s proprietary RealCore™ technology. That technology, along with bamboo material layered in a bi-directional layer format, ensures consistency in the revealed cores.

Why Plyboo Reveal?

The Reveal bamboo panels are ideal for open-concept office spaces where ambient noise and vocal collaboration can often become distractions for other workers. Its acoustical-dampening effect works to mute the cacophony of sounds that tend to float through those attractive yet sometimes impractical spaces. A well-placed selection of the 4-by-8, .25-inch-thick panels, which are available pre-finished or unfinished, can help accentuate the visual appeal of office spaces while also helping to make them more comfortable and enjoyable places to work.

Beyond wall panels, they are also excellent options for elevator lobbies and cabs, reception desks, focus walls or simply as artistic adornment.

Plyboo Reveal’s environmental benefits

The Reveal collection is not only notable for its beauty and stability, it is also an eco-friendly option for homeowners, contractors, designers and developers who are looking to make their structures and spaces more environmentally sustainable.

Made from rapidly renewable bamboo that is also certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, the Reveal products are good for 3 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits.
LEED has become the environmental standard that owners and developers of new and renovated buildings are attempting to achieve in their effort to meet the requirements of a changing world – one that is more aware of environmental techniques in all facets of daily life.

Discovering and voting for Plyboo Reveal

If you would like to learn more about Plyboo Reveal, go to the Plyboo website, where you can find specs and pricing for various products in the line. And once you’re aware of their many benefits, you can go to the voting page for the Interior Design awards and place your vote.

Bamboo house could help alleviate many world problems

Bamboo floors and panels have almost become commonplace in modern home design and renovation, but what about entire structures made of the stuff?

In Vietnam, one architectural firm is using bamboo to build low-cost homes that can withstand floods and operate as environmentally sustainable structures. It’s a design that could prove revolutionary on many different levels.

Low-cost housing option

The 473-square-foot structure, designed by H & P Architects and known as Blooming Bamboo, is expected to cost approximately $2,500 per structure, making it the kind of option that could be purchased even in economically-distressed communities.

By relying on natural bamboo, which can be found in abundance many places around the globe, H & P was able to use a material that helped bring the overall cost of manufacturing down to the point that the home would be economically viable even for those who wouldn’t normally have the financial means to purchase a home.

Easy to build

Another attribute that could make this new home an important part of aiding world communities is that it can be assembled by the owner within 25 days or, with help, in even less time. That cuts into costly, deliberate construction delays that often hamper the extension of housing availability to areas where it is needed most.

Regional conflicts around the world, especially the ongoing one in Syria, have led to a sharp increase in refugees and, thus, refugee camps. That’s why it is so important to have housing options that can be erected quickly, while also offering strong shelter and protection from diseases that often thrive in the tents and other cheap structures often relied on by aid agencies.

Flood-resistant

Currently, Blooming Bamboo is designed to withstand floods of up to five feet, but H & P is working on an updated version that would take that number up to 10 feet. Especially in southeast Asia, where flood seasons are simply considered part of life, this low-cost, simple structure could provide a measure of relief to populations who are literally inundated on a yearly basis.

Environmentally sound

One of bamboo’s primary virtues as a building material is that it provides a sustainable alternative to hardwoods and other strong substances. By using it as the base for the house, H & P has not only come up with a low-cost, easy-to-build, flood-resistant housing option that could be a boon to distressed populations in many parts of the world, it has done so in an eco-friendly manner, once again showing the power of bamboo to be a tool in solving modern problems.

Using the natural world to inspire and create

For many people, making a house a home involves incorporating natural materials and into their building and design strategies. By creating spaces that have the look and feel of the outside world, homeowners and contractors can bring the tranquility of nature indoors while also maintaining a sense of intimacy.

Taking inspiration from the natural world

When you begin a design or construction project, it’s important to find inspiration in all manner of places. In nature, four and a half billion years of trial and error have produced the kinds of concepts that will serve you well when you look for insights into creating a comfortable yet eye-catching indoor or outdoor space.

Whether you’re trying to decide which materials to use, or looking for design patterns, the examples you see all around you can be the best place to start your process.

Natural materials and amenities

Hardwood floors are always an excellent place to start when trying to assimilate natural elements into your home or commercial spaces. Among the many options available, bamboo floors provide an option that not only captures the kind of rustic feel you may be looking for, they’re also a sustainable alternative to more traditional maple or oak. And if you’re going to take your inspiration from nature, shouldn’t you also opt for something that returns the favor?

