Decorating With Antiques: Evoke a Fanciful Past With Bamboo

Rudyard Kipling’s famous quotation, “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet” never proved to be less true than during the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Orient captivated the West in the form of chinoiserie design. Chinoiserie (French for “Chinese-like”) is defined as a fanciful European interpretation of Chinese, Japanese and Indian styles in the design of interiors, furniture, pottery, textiles and gardens.

This European rage for anything Asian resulted from expanded trade with the East. The chinoiserie influence left its mark on interior design in many ways, but one of my favorite expressions of it is in bamboo and faux bamboo furniture.

Much (but certainly not all) of “bamboo” furniture is actually faux bamboo. It’s furniture made with a variety of woods, including pine, oak and maple, and carved or turned to resemble bamboo. This is done to get the special look of bamboo, but with more easily joined surfaces that result in sturdier furniture.

Surprisingly, this is not a new technique at all. The Chinese have been making faux bamboo furniture since the 1300s. In this ideabook we’ll use “bamboo” for both faux and real bamboo.

In this very appealing bedroom, a black painted bamboo headboard is paired with a Japanned bamboo chest of drawers. (Japanning is the European imitation of Asian lacquering, originally done in the 17th century.) Notice how easily bamboo mixes with many styles of design. A paisley duvet and a very modern lamp work magic together with bamboo.


Speaking of versatility, do you see how a very similar bed fits effortlessly in a distinctly different context? Whether it’s pecky wood paneling instead of grass cloth, or very traditional bedding and accessories instead of contemporary ones, bamboo is at home. I also think the bamboo bedside tray table is very cool.


I’ve never owned a bamboo bed, but my wife and I have been looking for a bed recently, and bamboo is now a serious contender. I love the look these beds create. And the fact that they would work so well with many of our English antiques really creates a pull in the Eastern direction for me.

This picture affords only a peek at the bed, which definitely makes me want to see more.


Decorative bamboo accessories like this mirror can add a touch of the exotic to a bathroom …


… or an entry hall. Adding bamboo to interior design is kind of like adding a dash of curry to butternut squash soup: It introduces a different note that isn’t jarring but might be unexpected. (I make an awesome butternut squash soup, by the way!)


Vintage bamboo chairs and a sofa from the 1930s add to the serene ambience of this family room. I like how bamboo can evoke not only the Orient but also the tropics. My grandmother had very similar chairs on her lanai in Santa Barbara, California, and it always made me feel like we were in Hawaii … which I think was her intention.


The detail on a similar chair shows amazing ingenuity in the intricate design.


The fretwork of these classic Chinese Chippendale–style bamboo chairs is very appealing. The chairs were named after Thomas Chippendale, England’s foremost furniture designer and maker, who worked in the mid-18th century. Although he designed many styles of furniture, he had an immense talent for blending English Gothic and chinoiserie styles together.


This living room features another version of Chinese Chippendale chairs. This time they are in black and are perfect pull-up chairs — my name for lightweight but comfortable chairs that can be easily moved around in a room and pulled up to a table, or into another part of the room, to create a different conversational grouping.


Of course bamboo is very much at home outdoors as well. Here bamboo chairs painted in two bright colors add a jolt of spice to outdoor dining.


In this room a bamboo lamp table joins with a chesterfield-style chaise, a Moroccan octagonal table and a zebra-print rug to evoke a gentleman’s club in Africa. Bamboo furniture is a fabulous element in so many eclectic mixes.


Faux Bamboo Bench with Cushion - $697.50A little bamboo bench rendered in metal, like this one, would be perfect in an entry hall or in front of the fireplace in a study or living room. I’d cover the seat in a chinoiserie toile or perhaps something geometric, depending on the context.


Golden Regency Metal Bamboo ÉtagèreI love étagères because I’m a collector, and they provide a wonderful way to present collections. This Hollywood Regency–style gilded metal bamboo étagère is one of the coolest I’ve seen. Leather books, sea shells, Staffordshire dogs, silver cigarette cases, antique blue and white ceramics … they’d all look fantastic displayed on this great piece.


I’m in love with this bamboo console. If our tiny bungalow had an entrance hall, I would definitely be on the lookout for a similar piece. And, OK, I have to admit that I’d want the lamps, too: They’re perfect on this very stylish table.

Fanciful and evocative, bamboo furniture was an important part of the chinoiserie rage of the 17th and 18th centuries, and it’s easy to see why the look still endures in the 21st century.

More: Decorating With Antiques: Chests, Dressers and Buffets

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