Saturday, August 25, 2007

Rattan Furniture Will Substitute Wood Furniture

Rattan technology became an industry since evening of last century, and developed fast in occident. It upsets conventional furnishings and other material technologic products. ">It is a main artery product of Hesperian market. In earlier 21st, the tide is beginning to sweep China, look through the lots of furnishings markets, rattan furniture product is holding more and more domain with bit by bit. It is showing its strong market energy, it already expands roundly. The eight reasons explain key secret.

1. Nature and Health

Well-known, conventional furniture made of wood. In several thousand years of developing history of furniture, wood furniture already holds special cultural value. However, the modern industry revolution had changed the condition, people want to debase cost, shorten technical cycle, use complex board largely, the board has many deleterious additive components with body. Purportedly, wooden furniture has element to disease, such as benzene, ammonia, formaldehyde, and so on, they need long time to volatilize, maybe several months, several years, or over ten years. If you buy a unit of wooden furniture in house, it would like set a small exhaust emission stage. So, it’s a fearful problem that hold injurant for modern house article. Rattan furniture product has some big advantages which green, nature, health, handwork. That is why it popular for people.

2. Simple and unsophisticated

Advocate nature not only healthy need, but also a pursuance of aesthetic culture. Science is a two-edged glaive. New technology brings new problem, after the enthusiasm of industrial revolution, people enter reflection again about consumptive need. New material and new technics only give people brief and superficial vogue, it is for long just original and unvarnished modality.

People love the rattan craftwork as if like eat native-born chook. The value isn’t be substituted with new material and new technics.

3. Revolution of consumptive conception

The conception is mutative that people’s consumptive. In research, the consciousness is leaded by fashionable thought: classical or modern, western or national, vitreous and steel, red wooden. In a not open report of authoritative institution, at the pop trend, it is several times than other products that ascending speed of rattan product. It will be the consumptive thought of future house product.

4. Only handwork

Most advanced machine doesn’t substitute handmade. This law cannot overthrow. It has disadvantage by been copied that industrialized and pipelining product. But handmade is never, this is its value. A handmade Cuba cigar is machine-made several tens times. A handmade Benz car, only world grade magnate can get it. A unit of handmade business suit of Pierre Cardin needs air-press from Paris. The product is best expensive by handmade. Pure handwork is value, the rattan product is worthy yet by pure handmade.

5. Scarce wood

Forest resource is less and less. Rattan product has quiet great developing at the situation. In future of house product industry, woodwork will be got more restrained, rattan product will be got more opened. This is a basic trend. Who attach importance to rattan craftwork, who inhabit the predominance.

6. Cost and profit

Out of question, furniture, craftwork, and commodity of other materials, their yielding costs are all higher. These costs include a series of machines, spoilage of machine, a long product line, and so on. But rattan craftwork is flat reverse.

7. Big consumptive market

In our country, the industry is a few which empolder rattan technics product. The energy never be activated that rattan craftwork market. But it is big demand of market in latent. Experts analyzing, in the several years of future, rattan craftwork will hold 1/3 part of market with woodwork, metalwork, and other material products. Until it replace wood to become main industry for structure huge consumptive market about 50 billion yuan.

8. No competitive menace

Accordingly, rattan craftwork has a big underdeveloped market and a huge developing potential. Some factories of rattan craftwork, they have some disadvantages about technology, nameplate, and experience. They don’t have enough competence to intervene in the industry. So, if you deal with the rattan craftwork management, you would have many advantages. It seems warring a business war of no competitor. You get the win easily.

Preeminent nameplate leads rattan craftwork industry, unparalleled quality holds league market.


source : www.articlesbase.com

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The Fundamentals of Office Furniture Project Management

The result of successful office furniture project management is a project completed on time and on budget. If you are the person responsible for a office furniture project at your company, this information should be helpful to you. I remember when office furniture project management was easily defined; a Project Manager had valuable skills and specific responsibilities. In my experience, that is no longer always the case. Since my experience in this industry was in NYC, these problems may not be valid in your area.

Let me say that there are furniture dealerships that are extremely reputable and have capable staff members. With that said, there are also dealerships with inexperienced, unqualified staff members. Not all dealerships have the same internal structures. Here are several viable staff structures -- all of which are effective with the right personnel:


* At some dealerships, the Designer or Product Specifier may also function as the Project Manager. By the way, this situation works very well.


* In some situations, the Sales Representative may assume some of office furniture project management responsibilities; such as suggesting the best products within your budget that meets your needs.


* Another procedure is that the Project Manager doesn't get involved until the delivery and installation phase. In this case, you need to find out who is responsible prior to that time.


* Dealerships that own their own warehouses will have Foremen on staff. An experienced Foreman can be invaluable, and his responsibilities may overlap with those of the Project Manager.