If you want to carry that theme over to other surfaces, bamboo panels are also an excellent option for decorating your walls and cabinets. They can work as extensions of your floors while providing a smooth, attractive finish that will have you luxuriating in your wood-finished oasis.

Outdoor areas with an outdoor feel

Porches, balconies and decks often transpose indoor styles on outdoor areas. But using plastics and metals to build and decorate an outdoor recreation and relaxation area is like eating a spoon with a bowl of soup. Instead, consider molding those spaces so that they complement their natural surroundings.

Bamboo decking is one way to achieve that aesthetic. By giving your deck or patio a wood-finished look, it will become a seamless extension of its surroundings, making it appear as if your home melds into its environment. By using that sort of design concept, you will make your backyard or public commercial space a place where people want to gather to commune with nature, not set themselves apart from it.

Through nature, we are constantly surrounded by an aura only remotely captured by the word “beauty.” Do right by yourself and take advantage of it.

Jewish holiday celebrated with bamboo

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot – which gets its name from the pluralization of the word Sukkah, meaning “booth” or “tabernacle” – recently came to an end after its annual eight-day celebration.

Every year, Jews around the world build a small walled structure out of wood, steel, plants and other materials to commemorate the dwellings their ancient ancestors lived in during their 40-year sojourn in the desert after the exodus from Egypt. This year, one community in Wesleyan, Ohio, observed the holiday by building their Sukkah out of material rarely associated with Jewish culture or arid habitats: bamboo.

Wesleyan University finds novel way to celebrate holiday

This year, Sukkot ran from Sept. 18-26, and about a week prior, members of Ohio-Wesleyan University’s Physical Plant staff spent several days assembling a large Sukkah made completely out of bamboo and steel rods on the lawn of the campus’ Olin Library.

The Sukkah is meant to be a gathering spot, and the holiday a happy, celebratory one. On the Wesleyan campus, the bamboo Sukkot served both of those purposes, bringing students of all denominations together to study, socialize and relax.

Other Jewish communities use bamboo in their Sukkot

Wesleyan was far from the only Jewish community that incorporated bamboo in its Sukkah. From Washington, D.C., to Omaha, Neb., to California’s Inland Empire region, Sukkot were being built with bamboo rods, echoing the way that bamboo has caught on in modern and architecture and design around the world.

Not that long ago, many Jews made their Sukkot using simple, easy-to-find materials, like lumber, metal and even tarp. But as people have gained greater awareness and interest in using environmentally friendly, sustainable substances in buildings of all kinds, bamboo has become a popular option during the holiday.

Thanks to bamboo, the Sukkah erected at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., looked more like a piece of contemporary art than the makeshift structures that were common not that long ago. And in Omaha, families slept in their Sukkot, looking up at the stars through bamboo rods. Using bamboo also helped Orthodox Jews in California build a traveling Sukkah that they could bring to families who didn’t have the means or ability to build their own.

While products like commercial bamboo flooring, bamboo plywood and bamboo panels may be the most common, year-round products that employ the material, Sukkot showed it is something that has all manner of applications.

The golden ratio in modern design

For more than 2,000 years, architects, artists and designers have used the “golden ratio” as the basis for their work. Originally put forward by Euclid, the “Father of Geometry,” in about 300 B.C.E., the ratio is: a+b is to a as a is to b.

While that may seem a bit technical, the ratio describes in a relatively simple manner a proportion that can be used to create buildings and design spaces that make them optimally attractive on a visual level. It is also widely seen in nature – proportions for flowers, animals and even bamboo often ascribe to the ratio – further solidifying its importance as a descriptor of basic beauty.

The golden ratio in art and design

Also known as the divine proportion, the golden ratio has been used in some of the most famous buildings and works of art in human history, from the Parthenon in Athens to the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci. More recently, it has also become an important component of modern design.

In her new coffee table book on interior design, “The Inspired Home: Interiors of Deep Beauty,” author Karen Lehrman Bloch set out to discover the scientific underpinning behind why she, and many others for that matter, found certain spaces especially appealing. What she found was that many of those spaces – consciously or not – incorporated the golden ratio in some way.

