Rattan Furniture- What’s to Know Before Buying

Truth be told, rattan furniture has a special vibe to it and using it in and outside your home is going to take the décor to another level.

Is there a rattan tree or a plant?

We actually have a rattan tree, but you're not going to be able to grow it in your yard. Rattan is climbing/trailing vine-like palm. It's native to the tropical jungles in Asia, China, and Malaysia.

Rattan’s outer bark is used for caning, whereas the inner is used for weaving wicker furniture.

What are the qualities of rattan?

No one can argue with the popularity of rattan. You may bend and curve rattan as it’s going to take so many interesting curving forms. Its golden and light color is going to brighten any room or backyard. It’s instantly creating a feeling of tropical heaven, for sure.

Lightweight and impervious, rattan is quite easy to carry and handle. It’s also capable to take extreme conditions of humidity and temperature. On top of everything else, it presents a natural resistance to insects.

Are rattan and bamboo different?

First thing first, you should know that rattan and bamboo aren’t even part of the same species or plant. Bamboo is a hollow grass and its horizontal ridges grow along the stems. Some bamboo furniture manufacturers use rattan poles as they add strength and smoothness.

Rattan use in the 20^th century

It was the British Empire that used a lot of bamboo and rattan furniture during the 19^th century. It was typical for families that lived in the tropics and Asian countries to take the bamboo and rattan furniture back to Europe. The rattan furniture would handle the cool English climate just fine.

Later on, by the early 20^th century, some rattan furniture made in Philippines would get to the United States. Back then, the Victorian Style was used for rattan furniture. Soon enough, the Hollywood set designers would use the rattan furniture in several outdoor scenes. The movies fans really like the romantic feel and far-off South Seas islands that the rattan furniture was able to create. This is how the Tropical Deco, Tropical, South Seas, Kon Tiki style was born. But you may use whatever the name for it.

Due to the increased interest in the rattan garden furniture, famous designers (Paul Frankel was one) started to develop new looks for rattan. We have to thank Frankel for the well-known pretzel-armed chair which has a dip at the armrest.

Taking a trip back to the future, remember The Golden Girls? The furniture was made of rattan, but the pieces were in fact restored vintage rattan pieces from the '50s. the use of vintage rattan in television, films, and pop culture revived the interest for the rattan furniture in the '80s and its popularity never dropped since.

The passionate collectors still think highly of the form, design or a rattan piece. Some are going to like more a piece that has more stems/strands stacked /positioned together. No matter which way you like it, you can sure find some nice options on Furnilly.

Furnilly.com includes some interesting pieces of furniture made of rattan so go ahead and take a look.

How does the future of rattan look like?

Rattan is a common material for many types of products, but it’s the manufacturer of furniture that counts the most. If you’re going for the numbers, keep in mind that rattan handles a global industry valued at more than $4 billion per year (this is according to the World Wide Fund for Nature). Back in the days, a big part of the commercially harvested raw vine would be exported to overseas manufacturers. It was the mid-80s’ when Indonesia put an export ban on raw rattan vine, sustaining the efforts of the local manufacture of rattan furniture.

Most parts of rattan were collected from the tropical rainforest. Because of the conversion and forest destruction, the habitat area of rattan wen down pretty fast in the last few years. This is why we experienced an important supply shortage.

Only two places in the world are producing certified rattan at the moment: Indonesia and a district of Bomeo. Rattan is capable to provide an incentive for communities, helping them to restore and preserve the forest.

Rattan or wicker? What’s the difference?

It’s quite common for people (salespersons including) to think that wicker furniture and rattan are the same thing. This is why the terms are used interchangeably pretty often when talking about outdoor/indoor furniture. However, wicker and rattan furniture are part of the same category, but they do present some differences.

Rattan

• Rattan is a closer relative of the palm tree. It's a type of vine that grows pretty fast. It grows in the shape of a pole and the diameter ranges between 1 to 3 in. it's a very strong wood and grows up high as a hundred feet quite fast.
• As it has a strong core, rattan is durable and breaking it isn’t easy. the vertical grains and the solid core are harvested and cut into small sections. It’s going to be steamed for taking different shapes. The outside skin of the rattan pole is peeled and used for binding the furniture joints together later on.

Wicker

• Wicker isn't a material. It's, in fact, an old technique used for creating items out of natural materials (rush, willow, rattan core and many more). The natural materials have to be wet so that it's easy to weave and create the wicker design furniture pieces.

It's clear now: rattan is a material and the rattan furniture is made of rattan alone. On the other hand, wicker furniture can be crafted out of various materials (straw, bamboo, and rattan). Nowadays, wicker furniture is made with synthetic materials as well.

It goes without saying that rattan furniture is more durable and versatile than the wicker furniture. Rattan furniture may fade if exposed to sunlight and many are using it indoors only on the cause of that. By contrary, painted wicker furniture isn’t going to fade when exposed to sunlight that easy. this makes it a solid choice for both indoor and outdoor use.

It’s up to you which way to go!