I believe that adding a hardwood floor or two into your home plans is one of the best things that future home owners can do. Why? Because nothing adds beauty, uniqueness and a level of class like adding a hardwood floor to a home. We have all been in homes that boast lovely hardwood floors, so we all know what it feels like and looks like to add that kind of beauty and elegance to a home.

There are many great ways to add a hardwood floor into the plans of your dream home. Many people choose to put a hardwood floor into their entryway, kitchen and dining room of their home plans. This can be a great idea because it really makes a great first impression to everyone that enters your home. It allows people to see that you really value your living space and that you cared enough to place a hardwood floor where many of your guests would be and where much of your family time would be spent.

Another great place to include a hardwood floor into your house plans is to the master bedroom suite. Nothing adds elegance and class to a master suite like plans for a hardwood floor. We’ve all been in master suites that feel a little bit like a kids room because they are covered with carpet that you’ll find throughout the rest of the home. Perhaps the better choice is to set your master suite apart by having a hardwood floor throughout the room and the bathroom. This way your room feels special and sacred at the end of a long day.

Strangely, to date, we do not seem to revere it so much over in the West. It has traditionally been used in North America for outdoor furniture, outdoor fencing, musical instruments and baskets. Recently we have seen fabric made from bamboo and with the call for sustainable living getting louder, bamboo is proving to be a ‘must-have’ commodity in North America.

If you are having a new home built and want to subscribe to the sustainable living ideals, there are many bamboo products that you can order from your builder. For instance, bamboo flooring, furniture, drapes, mats and food containers are all available in USA.

Bamboo flooring appears just as if it is a hardwood floor. Like wood, it can be used in the bathroom as it is suitable for radiant heat floors. According to the National Hardwood Flooring Association bamboo flooring is 10% harder than red oak hardwood flooring. It usually has a tongued and grooved finish which produces a smooth sheen to the floor.

Another use of bamboo that is gaining more popularity is as its use for fabrics for drapes and clothes. It is a breathable fabric and is very soft. For clothes, bamboo can take up to four times more moisture absorption than cotton, although this is not useful for drapes. Sheers in bamboo can be bought, they are available in several shades and have a soft look and feel that is unique to bamboo.

Bamboo can be bought and raised successfully in North America, even in most climates of the west coast, including the damp ones, (hello Seattle!)

You can mail order or email order from photos illustrated on the web site of a bamboo nursery in Chilliwack B.C. This company offers delivery and they quote actual temperatures that their plants can withstand. Some of the temperatures that Japanese bamboo can live through are well down in the sub-zeros .If you want to buy some fast growing trees for your yard, bamboo would be a good choice.

Bamboos start from tiny house plants to bushes in one gallon tubs and on up to seven gallon tubs. Bamboos would be a great tree to choose for a new home, or for a newly landscaped garden, as they can grow to full size within 6 years, unlike most of the trees of the North West which take ten times longer.

Some trees can be bought which sport the massive bamboo stems that we associate with the look of bamboo, and some just bush out voluminously almost hiding all their branches. You can choose from brown, green or golden stems and leaves come in green or variegated colors including yellow, orange, green and white or thinly striped.