“I began looking at all this new scientific research coming out that was showing why we are attracted to certain things in terms of art and design, what universal principles in architecture and interior design help us feel good,” Bloch told The New York Post. “Those studies were more about hospitals and care centers, but I thought, ‘Why can’t we apply this to homes?’ I tried to figure out why a space affected me, what makes it beautiful, why I responded in a deep, emotional way. They were rooms with texture, proportion, grandeur, elegance.”

Using the golden ratio in your interior space

Though it may seem complicated, it is actually rather easy to apply the golden ratio in your own design project. And you don’t even need complex math to figure out how to use it.

Rectangles. Rectangular rooms often “feel” more attractive because they naturally adhere to the ratio. If your room has a different shape, try to give it a more rectangular layout.

The Fibonacci sequence. An outgrowth of the golden ratio, the Fibonacci sequence takes it to a more three dimensional level by turning it into a spiral, much like a seashell. Look for furniture or decorations that incorporate spiral patterns, or use spiral layouts for your furniture and accessories.

Finding inspiration for your design project

When it comes to designing a home or office space, inspiration can come from anywhere. You can rely on a childhood memory or incorporate something from a friend or neighbor. You can turn to a favorite book, movie, stage or television show. The options are only as limited as your imagination allows.

Searching for inspiration

While some people will have a very clear idea of how they want their living or work space to look, others might start out with a more nebulous vision. For those whose mental picture of the outcome of their efforts isn’t as detailed, try carrying a notebook around with you or using your smartphone to record notes on ideas and inspirations.

Keeping notes is one of the most effective ways of putting together a design scheme. You can track and organize different things that catch your eye, record details of specific items of art or furniture that you might want to incorporate and build a database of different styles or materials that you’ll want to use or avoid.

Maybe you’ll wander into a friend’s home or a professional office and be struck by the way they use bamboo panels or the style of the hardwood floors. You might find a coffee table or couch you find especially appealing. By recording these things you will have a wealth of information to work off of when the time comes to get down to the business of designing your own spaces.

Finding what you want

Once you’ve built a list of wants, needs and things to avoid it’s time to find find those items out in the real world. Hopefully, part of your note taking involved recording where many of your inspirations can be found, but either way there are some places you’ll want to look.

If you’re going for a classic look, local antique stores and garage sales always present opportunities. Many of the bigger sales or antique stores will be listed either online or in a local newspaper.

Much like you’ve set up a plan to capture and inspiration, come up with an itinerary for your shopping travels. Maybe find an area that has multiple antique stores and come up with a plan that will allow you to see multiple places in one outing.

However, if you’ve decided that something more modern and innovative better fits your style you will want to look for boutique stores and online retailers to find a range of options. No matter which direction your inspiration takes you, be sure to keep records of what you’re doing. They will become an invaluable resource for you.

Bamboo for your decks and patios

What better way to accentuate your outdoor spaces than to use a natural grass to build your deck or patio? It might seem counterintuitive, but there is one type of grass that is stronger than wood, while also being more durable and environmentally sustainable. That grass is, of course, bamboo.

While it might not be what most people first think of when they go about selecting a material for their outdoor living spaces, bamboo offers a number of practical advantages over other products on the market.

Bamboo for your deck

Bamboo decking is quickly becoming one of the most popular choices among contractors and DIYers. Its strength and ability to withstand punishment make it perfect for outdoor projects, and with its natural wood finish it can blend in with almost any exterior feature of your residential or commercial building.

Of all the different flooring types available to you for your outdoor project – from hardwood to manufactured composite materials and beyond – bamboo’s virtues as an environmentally friendly product also make it stand apart. Grown in China, the bamboo used for such projects naturally regrows, effectively captures carbon and doesn’t require the application of pesticides or other chemicals. It’s one reason that, despite having been on the market for a much shorter time than many of its alternatives, it has already found a niche among builders.

Bamboo as a design element

Another thing that serves bamboo well in outdoor structures is its beautiful wood finish. Stained bamboo floors, like ebony or bronze strand Plyboo decking from Smith & Fong, fit in seamlessly with their environment, creating an overall aesthetic that can make them almost look as if they grew out of your backyard.

The inherent strength and durability also make them ideal for any type of product or design style you may want to add to the surface. If you want to turn your deck or patio into a spot for entertaining guests, bamboo can hold up to even the heaviest use, while also being able to support the tables, chairs and grilling instruments you will need to accommodate all those people.

If, on the other hand, you just want your deck to be a place to relax and lounge on during the warm spring and summer months, then you can find any number of porch swings, hammocks and other outdoor furniture options that will meld with your surroundings to create a cozy environment.