Below is a list of tasks which may be the responsibility of the project manager.


* act as the primary contact for all questions and decisions regarding the furniture for this particular project

* attend "kickoff" or original planning meeting

* evaluate any existing furniture to be reused

* confirm field measurements of the space

* collect data regarding the function and needs of your staff as well as discussing the projected growth of your company

* attend construction or project meetings as needed

* develop a furniture project schedule including delivery and installation dates that will meet your move-in date

* prepare status reports with necessary updates

* provide building manager with Certificate Of Insurance

* review CAD drawings and product specifications

* perform final walk through with client and compile punch list (if an architect or outside design firm is involved in the furniture, you will want them to be in charge of this walk through and punch list)

* oversee all punch list work and get a sign off from the client when all work is completed to their satisfaction


In most cases your furniture dealership will be responsible for these tasks at no additional cost. However, there are times when it is valid that there are additional charges for some tasks.

Before finalizing your agreement and placing any orders with the dealership, you should discuss exactly what is included in the office furniture project management services you will receive. If this is your first experience with a particular dealership, you may want to ask that this be noted on your proposal or quote.

You should also find out when the PM will become involved in your project. It is not an unreasonable request to meet this person and discuss his or her experience and background.



Source : www.articlesbase.com

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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Virginia furniture

From the colonial era to today, Virginia furniture has a long tradition. In colonial days, when cabinetmaker Anthony Hay made furniture in Colonial Williamsburg, at least six shops catered to local tastes. As the colony grew in taste and sophistication, shops developed in other port cities such as Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Alexandria and Petersburg.[1] For instance, in Fredericksburg alone, more than a dozen manufacturers made European style furniture in shops owned by cabinetmakers like Robert and Alexander Walker, James Allen and Thomas Miller. Many of these early cabinetmakers also worked at house joinery, making an intimate connection between the rooms and the objects in them [2].

Across the South, furniture making flourished and Virginia was no exception. During the early part of the century, most historians thought that furniture making was centered around larger Northern cities like Philadelphia and New York. But in recent years, scholars and Virginia historians have come to understand that in early colonial and Federal years, the state had a more vibrant furniture industry than first imagined. [3] Styles included Chippendale, Queen Anne and vernacular styles. As Virginia citizens emigrated west in the 19th century, Virginia styles and furniture makers took their patterns and styles with them [4]. Not all the styles mimicked the British; emigrants like the German Johannes Spitler brought their native painting and folk decorative styles to the Shenandoah Valley [5].

Some companies from the early 19th century survived. In 1830, E.A. Clore was founded. It is now one of the oldest companies in the U.S. and still makes furniture at its Madison County location.

In the 19th century, a typical small town like Waterford, Virginia had a number of small manufacturers, in Waterford's case makers like John Mount, William T. Mount, and Lewis N. Hough. [6]

By the 20th century, the interest in historic preservation fostered by groups like the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities meant a renewed interest in colonial styles. Companies like Biggs Furniture grew out of a small antiques shop in Richmond into a major reproductions manufacturer that came close to rivaling Ethan Allen. With the establishment of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1930s, the interest in colonial reproductions grew, though reproductions of the Williamsburg collection sold at CW's Craft House were made by the Kittinger Company of New York.

Through the 20th century, mass-marketed furniture prevailed, and companies like Stanley Furniture, Pulaski Furniture, Rowe Furniture and Bassett Furniture grew into national brands. They grew around the area of Martinsville, where they sometimes even formed company towns. The height of this movement came when Thomas Bahnson Stanley, founder of Stanley Furniture, became Governor of Virginia in 1954. Many of these companies now show their wares in High Point, North Carolina, the American city most synonymous with furniture, located just south of Martinsville. With the advent of the more casual 1970s, rustic pine "crate-style" furniture became the rage, when Richmond-based This End Up led the trend by opening a store on Richmond's Strawberry Street in 1975.

Imports gained strength through the 1990s and early 21st century, and once dominant Virginia companies have struggled with the onslaught of Asian imports [7]. While not a descriptive adjective like Williamsburg, Virginia furniture is also a look, and a Virginia style of decorating has permeated the world of interior design. Virginia natives like Nancy Lancaster, William Haines, Charlotte Moss and Bunny Williams have had influential roles in interior design using neo-traditional and modern approaches. In addition, high end start ups like McKinnon & Harris have created new markets in lawn and garden furniture.

In recent years as imports have gained strength, companies like Kingsley Bate and Flexa have located manufacturing and/or distribution facilities in Virginia because of the state's easy access ports in Hampton Roads. In October of 2006, Gov. Tim Kaine announced that Swedwood North America, a subsidiary of IKEA, would build a North American manufacturing center in Cane Creek Center near Danville, Virginia, and employ up to 740 people at that Pittsylvania County plant.[8]

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

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Sterling Furniture

Sterling Furniture is a large furniture retail development in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, in Scotland. It was founded in 1974 by Stirling-based furniture retailer George Knowles, who based its concept on the out-of-town retail developments which had been successful in the United States. He bought and converted a disused mill in Tillicoultry, making it the largest furniture showroom in Scotland.

