When I first came across coconut as a furniture material several decades back, the idea absolutey intrigued me. Coconut shell and palm timber are usually industry by-products, typically either burned or thrown into landfills. However, a number of producers have taken up the challenge to change those waste materials. Nusa, Kirei, Omarno and Plyboo are just a couple of the firms striving to make ecoconscious products out of coconut shell and palm wood, with adhesives that have low or no extra urea formaldehyde and low VOC emissions. Rural farmers have gained a new source of earnings from previously unused waste, and the design-conscious public has gained an ecosmart product with an exotic flair.
Many of the products shown below qualify to achieve LEED points as per the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Sky is the Limit Style
When I was searching for a coffee table for my design studio in 2006, I came upon a business in California known as Nusa, which specializes in furniture made from coconut. Seven decades later I am still in love with my Nusa table (shown here), produced from coconut husks and using a shiny mother-of-pearl inlay in the top. Its slick Saarinen-inspired contour stands in amazing contrast to the unrefined coconut texture.
Lauren Liess Interiors
This lovely however sudden design is coconut turned into an odd sculptural chandelier. It’s made from palm timber and ground coconut shell beads.
The blend of contours, the natural palette with the tactile softness of the white slipcovered chairs, and the oversize artwork on the wall emanate a superb sense of calm within this sophisticated dining area.
Allied Kitchen and Bath
The cabinetry in this photo is made from palm plywood.
Based on Plyboo’s site, Durapalm plywood panels are all manufactured from reclaimed or retired plantation-grown sugar and coconut palm trees. Their decades the trees have passed. These exotic hands plywood panels may be cut and sanded using standard woodworking gear and are formaldehyde free.
Design For Less
This bedroom doesn’t require a conventional headboard, as a result of the chocolate-colored coconut tile covering the wall in one daring gesture.
Kirei is 1 company that provides flexible hands on panels. You can create a smooth constant textured coating, go around curves and use it on round columns. The mosaic tiles come in a broad selection of unique designs and colors. Coconut tile may comprise convex and concave surfaces in both glossy and matte finishes.
The individual tiles are mounted onto a mesh in a normal size of about 12 by 12 inches. They may be glued to the wall using routine structure adhesive and do not need grouting.
Dunlap Design Group, LLC
I adore the notion of employing a coconut tile product on the surface of a slab cabinet door. If you’re interested in this type of application, make certain to talk about it with a knowledgeable cabinetmaker. Even though the overall notion of gluing the tile into a right substrate is rather easy, you’ll have to make certain to choose the correct type of door hinge, as the final door depth will wind up higher than the conventional 3/4-inch-thick cabinet door.
The tiles vary from $15 to $25 per sheet — not cheap but relatively affordable.
The tactile qualities and the range of colors of coconut products come in make them a perfect way to present a sensual, organic flair to any room.
Jordan Cappella
This house’s flooring showcases a Plyboo product. It is manufactured without added formaldehyde for better indoor air quality.
Palm tree timber is slightly more powerful than oak, is dark to moderate red mahogany in color, accepts stains and finishes like other forests and may be sanded and refinished. It is acceptable for both commercial and residential applications.
The cost is about $23 per square foot uninstalled.
The Sky is the Limit Style
Omarno makes smooth hands panels a rigid panel product similar to plywood. The drawback of working with the item is that the panels may sew quite appreciably, so adequate storage and skillful manufacturing are required.
On account of the gaps between the indivudal husk pieces, the substance doesn’t quite lend itself for use as kitchen counter — grime might easily accumulate — but it has a lot of possibility for armoires, tables and chairs.
Once I had a custom table designed for a somewhat oddly shaped banquette place in a house where I’d used chocolate- and – natural-colored bamboo for the kitchen chimney, coconut plywood panels using their distinct layouts and light and dark brown colors — come in handy. The panels reacted in color and character into the slightly exotic bamboo but included another layer.
Michael Fullen Design Group
Apart from structural usage, palm and coconut may also be beautifully decorative. Here a coconut palm leaf is used as a piece of sculpture. Unadorned, it is nature at its best.