Finally, bamboo will be able to hold up against the harsh weather it will face throughout the fall and winter, as its natural durability is perfect for dealing with the worst mother nature can throw at it.

How to protect your floors from damage

One of the great satisfactions of installing new hardwood floors is being able to show them off to guests. It’s very likely you’ve put a lot of time, effort and consideration into your choice of flooring and the installation process, so once the process has been completed you’re probably going to want others to appreciate what you’ve accomplished.

How will you go about that? Instead of having business clients, family and friends over in a piecemeal fashion, why not throw a party and have everyone bask in the glory of your freshly implemented design idea all at once? Of course, if you do that, you’ll definitely need to protect those new floors from the wear, tear and spills that can come along with hosting a large number of people.

Choosing the right flooring

The material you choose for your floors will play a major role in keeping them protected. Many people prefer the look and feel of traditional hardwood, but even with a stained surface most wood materials will soak up spills and take a beating from continued use.

One alternative option that has proven to stand up to the test of repeated heavy use is bamboo flooring. Bamboo strand, offering a higher density than traditional wood, bamboo floors are built to handle the most demanding home and commercial environments. It’s one way to head off damage before it even sets foot in your home or office.

Staining your floors for protection and style

Bamboo floors can come pre-finsihed or unfinished. An Unfinished floor should always have a finished applied as part of the installation process. A pre-finished floor, comes with a factory finish, however a top coat could be applied for an added layer of protection.

Staining not only offers a layer of coating that will help prevent spills and scuffs from settling into your floors, it also can be part of the design of your home. There are many different colors available to choose from, and if you’ve opted for bamboo or hardwood floors, staining can really bring out the classic browns, oranges and yellows that make those such appealing options.

Removing stains and scars

No matter how effective you are in protecting your floors, it’s inevitable that they will get damaged in some way. But you can at least mitigate that damage in a few easy steps.

  • Gently sand the damaged area.
  • Clean after sanding using products specifically designed for wood floors.
  • Reapply the finish coat (if necessary, you will have to re-stain before applying the finish).

Redesigning a vintage home

Designers and DIYers often appreciate nothing more than taking a vintage home and using their skills and experience to turn it into a mesh of classic and modern styles. Their goal is to find a way to take the things about the home that made them fall in love with it in the first place, then add features and elements that retain its old-school feel while incorporating modern technology and style.

Working within the original framework

If you’ve decided to buy a vintage home it’s probably because you have an appreciation for the nostalgic essence it provides. So, as you go about redesigning it, you don’t want to lose that traditional appeal. In order to preserve what made the property so attractive in the first place, you’ll almost always want to work with what’s already there, instead of gutting it and starting from scratch.

One of the aspects of a vintage home that often needs the most work is flooring. Even if the home has been redesigned in the years since it was built, floors are one area that people often leave untouched. Preferring to stick with the original design, especially when the floors offer a beautiful complement to the overall environment of the home, they will settle for material that has withered or cracked in the intervening years. Aging hardwood floors are probably the most frequent example, since they are usually vital to the what makes the home so special, but also don’t necessarily stand up to the test of time.

Fortunately, there are ways to replace those old floors with something that can retain their original aesthetic value while also providing an environmental and visual upgrade. Bamboo products, including formaldehyde free flooring from the Smith & Fong company, are visually stunning and environmentally sustainable, making them an excellent option as you consider how to go about redoing your vintage home.

Reimagining your indoor spaces

Most vintage homes offer far more opportunities for redesign than just the floors. There may be foundational issues, surfaces that have to be re-stained or replaced altogether, and a raft of painting jobs throughout the house. Fortunately, these problems also present chances for you to use your keen eye for design to fashion them into your ideal living areas while also using more environmentally friendly products and materials.

Bamboo plywood for your foundations and bamboo panels to replace aging surfaces are two of the many choices available to you in your pursuit of turning your vintage home into a modern, efficient and gorgeous work of art.

Preventing scratches and dents on your bamboo floors

When it comes to designing or redoing your home, bamboo flooring offers a variety benefits over traditional hardwood and other materials. It’s more environmentally friendly, stands up to heavy use more effectively and is more easily adaptable to different styles and designs.

However, once you choose to go with bamboo for your floors, you still face the same challenges of preventing scratches and dings that can mar your pristine indoor surfaces. Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to avoid such damage, and most of them are relatively simple.

