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Archive for April, 2009

Do you often hear yourself asking that very simple question? Why bamboo? Why should I invest in bamboo clothing, bamboo furniture, bamboo household goods, bamboo landscaping? Why should I choose bamboo? I ask, why not?
Bamboo is an underutilized renewal resource that is just as effective and sturdy as conventional hard wood materials, such as oak, pine, and maple. Bamboo can be dried, treated, molded and fashioned into virtually any shape, size or form, and stain a motley of different shades. It is less expensive to manufacture and it can be replenished quickly in nature. So why not bamboo?
If you are still not convinced, think about this. Trees can take almost sixty years to grow and mature to the appropriate size for logging. That means, if you plant a tree today, sometime in six decades, your grandchildren will be able to harvest that tree. It also means that the natural resources trees offer is being depleted quicker than we can restore them.
Yet, with bamboo, it takes an average of sixty days for them to grow and mature to the appropriate size and an average of five years to be dried and treated. Think of how many crops of bamboo could be harvested, treated and sold in the time it would take to grow one tree!
With bamboos versatility, it can virtually eliminate the need to timber trees, which means deforestation can be reversed. We can finally leave the Amazon rainforest alone, because we have a renewal resource in plentiful amounts across the world.
Still not convinced? Bamboo also accounts for carbon dioxide reduction. As we destroy forest after forest, the carbon dioxide emissions produced by humans is increasing. The only natural way to reduce carbon dioxide is to have plants available for air filtering. Plants absorb the CO2 and release back the clean oxygen molecules into the air for us to breath. Hence, carbon dioxide emissions are reduced.
Bamboo is practically indestructible. Bamboo was the only plant known to survive the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II, and also provided the first signs of green life after the bombing. A plant that can survive an atomic blast? Why haven’t we utilized this plant sooner?
Bamboo is also used in erosion control. Tobacco farmers in the southern United States use the thickly stalked bamboo to prevent wind erosion on their tobacco crops. New construction and landscapers have used bamboo as soil erosion and rain run off control. With it being naturally pest resistant, bamboo is an optimal choice for any lawn and garden.
If you still question if bamboo should be utilized, there are plenty of web sites that can offer more information on the scientific, industrial and environmental ways bamboo can help the planet. Bamboo is a vibrant, lively addition to any yard, and could just be the next major industrial material used by companies throughout the world. Just a few changes, and trees across the planet can rejoice. Natural habitats and indigenous plants can be saved. Regions can revive to their once splendor.
So again I ask, why not bamboo?

If you are contemplating flooring for your new home or looking to increase the salability of your existing home, you may well have looked into hardwood floors. Few things can add pizzazz to a house like a fresh new hardwood floor after all. But if you are interested in hardwood and want something a little more unique, why not take a look at bamboo flooring?

Bamboo has been utilized by many cultures over millennia for a variety of purposes from food and wine to paper to textiles and building materials. In the past few years we have seen an increase in bamboo furniture, clothing, and kitchen items. Many new products take advantage of either the antibacterial properties of bamboo or its hard lightweight nature.

Because of the fast growing nature of bamboo, it is classed as a renewable resource. Bamboo grows to its full height in only one year, though it is not harvested until it is between two to seven years old because the characteristic hardness that we associate with bamboo comes from the mature stalks or culms.

There are a few different ways that the flooring is constructed; strand woven, engineered, and solid bamboo flooring. Strand woven flooring is made with the fibres of the bamboo which have been stripped from the stalks. The strands of fibre are boiled and woven together with adhesive and then pressed into sheets which are then cut into boards. The result of this process is a very durable product which has a very distinct pattern. The great durability of this product makes it a good choice for high traffic areas.

Engineered and solid bamboo floors are a lot like the hardwood versions of these styles. Engineered bamboo floors are comprised of sandwiched layers of bamboo, sometimes with a wood core; while solid bamboo flooring is made of pieces of steam flattened bamboo set side by side and glued into planks. All of the styles of bamboo flooring can come in natural tones, carbonized (darkened), or stained colours. There are a lot of options when looking at bamboo alternatives to hardwood.

It is important to note that when you are looking at any new products, particularly ones that claim to be green alternatives, to do your homework. While bamboo itself is a green product, many of the glues used by some of the producers of bamboo flooring are not and may contain formaldehyde. Keep in mind, the best additions to your new home are ones that have a minimal amount of impact on you in the way of volatile organic compounds being given off by your surroundings. Take a look at what brands of bamboo flooring are available to you; look for fair trade and FSC approved products and strive to keep your living space healthy.

Whether you are adding a fresh coat to a single room or are going to be changing the color of every room in your house, painting can be a difficult task. Traditional painting solutions require you to deal with multiple open buckets of paint, messy rollers and brushes, and trays full of paint that are easy to spill or knock over. Before you can even start painting you have to cover everything to protect it from splatters and spills (not to mention taping over outlets and framework, which can be a daunting task itself.) Even after all of that work, you still might end up with brush strokes or runs in the paint visible in the finished product.

