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  • May 25, 2020
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  • May 25, 2020
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  • May 25, 2020
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How to make a statement with seating
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How to make a statement with seating
Having established a reputation for creating bespoke, made-to-measure furniture in the UAE, we have also become known for our beautiful, statement chairs, created in Dubai in all shapes and sizes. Whether you live in an apartment, a villa, or renting a room, you have to clearly think out furniture purchases to ensure you find comfortable chairs that brings life, creativity and class to your home. A place to enjoy a good read, a retreat from a busy day, or simply a stylish accent piece, lounge chairs are about as versatile as they come. A good chair will be comfortable, but the perfect chair will enhance your decor and embody your design goals, all while inviting you to relax. So, whether you’re looking for a budget buy or a luxury splurge, we have got a chair for not only every budget, but every part of the home—living room, bedroom and dining.  VINTAGE LOUNGE CHAIR The combo of teak and seagrass weaving gives this chair a minimalist aesthetic making it a great chair for either home or commercial spaces. This chairs is available at AED 1,688. SUKHNA LOW LOUNGE CHAIR A chair after the minimalist’s heart, this wooden lounger is simple and stylish. This chair comes in both brown and black and is priced at AED 1,136.   MANASA BAR CHAIR Dress up any bar or kitchen counter with these leather bar chairs. With sturdy wooden legs that add a minimalist touch to these South East Asian inspired chairs, this piece is priced at AED 1,380.  DARWA ROCKING CHAIR Made from reclaimed teak and natural spider weaved cane webbing, this gorgeous rocking chair is a statement for any nook or cranny and is perfect for reading, feeding or even sleeping. This piece is priced at AED 1,280. DAHLIA FLOWER CHAIR Suitable for both indoors and out, the beautiful Dahlia Flower chair is a statement in itself, with indicate detailing, a high back and cosy seat. This item is available in pink, baby blue and natural and is priced at AED 720. Ask yourself, where do you need new or more seating, and how do you intend to use it? In the master bedroom, you may need a place to sit while getting dressed or talking on the phone. In the living room, you might be looking for something to use in lieu of bulky sofas. Whatever your needs and style preferences, you can find statement chairs, dining room table chairs, and more that will fit in with your aesthetic and fulfil your needs at Wood Culture.
Article author: Maryanne Peacock
Interior design ideas for small spaces in Dubai
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Interior design ideas for small spaces in Dubai
The dilemma of how to furnish small rooms and awkward corners to make the space feel bigger is one of the most difficult interior design challenges to solve. A common problem for those who live in high-rise apartments across the city; we are here to tell you that compact living doesn't meanyou have to compromise on style. From small house interior design ideas to updating a petite room you’ve found challenging to decorate – we’ve got you covered with our design hacks on furniture and interior design hacks for small spaces.   1. Invest in skinny frames: The Scandinavian-inspired, mid-century modern look continues to be a key interiors trend. Key characteristics of the much-loved timeless look include low-sitting designs, clean lines and classic appeal, which helps to create the illusion of a much larger room. Opting for skinny framed or glass furniture allows all-important daylight to flow right through a room, while heavier set furniture can block out the light, punctuating a room. Light woods, colours and metallic surfaces all help to reflect light, which opens up a room and adds a more spacious feel.   2. Get yourself some mirrors: Mirrors such as the carving mirror add light to a room and make spaces look brighter and wider, so be sure to place them opposite a window to make the most of the reflections to brighten a naturally dark room.     3. Work with your curtains: By installing dramatic floor to ceiling sheer curtains in any room, you’ll instantly make any space feel larger and more impressive.   4. Add wall lights: Again, when it comes to serious small house interior design, every inch matters, so make the most use of your space with wall-mounted extras and lighting to free up space on table tops while setting a mood with smartly placed lighting fixtures on your walls for added drama.   5. Get nesting tables: While we recommend glass-topped tables since they take up less visual space, two petite nesting tables instead of one large coffee table can make for clever small apartment ideas as they’ll be easy to move when you need more floor space.  