Knowles later expanded the complex to include a Homestore Outlet and garden centre, and built the Sterling Mills outlet mall in disused factory buildings opposite the furniture warehouse.

Their television advertisements, starring Scottish football commentator Dougie Donnelly have become part of popular culture, together with the phrase "Tillicoultry, near Stirling" (even though Tillicoultry is 10 miles east of Stirling).

Source :http://en.wikipedia.org

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Cardboard furniture

Cardboard furniture is furniture designed to be made from cardboard, or heavy wood-based types of paper.

Although people have lived on and around cardboard for as long as it has existed, it was probably first introduced to the design world by Frank Gehry (b. 1929). The line, which is still made and sold by Vitra, consists of modern chairs, tables. Made with hidden screws and fiberboard edging, the tables are said to hold thousands of pounds. The "Wiggle Chair," which has won many design awards and has been included in museum shows at London's Design Museum[1] and elsewhere, contains 60 layers of corrugated cardboard held together by hidden screws and fibreboard edging.

At the turn of the millennium, cardboard is again becoming a trend.

In 2005, art director and designer Cathy Henszey partnered with the CEO of Print Icon, Vahid Pourkay, to begin Cardboardesign for recycled cardboard furnishings. The tables and shelving are modern in their aesthetic and surprisingly strong, due to the unique honeycomb cell shape of cardboard which bears more weight. Unlike Gehry's pieces, they contain no screws or fiberboard.

Approximately 18 pieces of cardboard furniture were created in 2006 for the Singapore Biennale. The set of chair and table were designed by Nathan Choe and Robin Wau exclusively for the Biennale. This furniture was created with an original process of repeadedly gluing sheets of cardboard which had been cut to the profile of the chair and table. It was then decoratively taped to match with the Biennale branding. It was used heavily on one night for the Singapore Biennale opening party, after which it was what is it made from!

In 2007, New York Film Production "Vine Street Works" released an instructional film "Cardboard Furniture" in the series "How Things Are Made" showing step by step the making of a durable cardboard furniture piece by cardboard furniture maker Eric Guiomar, who teaches his technique in Paris, France since 1996. Many of his students, who like to call themselves cartonnists, have set up their own workshops, in France and worldwide. More information, examples, links, and a trailer of the film at http://vinestreetworks.com

http://www.xanita.com for examples of cardboard furniture manufactured from corrugated honeycomb cardboard.


Source : http://en.wikipedia.org

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Asian furniture

The term Asian furniture or sometimes referred to Oriental furniture is a type of furniture that is originated from Asia continent. Sometimes, people also think of Asian furniture as a style of furniture that has Asian accents. With assimilation with western culture the term can also expand to modern Asian furniture.

Because Asia is the largest continent in the world, the term is sometimes limited to only furniture made or originated from Far East Asia such as China and Japan, which is usually characterized with bamboo, or red color with some Asian characters or symbols on it. However, with globalization nowadays people are more familiar with other parts of Asian culture. Southeast Asian furniture such as Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Javanese, and Balinese furniture are now becoming recognized and appreciated. Other Asian furniture such as South Asian and Indian are also becoming more popular as one of the trends in interior decorating. There is also the colonial furniture made for the British during their rule in Asia, which includes furniture mostly from India and Burma (now already antique) and their reproductions. Southeast Asian furniture are usually dark brown in color with a lot of Hindu-influence carving. Some may have Polynesian accents such as those from eastern parts of Indonesia.

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Antique furniture

Antique furniture is the term for collectible interior furnishings of considerable age; often it's age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features makes the furniture desirable.

Antique furniture may support the human body (seating furniture and beds) that show some degree of craftsmanship, provide storage, or hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. Storage furniture (which often makes use of doors, drawers, and shelves) is used to hold or contain smaller objects such as clothes, tools, books, and household goods. Furniture can be a product of artistic design and is considered a form of decorative art. In addition to furniture's functional role, it can serve a symbolic or religious purpose. Domestic furniture works to create, in conjunction with furnishings such as clocks and lighting, comfortable and convenient interior spaces. Furniture can be made from many materials, including metal, plastic, and wood. Cabinetry and cabinet making are terms for the skillset used in the building of furniture.

The earliest furniture was understandably very primitive and only practical, but gradually the furniture also began to have more importance and it became decorated. At this point, furniture became an early status symbol. Wealthy homeowners became more refined and demanded that their furnishings reflect their status and lifestyles.

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