Materials Used in Philippine Furniture and Furnishings

Bamboo

Bamboo is the tallest among the grasses, and can reach up to 40m.

Used in the Philippines for a variety of uses, ranging from food , handicrafts to furniture.

Generally cheaper than other materials and last usually a year to three years and four to seven if used indoors and even up to ten to fifteen years when treated and used under favorable conditions.

Bamboo

The poles are used as framing to furniture and the strips of outer and inner skin, used as sidings, seats or back

As a handicraft, bamboo is made into decorative flowers, baskets, picture frames, lanterns, fans, and kitchen utensil; and as a construction material, made into sawali panels, veneers, plywood, parquet tiles and reinforcement for concrete blocks.

Bamboo floor lamps from Bacolod.

Bamboo

DC-151 Spindle Bamboo Host

DC-230 Lattice Bamboo Host

AC-1025 Bamboo Table Lamp 4 Panel Divider

Buri

Largest palm in the Philippines, reaching a height of 20 m.

Strips of unopened leaves are made into mats, bags and baskets.

The midribs are made into furniture such as barrel chairs, love seats, peacock chair, stools, coffee and end tables, lampshades and wall decorations.

Buri

Good quality of midribs are available in Mindanao, Cebu, Bohol, Iloilo, Leyte, Samar, Negros, Batangas, Quezon, Cagayan and in Bicol and Ilocos regions.

Buri furniture is next to rattan in terms of export performance.

Peacock Chair Buri Natural

Buri

Voyage

Oval Gathering Basket

Fibers

Used mainly for furnishing such as, wall coverings, place mats, carpets, upholstery, lamp shades, baskets, ropes, paper, etc.

Examples of fibers abundant in the Philippines are abaca, banana, buntal, cabo negro, cotton, kenaf, maguey, pineapple, raffia, ramie, which have different characteristics such as length, luster, strenght, etc.

Fibers

Palm Placemat

Raffia Holiday Angels

Tablecloth and Table Napkins

Rattan

A climbing palm with a very long, tough stem.

Rattan is commonly worked with bamboo and buri.

Used for making bent-wood chair frames, picture frames, cables for ferry boats and sometimes to support short suspension bridges.

Rattan

Split rattan are made into mats, hats, baskets and also used in caning chair seats and back, while the round core is used for reed or wicker chair.

Rattan furniture is the highest in terms of export qualities.

Yoda

Rattan

Manolo

Rattan Rocking Chair

Wood

Principal raw material for furniture combining beauty, light weight, low cost, availability and workability.

Example of some of the trees used for manufacturing furniture are apitong, bagtikan, dao, guijo, kamagong, molave, narra, red and white lauan, tanguile, etc.

Because of natural color, wood becomes superior to other materials.

Wood

Bones

Used as inlays to furniture and accessories

Have exterior layer, which is dense, continuous and evenly thick.

Many artisans prefer the use of carabao bone for the reason that it exhibits the characteristics more permanently.

Shells

Used also as inlays to furniture, used to make jewelries, handicrafts and other accessories.

Shell used for inlays are the Mother-of-Pearl, which comes from abalones, oyster shells and the kapis.

Because of its natural color, shells such as kapis are used in window panes and lamps, giving lighting more effect.

Leather

Important upholstery material for furniture.

Used by Filipino artisans for upholstery as early as the late 18th century.

Leather comes from hides obtained from large animals such cows, carabaos, and horses; skins obtained from smaller animals such as calves, goats, sheep, and alligators and from kips obtained from pelts of reptiles.

Stones

Use of marbles and other hard stones to decorate furniture.

Introduced in the Philippines by the Chinese and European furnitures.

Stones includes marbles and other gemstones such as emeralds, aquamarines, rubies, sapphires, etc.

Stones

References:

Philippine Materials for Furniture & Furnishings

http://www.bamboogazebo.com/catalog.php#furniture http://www.kennethcobonpue.com http://www.budji.com/ http://www.galleontrade.com/products.html http://www.wikipedia.com