Article author: Maryanne Peacock
How to recreate Balinese style at home in Dubai
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How to recreate Balinese style at home in Dubai
There is no shortage of inspiration to be found in Bali - its ancient temples and palaces, lush jungles and terraced rice fields make it an island of unparalleled beauty. Whilst relocating to Bali might not be a realistic life choice, bringing the essence of Bali into your home in Dubai is definitely a possibility and we are here to help! This interior change requires a blend of influences from nature and culture, and there are a few key elements to start with. Here are our top tips and tricks on how to re-create Balinese style at home.   1. Get that greenery. Allowing the outdoors to harmonize with the indoors is the first essential step for channelling the serenity of a paradise like Bali. 2. The Indonesians are also known for incorporating natural materials into their furniture. Opt for a solid teak coffee table or a one-of-a-kind driftwood side table, both of which we can make to measure for your home at the Wood Culture workshop. 3. Add some texture to your wooden furniture. Let us help you re-create crafted artisan wares, from carved wood furniture—like intricate doors, daybeds, buffets, and folding room dividers—to decorative pieces that add dimension and texture to a wall. 4. Cabanas are an easy way to create an instant holiday feel in your own backyard. They are also ideal for a comfortable, open-air room that provides protection from the sun’s rays. We have day beds that can be purchased directly from our website or showroom – alternatively, if you are looking to cultivate something a little different, we can make your day bed dreams a reality with help from our talented workshop team. 5. Neutral and natural tones work really well when paired with lush plantings and bamboo screening. Natural bamboo is used a lot in Indonesia and can make for an easy and fast-growing living green wall. 6. Add to your Bali aesthetic with tropical-themed dinnerware and table settings. Wooden bowls, woven table runners and bamboo placemats can really enhance a holiday aesthetic when entertaining, or just enjoying an easy meal at home. Check out our cut off wooden serving boards, perfect for entertaining at home. 7. Get yourself some rattan furniture. This light and woven wood is very popular in Indonesia and can add character to any home. Check out our gorgeous rattan closet which we promise will add a touch of Bali to any bedroom. 8. Pot some plants! Perfect for both inside and out, add some greenery to your house and invest in some vibrant plants. Couple these with our baskets or planters from Wood Culture, the best way to cover up ugly plant pots.
Article author: Maryanne Peacock
Working With a Furniture Supplier as an Interior Designer: What Makes a Good Trade Partnership
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Working With a Furniture Supplier as an Interior Designer: What Makes a Good Trade Partnership
An interior designer's relationship with a furniture supplier is not a purchasing relationship. It is closer to a subcontract: the supplier's reliability becomes the designer's reputation, and their delays become the designer's difficult conversation with a client. This is why designers tend to work with the same few suppliers for years and are slow to add new ones. The bar is not product quality alone. It is whether the supplier can be relied upon under project conditions. What designers actually need from a supplier Product is the entry requirement, not the differentiator. What separates a supplier worth specifying is everything around the product. Samples that arrive quickly. A designer presenting to a client on Thursday needs the sample on Tuesday. Suppliers who take three weeks to send a swatch lose specifications to suppliers who take three days. Accurate lead times. Not optimistic ones. A designer can plan around fourteen weeks. What they cannot plan around is a quoted eight weeks that becomes fourteen after the client has been told eight. Straight answers on availability. Specifying a piece that turns out to be discontinued costs the designer a redesign, a client conversation and credibility. Suppliers who flag limited stock before specification, rather than after order, become long-term partners. Consistent finish references. If a finish is specified in January and re-ordered in June, it needs to match. This matters more in handcrafted product, where natural variation is real, and it is why honest suppliers discuss variation upfront rather than hoping nobody notices. Someone who answers the phone. Projects generate urgent questions. A named contact who responds the same day is worth more than a marginally better price. Trade terms worth asking about Trade arrangements in the UAE furniture market