Clean the outside of your home

While your target is keeping the inside of your home clean, the way you handle your outdoor areas can have a major impact on what happens inside. Sweeping debris and dust away from high-traffic areas outside, like porches, entryways and garages, can give you a head start on keeping unwanted material from entering your home.

Utilize your floor plan

By changing up your floor plan on a semi-regular basis you can move the high-traffic areas of your rooms around so that certain spots don’t experience excessive wear and tear. You can also use rugs to protect the most vulnerable areas, while also giving yourself another design element.

While you’re at it, you will probably want to protect your floors from furniture by avoiding items with plastic wheels, using fabric pads on the feet of couches and chairs, or even turning to DIY options like old T-shirts or socks.

Beware of feet

Both your feet and those of your pets can be the biggest threat to your floors. By taking off your shoes upon entering your home, regularly trimming the claws of your pets and being especially cautious when changing weather conditions increase the chances of mud, dirt, snow and other natural elements making their way into your home you can better prevent damage to your bamboo floors.

Staining your floors

Adding an extra layer of protection to your floors through staining or top coating can also prevent scratches, but they may also decrease the floor’s visual appeal. Stained bamboo floors tend to give you the best of both worlds, as they offer better protection while remaining aesthetically pleasing.

How to live a more environmentally sustainable lifestyle

In today’s more eco-centric world, the word “sustainability” gets thrown around a lot. But what does it mean?

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, sustainability is a basic principle meaning, “Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of present and future generations.”

Applying the principle of sustainability

Even without a definition from a government agency, most people can come up with their own relatively similar understanding of sustainability. The problem is figuring out how to apply it to everyday life.

Sustainability requires more than just recycling and turning off the lights when you leave a room. To truly practice it, you have to make a conscious effort to utilize sustainable practices as often as you can in every facet of your life. That means thinking about it when you go to the grocery store, buy clothes and consider renovations to your home.

Sustainability in the home

Since your home is probably where you spend most of your time, it affords you the greatest opportunity to practice sustainability. Conserving energy by switching to LED light bulbs, turning thermostats down in the winter and up in the summer, and avoiding the use of appliances like dishwashers and microwaves whenever possible are just a few steps you can take.

But sustainability also extends to the way you design your home in the first place. Using products that are less harmful to the environment, like bamboo flooring, bamboo panels and bamboo plywood, provide significant sustainability advantages over traditional wood, and can be a major step toward leading a more ecologically productive lifestyle.

Using bamboo products to live a more sustainable lifestyle

With the ability to naturally regenerate on an annual basis, bamboo doesn’t have many of the dangerous deforestation effects Dr. Seuss warned us all about in The Lorax. Nor does it use the kinds of pesticides, fertilizer or erosion-causing artificial irrigation techniques that go into growing many other materials.

Bamboo also helps avoid erosion with its rhizome root structure that holds loose soil in place. The climate change benefits are also stunning, as bamboo forests can capture up to 70 percent more carbon per year than their hardwood counterparts.

Certain bamboo products, like Plyboo, from Smith & Fong, even eliminate formaldehyde from the adhesive process, leading to better indoor air quality.
Living a more sustainable lifestyle is a matter of awareness and effort. Fortunately, new products are becoming available every day that make that goal more attainable.

Using bamboo in your next project

Whether you’re a contractor or a DIYer, the type of materials you use in your next construction or home design project will be an important consideration. As you think about the look, feel and practicality of your interior spaces, it’s important to understand the impact all of the different materials that are available to you will have. Wood, brick, granite and steel are some of the go-to components for most home projects, but as design has become a major industry in America over the past few years, the options have greatly increased.

Building and design alternatives

While many of the traditional building and design components can and will play a major role in most any project you undertake, there are a slew of newer or repurposed older materials that are taking a larger role in the marketplace.

Beyond expanded consumer demand and awareness of design and construction, people are also more keen than ever to make their homes more sustainable and environmentally friendly. To that end, products made with bamboo and hemp, or that are manufactured from recycled, salvaged and natural building materials have been gaining in popularity over the past decade.

Of those products, bamboo has experienced some incredible growth in its use as a nearly all-purpose solution for some of the most difficult building and design problems. Unlike many of the other alternative materials, bamboo can be used in almost every room of the house, on nearly every type of surface and in a wide variety of styles and colors.

