Bamboo furniture in vogue

Although bamboo has been used in furniture for centuries in Asia, it's popularity has risen in the last few years in the western world mainly due to its sustainability characteristics.

Now bamboo is used by architects and designers for construction, for airy summer houses as well as for sturdy flooring, for furniture and design accents, even for dinnerware.

Gardeners in many regions grow bamboo for screening and greening, outdoors and indoors, and long, elegant bamboo poles serve decorative or functional purposes.

Bamboo isn't a tree, but is technically a grass, sometimes defined as a woody grass, explained Brian Funk of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, curator of the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden and of the Japanese tree-peony collection.

In size it can range from a ground cover 1 to 2 feet high, to timber bamboos topping out at 75 feet or so. "Depending on the climate, the stems could get to a diameter of 8 to 10 inches."

Its fast regrowth makes it a sustainable plant that can be harvested repeatedly. In a favorable habitat, it could grow as fast as 1 foot in 24 hours, Funk said, and it grows back to full size in a few years. Usually stems are allowed to mature, up to about seven years, before being harvested again.

Morris Saintsing, a partner in the South Carolina-based clothing company Bamboosa, said that two years ago when it was founded, early in 2005, Bamboosa was the first company to make its own bamboo fabrics (from imported yarn and fiber) in the United States. Since then, he said, "We've experienced tremendous growth, and we have plans for significant growth over the next three years."

For furniture maker and designer Tucker Robbins, bamboo is "the No. 1 best material for the environment," in addition to being beautiful.

Bamboo is quite versatile, its stalks can be pressed into boards for tough flooring, or it can be crushed to produce fiber for super-comfy clothing, bedding and towels. Many vendors now market bamboo clothes. These vendors include Land's End that makes bamboo towels, Target that makes bamboo sheets, Bamboosa that makes baby socks.

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