How to incorporate bamboo into your kitchen remodeling project

Although bamboo products are as strong and durable as wood, bamboo is actually a member of the grass family Poaceae. One of the fastest growing plants in the world, some varieties can renew themselves in a single growing season.

Incorporating bamboo into your kitchen remodeling project is an eco-friendly way to give the heart of your home a light, natural style.

Here a five great ways to creatively incorporate bamboo when remodeling your kitchen.

Bamboo kitchen cabinets and counter tops1. Bamboo Cabinets

Bamboo is typically processed by cutting the stalks into strips, boiling them, drying them and then gluing them together under high pressure to form planks and sheets.

The natural pattern of the stalks, including the characteristic nodes, can be preserved during this process, creating cabinets with unique depth and variation.

The best cabinet styles show off bamboo’s natural beauty. Look for models with clean lines, streamlined forms and minimal visible hardware that will create a sleek yet organic look for your modern kitchen.

2. Butcher Block Countertops

During the curing process, bamboo may be steamed or toasted to darken the fibers. Known as carbonized bamboo, this material is ideal for layering into a distinctive butcher block sheet.

Bamboo butcher block countertops are available made from either natural or carbonized bamboo. Because the end grain features a striking pattern, the thick, solid blocks look particularly distinctive on kitchen islands.

3. Bamboo Blinds

Available in every imaginable shade of brown, tan and beige, natural bamboo blinds add a texture and visual interest to window treatments. Most are designed as Roman shades, with woven strips of bamboo that relax into overlapping folds when the blinds are drawn up.

A bamboo valance presents a polished and neat appearance when you open the blinds to let the sun shine in.

Bamboo panels used to create a feature of your ceiling4. Ceiling Panels

Things are looking up for eco-friendly bamboo. Sleek and stylish panels with bamboo veneers are now available to apply to existing ceilings or to create a dropped ceiling. Vertically grained and polished to perfection, the panels are rich in pattern and depth, providing a chic and unique backdrop to your new kitchen.

5. Bamboo Mats

For an affordable and easy-to-apply bamboo product with a decidedly tropical appeal, it’s hard to beat bamboo matting.

Bamboo mats, sometimes called panels, are made by weaving strips of bamboo together. Framed with slats of bamboo or bamboo poles, they’re ideal for decorating a kitchen nook or bar with a bit of Tiki flair.

The flexible yet sturdy mats also make an attractive covers for waste bins and storage containers.

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Kitchen Remodeling Design Ideas

Gone are the days when kitchens were strictly employed for cooking.  Nowadays, the kitchen is not only a place for preparing meals; it’s now most often the place where the family bonds and interacts.

A kitchen for that reason serves several purposes. A well thought out plan for the kitchen needs to aim at making your home efficient and simple to keep up.  It must also be comfortable “room”.

What are the steps you can take to make sure you get the kitchen you want? Read more …

[Read more…]

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Bamboo sinks for the bathroom & kitchen

We’re always telling everyone how tolerant our bamboo boards are of water. Well here are some real world examples …
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Restaurant interior design ideas

Even when the chips are down, people love to escape to a restaurant. The interior design of a restaurant is critical to it’s appeal. Here are a few ideas that we have gathered from interior designers for you to consider: [Read more…]

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Ideas to decorate the Children Bedroom furnishings

With regards to decorating a kid’s bedroom it seems like an uphill task for the parents as to many questions pop to their head. Ought to they program the room around their child’s beloved cartoon character? Or ought to the mother and father paint the room to appear like a tropical forest or a fortress? [Read more…]

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Choosing A Garage Door

Looking out to change your old garage door? Have you considered sustainable bamboo as an option? When it comes to choice of the right garage door there are plenty of options available.

Although there are a few sorts of garage doors, it is the sectional steel door that is the most common type. Made from steel, these are one of the most enduring and sturdy garage doors. Besides, they’re quite affordable. You can simply find one that matches your budget restraints well.

Often, there are not many options with regards to the size, design you are looking for sectional steel doors. When searching for a sectional steel door, you often only have the option to make a choice between narrow and wider doors.

[Read more…]

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Being Eco Friendly at Home

Living a more eco friendly or sustainable lifestyle is quickly becoming a very hot topic for many South Africans. Not only is this a matter of saving the earth, it is also a matter of being frugal, too. Kids aren’t cheap and recycling and reusing are great ways to help save the Earth and save money. A lot of people really just make it a hobby to find creative new ways to recycle and reuse various household items such as shredded paper for example. Here are some great and simple ideas for recycling paper, conserving water, saving electricity, and adding eco friendly furniture to your home. [Read more…]

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A designer builds an eco-kitchen …

As more & more people become aware of the environmental issues facing our planet, they have started to look at eco-friendly alternatives.

In this post, a designer, Joshua Foss, walks you through the process of building an eco-kitchen. Part of the process was selecting eco-friendly materials – and guess what he (and his client) chose? Yip, you guessed – strand woven bamboo boards.

Here is a teaser:

MetroHippie Bamboo kitchen design

The rest can be found here:

Designing an eco-friendly kitchen
Joshua Foss’ web site – Thrive Design Studio

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Bamboo coffee table – sustainable furniture design

Strand Woven Bamboo coffee table - side view

Strand Woven Bamboo coffee table – side view

Make a Bamboo coffee table, you ask???

DIY ready bamboo boards are ideal for the DIY enthusiast. Working with solid wood requires all the prep time to get the timber ready for assembly.

Bamboo boards, with all the qualities of solid hard woods, simply need to be cut to your required dimensions.

In this post we’re going to take you step by step through the making of a bamboo coffee table.

See how it’s done … [Read more…]

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White Bedroom Home furniture – The way to Paint Shabby Chic White Bedroom Furniture

Elegance and beauty start with white. The reason why Shabby Chic decorators choose to paint and decorate with all white and antique white furnishings, is simply because it totally goes with everything!! Even if you’ve little kids you can still enjoy the beauty of white. Yes you might need to keep up on your dusting, but your house will remain cheerful, cozy and nicely worth it. White bed room furnishings is extremely versatile. [Read more…]

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