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Picture a couple of young former college dormmates just starting out. New apartment and lots of ideas, but very little money due student loans and other bills. But, with new careers, these young ladies want to be able to entertain and have an apartment that looks nice when they do entertain. Without a lot of money available for decorating, imagination has to play a major role. The basic bedroom furniture brought from the dorm rooms would do, and maybe a small investment by each of them in a dining area and living area. Now what? They need some inexpensive touches that do not look like old and handed down, but rather would add a unique touch to their little home. Take a little time to decorate and make the place look homey and then try the new look out on the parents. Enter the idea of bamboo baskets.
There are so many ways bamboo baskets can be used to add a decorative touch to a home or apartment, in just about any room. They filled a bamboo basket with small hand towels, fancy looking soaps and streams and put it in the bathroom. Throughout the apartment this theme of bamboo baskets was able to be used. Since they are pretty, inexpensive and functional, there is no end to the uses to which they can be put. Bamboo placemats in the dining area, bamboo mats on the floors to separate one type of living area from another, and bamboo baskets to hold magazines and other paraphernalia. Large bamboo baskets in the shapes of vases were used as lamp bases. Vases such as these, but even larger, became table bases in the bedroom when a piece of round glass was placed on it. The bedside clock and lamp fit nicely on these impromptu tables. More bamboo baskets were used as laundry baskets and flat bamboo baskets were perfect to store towels in to make up for the lack of a linen closet.
Bamboo is a very neutral material that goes with everything and if you use imagination and good taste, there is no end to the uses that you can think of for bamboo baskets. When these young people start to make more money, they can start to replace these items with real furniture, but they won't feel that they wasted money on furniture that is just going to b thrown away. The fun and excitement of decorating your first apartment is enhanced when you know you are using lots of imagination and little money to do it.
Bamboo is like a hardwood, but is not a wood at all. As a hollow-grass, it is considered a renewable resource because it grows rapidly, replenishing itself. Bamboo can reach maturity in 5-6 years, growing to 80 feet in height. Considered environmentally friendly, many people are taking a whole new look at bamboo flooring.
Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on this planet. Some species of bamboo can grow as much as 1 meter per day.
For the environmentally conscious, bamboo is critical in emitting oxygen in to the atmosphere; generating more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees does. As the fastest growing canopy, bamboo lowers light intensity and protects against ultraviolet rays, while acting as an atmospheric and soil purifier. Simply put, bamboo is a plentiful natural resource and a viable alternative to deforestation of the world's trees. Choose a bamboo floor and you are helping to curb the problem of global warming.
Bamboo a Practical Flooring
Bamboo floors have a similar hardness to any hardwood floor. When bamboo goes through the manufacturing process to become flooring, the bamboo becomes hard enough to be made into solid and engineered floor planks. You would consider installing bamboo flooring in any similar location that would be good for wood floors.
Just like wood, bamboo will scratch. So, look for bamboo flooring with a solid finish on it for durability.
And just like wood, bamboo flooring can be stained. Although many people leave their bamboo floors natural preferring the lighter blonde coloring that the naturally milled bamboo offers. Keep in mind, that just like woods all stain differently, so it's also true with bamboo. So, expect some variation in your plank colorings.
Bamboo flooring comes in both a vertical and horizontal graining pattern. Check for samples to see which style you prefer ... with the grain or cross-grain cuts. The grain patterns are very different from each other, so be sure you choose the bamboo cut that is right for you.
Installing your Bamboo Floor
Bamboo can be glued to concrete slabs, stapled to wood sub-floors, and floated over most existing floor coverings. Anything you can do with wood flooring, you can do with bamboo flooring. Bamboo floors are also available in floating floor styles as well.
Installing your bamboo floor is much the same processes as with conventional hardwood flooring. The type of bamboo flooring you pick will dictate the installation process. Want to learn more about the types of bamboo floors available, visit www.FastFloors.com.