vary widely and are rarely published. Worth establishing early: Trade discount structure. Percentage off retail, and whether it scales with project value. Ask whether it applies to sale items — many suppliers exclude them, which matters if the client's budget depends on it. Sample policy. Whether samples are free, chargeable, or credited against an order. Also whether full pieces can be borrowed for client presentations. Payment terms. Deposit percentage, balance timing, and whether terms extend for established accounts. Cash flow on a fit-out is tight, and payment structure affects which suppliers a designer can realistically use. Reservation and holding. Whether stock can be held while a client decides. Two weeks of holding can be the difference between winning and losing a specification. Delivery and installation. Whether the supplier delivers to site, whether they will store until the site is ready, and whether installation is offered. Site readiness slips constantly, and a supplier who can hold delivery for three weeks solves a genuine problem. The information a supplier should provide without being asked A supplier serious about trade work makes specification easy. That means having ready: Dimensioned drawings or accurate measurement sheets for every piece. Material and finish specifications in writing. High-resolution photography usable in presentation documents. Current stock position and realistic lead time. Care and maintenance guidance to pass to the end client. And weight and packed dimensions, which the fit-out contractor will need for access planning. Suppliers who cannot produce this quickly are suppliers who will be slow when it matters. Handcrafted product: managing client expectations Specifying handcrafted furniture requires a conversation with the client that machine-made product does not, and it is better had at specification stage than at handover. Hand-carved and hand-woven pieces vary. Grain differs between pieces. Weave tension varies slightly. Dimensions carry tolerance of a centimetre or two. A carved detail on one piece will not be identical to the next. Framed correctly at the start, this is the reason the client chose handcrafted furniture — it is what distinguishes it from a showroom set. Discovered at handover by a client who expected uniformity, it becomes a snag list. The practical approach: show the client a physical sample, explain that variation is inherent and intended, and get sign-off on the sample rather than on a photograph. Suppliers who support this — by providing samples readily and by being honest about variation — make the designer's job substantially easier. Lead times in UAE project conditions Two regional factors affect furniture scheduling more than anything else. Ramadan and Eid compress production and shipping across the region. Projects delivering around these periods need additional buffer, and the buffer should be built in at programme stage rather than found later. Site readiness in UAE fit-outs slips routinely. Furniture arriving before a site can receive it becomes a storage problem and a damage risk. The useful supplier question is not only how fast they can deliver but how long they can hold. Realistic planning for imported handcrafted furniture: 13–21 weeks from approval to site. Stock items considerably faster. Knowing which is which at specification stage prevents the most common scheduling failure. What makes a designer specify a supplier repeatedly Ask any established UAE designer why they use a particular supplier and the answer is rarely about product. It is that the supplier told them a piece was out of stock before they specified it. That when two units arrived damaged, replacements were sent without an argument. That the lead time quoted was the lead time delivered. That someone answered the phone during a site crisis on a Thursday afternoon. Product quality gets a supplier onto a designer's list. Reliability keeps them there, and reliability is demonstrated over projects, not claimed in a brochure. Starting a trade relationship For designers evaluating a new supplier, a sensible sequence: Start with a small, low-risk specification — a few accent pieces rather than a full scheme. Observe how the supplier handles sampling, communication and delivery when not much is at stake. Scale up only once they have demonstrated they perform under ordinary conditions, because they will certainly be tested under difficult ones. The suppliers worth building with are usually the ones willing to be honest about what they cannot do. A supplier who says a timeline is not achievable is considerably more valuable than one who agrees to everything and delivers late. Suggested closing CTA: Wood Culture supplies handcrafted teak and rattan to trade and hospitality projects across the UAE. Contact us for trade terms, samples and project lead times.