Enter the Point ‘n Paint painting system to solve all of these painting problems. The Point ‘n Paint system was designed to eliminate some of the most common problems associated with painting, combining several different innovations into a single easy-to-use product. To help you see how the Point ‘n Paint system can serve you better than more traditional painting solutions, here are some comparisons of the Point ‘n Paint system and other tools that you might use when painting indoors or out.

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Before picking up a brush, Learn what lean to fat, value, and more mean and many important terms that you need to learn. Here are terms and tips and every word you need to know about oil painting and it’s necessary termps for producing better paintings.

Long and Short Oil Paint

Oil painting mediums can be used to control the thickness, or consistency, of your oil paint.

Long oil paint means that enough medium has been added that it has very little “peak” (the ability to make small peaks or hills out of the paint) to it. It is smooth and oily. Long paint is used when you want very little brush strokes. Short oil paint is paint straight out of the tube. It is thick and has a lot of “peak” to it, stiff and buttery in consistency.

Some classic mediums are:Linseed Oil, Stand Oil, Safflower Oil, Alkyd Painting Medium etc.

Color Temperature

Color temperature refers to the color’s place on the color wheel. If you divide the color wheel at neutral purple (purple that is neither warm nor cool) and at neutral yellow the wheel will be divided into a “cool” side and “warm” side. Warm colors are colors that have a red tint to them. Cool colors have a blue tint.

Value

Value is the graduation of a color from light to dark. By varying the values in a painting you can achieve what is called contrast, or the sharp difference between light and dark. Adding contrast to a painting adds depth and interest. To see the difference in value in your subject simply put on sunglasses. Your sunglasses will keep you from seeing the actual color, and leave you with just lights and darks.

Layering

There are certain rules that should be followed when painting in oils. These rules keep you from ending up with a muddy mess of a painting.

First, you should always paint from warm to cool, meaning, lay down warm colors first, then cool. This also goes for value, always go from dark to light.

Similarly, you should always lay down your thin paint first (or long paint), getting thicker (short paint) as you go along, using your biggest brush first. Start with big, blocked in objects first, slowly working into more detail toward the end.

* Two typical layering methods for an oil painting as following:

Gesso: Gesso is used to prime a surface or canvass before painting. Basically, it makes paint stick better to the surface. It also keeps it from sinking into the surface. You don’t have to use gesso when painting, but it is worth giving a try.

Varnish: Varnish protects your painting from damage. It is only applied when the painting has thoroughly dried, around six months. Retouch varnish is temporary and can be used as soon as the picture is dry to the touch and can be removed with gum turpentine.

Other familiar ways of layering for oil painting:
1. Canvas
2. Underpainting
3. Thin, long, dark, warm paint
4. Thicker, short, light, cool paint

Now, did you have got an idea about oil painting? try it now!

Rattan furniture is quite often is used in inner and outer garden areas. Contemporary models used in homes today are constructed of the finest palms harvested from Indonesian, Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and other eastern locations.

There is quite a bit of unique pieces and sets of wicker garden furniture you can choose from in order to create a very cheerful and cozy atmosphere. Rattan furniture is oftentimes placed outdoors, but it also has been constructed for indoor use as well.

I think some of the milestones pertaining to the incorporation of this furniture indoors include the following:

• A well-crafted studio bed was made of this furniture in 1948, and in the 1950s whole bedroom collections began to appear in most homes. In fact, furniture that used to be placed outdoors hat been brought from the conservatory, sunroom, or porch inside.
• In 1981, it is written one more time that this variant of furniture is moved inside versus being used outdoors. Most amazingly of all is that it has been placed in more conventional areas of the home, such as a dining room.
• Now, this furniture is starting to be introduced to more middle to upper class households-from about 2002 on. It is becoming more of a chosen luxury and seems not be any longer just thought of as some low-priced wood replacement as it used to be.

Current Models

A very exquisite example of a recommended wicker garden furniture collection is the Arizona Wicker set, turns out to be one of the more fashionable choices.  This set often includes chairs, sofa, and coffee table.

This particular set of rattan furniture is characterised by its soft, white cushions. This collection combines clean modernistic lines and sharp angles mixed with glass that would look stunning in any garden or conservatory.

An additional up-to-date collection of wicker garden furniture is the Cube Garden Furniture set, which is one of the other best-selling collections.  This set is thoughtfully built in just the right way that it is likely to last a lifetime. It often is sold with four chairs, one table and two footstools.

The wicker in this finely crafted rattan furniture collection is often coloured black and the cozy cushions are commonly a contrasting color, such as white. Smooth and elegant in design, in all probability it would look stunning no matter where it is set.