Using bamboo products to build and design a home

Flooring and paneling are the two most common areas where bamboo is being used. However, with new innovations like Plyboo, a bamboo-based alternative to traditional plywood, the options for using durable, pliable, sustainable bamboo in your home are growing all the time.

Plyboo, which is manufactured by Smith & Fong, can be the basis for turning any room of your home, office, restaurant or other space into a sleek yet comfortable environment. It’s especially adaptable to surfaces or structures that would normally call for wood, as it can retain the same look and feel while also being easier to install and paint in most cases.

As you begin to contemplate how to go about your next construction or design project, allow yourself to explore different styles and materials. By using sustainable, alternative materials, you can make your project both a showpiece and an example of modern, environmentally friendly architecture and design.

Bamboo plywood in the modern kitchen

For many people, the kitchen is the most important room in the house. It’s not just where they cook their meals, it’s a gathering place, living room, dining room and work station all in one. It’s a centerpiece of the home and can be a sanctuary from the trials and responsibilities of modern life. So making that room as welcoming and comfortable as possible is a top priority in most home designs.

Creative kitchen designs

These days, there may be more options for designing or redesigning your kitchen than there are kitchens in need of those services. Home design has been one of the true growth industries in the United States over the past several years, as more Americans choose to spend their money on longer term projects like home efficiency and design, rather than on perishable goods like clothes and entertainment.

The only downside of that remarkable range of choice is that it can be hard to sift through all of the options and find what works best for you and your kitchen. One area of that industry that has garnered a lot of attention lately is products made with bamboo. Panels and flooring are just two of the many bamboo-derived products that can emulate the look and feel of wood in your kitchen while being more durable, resistant and environmentally sustainable.

Bamboo products are also extremely versatile. Although primarily used for cabinetry and flooring, they can also be used to build or adorn other kitchen essentials like tables and chairs, and to decoratively cover other surface areas as well.

The many benefits of bamboo

While technically a grass, bamboo is actually much stronger than many types of wood. And that strength doesn’t come at the cost of pliability, as bamboo hardwood floors retain their springiness for years, making high-traffic areas like the kitchen ideal spots for installation.

Plyboo, from Smith & Fong, a San Francisco company that has been in the business for more than 20 years, is a type of bamboo plywood that can be easily adapted to pretty much any project in pretty much any kitchen. Whether it’s used strictly as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional plywood, or as part of the aesthetic design of your kitchen or other parts of your home,

Plyboo is the ideal product for the modern homeowner who is looking to marry style and sustainability.

Upgrading your home with bamboo flooring.

Between the growing popularity of home improvement shows and increasing public awareness of the need to make living spaces more environmentally friendly, sustainable products like bamboo flooring and paneling are becoming a keystone of smart interior design.

Bamboo products and the environmentally friendly home

As demand for cleaner, greener products and technologies continues to expand and standards and certifications like Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Building Council become more prevalent, the future of the American home is in the midst of a major shift toward a more intelligent, efficient future. A major part of that shift is occurring with the wider adoption of bamboo products for the home.

As an environmentally friendly product, bamboo offers a number of advantages. The farming and processing of bamboo has a minimal environmental impact compared to traditional hardwood forestry, offering more effective carbon sequestration, erosion prevention and natural annual regeneration.

For those looking to make their home as efficient and sustainable as possible, there are a number of products available that can easily be tailored to your living environment. And bamboo wood floors capture the look and feel of traditional hardwood floors without contributing to deforestation.

Bamboo products and home design

Bamboo can provide a number of benefits for your home beyond its environmental advantages. Whether it’s used in apartment buildings to reduce noise between units or in high-traffic areas throughout the home such as play rooms for the kids, bamboo’s durability and pliability reduce noise and hold up to heavy use at an exceptional rate.

And aside from the utilitarian benefits, when used in the home, bamboo wood floors are also aesthetically pleasing. Sporting a natural wood finish, they fit in seamlessly with most home design environments and can be used to enhance the look and feel of any room in the house.

Finding the right bamboo home products

As people become more aware of the advantages bamboo confers on the home, more products are entering the marketplace. Plyboo, available in both plywood and flooring, manufactured by San Francisco-based Smith & Fong Company, is a well-established brand, having first been introduced more than 20 years ago.

Being so far out in front of the sustainable home products movement, Plyboo has been able to establish itself as a leader long before the industry had even begun to fully develop. That long track record and a reputation for quality have helped make Plyboo the standard for bamboo plywood products.