Article author: Pradeep Wood Culture
Eid gifting ideas for the home
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Eid gifting ideas for the home
Eid al-Fitr is the celebration marking the end of Ramadan. It often involves family and friends coming together to celebrate and share delicious food. Here are five unique ideas for gifts for those closest to you:       1. Tekris fruit bowl Who doesn’t need a refresh of their fruit bowl? It’s a great gift as it’s often in a central location in the kitchen and every time the receiver looks at it they will think of you! Made out of natural bamboo, the bowls come in a set of three and you can get creative with their uses so they are practical for the receiver and theirspace. Use them for entertaining, such as a bread basket or use them every day for your fruit and vegetables.     2. Devil’s Ivy Plant Wood Culture has partnered with Ivy’s secret garden, giving you the choice of some of their most stylish products to style their house with.  The devil’s Ivy Plant comes in a drop shape concrete pot and the plant itself is known for being easy to care for and extremely durable.     3. Halimun Mirrors with Petrified Wood. These stylish mirrors come in medium and large or can be purchased as a set of three. Their gold finish adds a luxurious feel to any room and they are extremely versatile in terms of styling depending on where they are going. Perfect on the wall, standing up on a cabinet or in the middle of the table as a centerpiece to reflect a vase of greenery.     4. Bintang Wall Art Made from lightweight natural seagrass, this stylish wall art can feature in any room. It makes a unique gift and can be placed in the bathroom, bedroom or living room. It is a gift that is outside the box and shows you put in a lot of thought.         5. Adira Serving Trolley: If you are buying for someone that loves to entertain or has a big family, the Adira serving trolley is the perfect gift! Made with natural cane, there is no better way to stylish and practically store your entertaining items. Perfect for a drinks station, a place to hold plates when serving a buffet or it can even be the perfect rustic book case. The options are endless!   Wishing Everyone a Happy Eid Break! Team Wood Culture       Adira serving trolley. 
Article author: Shilpa N
How to shop for sustainable furniture
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How to shop for sustainable furniture
In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, we wanted to talk about sustainable furniture. We hear the term a lot but what exactly is sustainable furniture? When furniture is sustainable, it is ethically sourced and can be either continually reused or recycled to be used for another purpose. Essentially, it does not include artificial materials that have a short lifespan and then end up in landfill. Wood is a great choice for furniture as it is a renewable and sustainable and it has a smaller carbon footprint that other materials such as concrete or steel. Known to be one of the most naturally renewable energy sources, it is also one of the most environmentally favorable materials available. Materials such as rattan and seagrass are also great options when styling or choosing furniture as they are sustainable as they pose the smallest impact on the environment when harvesting. When choosing your furniture, here are three tips to keep in mind in order to save both you and the environment in the long haul.     1. Opt for Reclaimed Wood: Reclaimed wood is wood that has been repurposed or salvaged in one way or another. It is eco-friendly and helps decrease deforestation. The Mitra lounge chair is made from reclaimed teak wood and is a sustainable option for furniture that will last you forever!   Mitra lounge chair     2. Buy Pieces That Can Be Recycled: Think of what you need in your house and how you will utilize it. The Lesmar 50’s console is the perfect solution for recycling within your own house as the TV cabinet could easily be used in a bedroom for storage or in the office for your papers and folders. After you’re done with it, the sturdy wood pieces could be repurposed into a side table.   Lesmar 50s console      3. Choose Your Materials Wisely: When choosing furniture or even storage and design solutions,look for materials that are easily renewed. Seagrass, bamboo and rattan are highly renewable and fast growing. Seagrass for example helps absorb heavy metals and CO2 from the water, keeping it cleaner before it is harvested and then is able to grow quickly and replace itself. The Laidback wicker lounger is made with natural seagrass, making it sustainable, practical and durable.   Laidback wicker lounger     At Wood Culture, you're sure to find solid long lasting pieces that are multi- purposeful.
Article author: Maryanne Peacock