Bring class to your home with banana fibre furniture

Banana fibers are a great material for making ornaments and other house accessories. They can also be used to make beautiful, strong and unique furniture.

How the chairs are made
Banana fibres are skillfully twisted to make long ropes that are later used to weave on a wooden or metallic chair frame. All types of banana plant fibre can make great chairs. Ronald Kizito, the CEO Inspiring Interiors, says one needs about 1,000 metres to make a single chair and this comes from about 100 banana fibres.

The uniqueness
These chairs are made from natural fibres that would otherwise be left to rot. Chairs made of banana fibres bring a feel of art to the house. It brings a sense of the African culture, uniqueness and beauty.
They have not been greatly embraced in Uganda but could bring amazing beauty to your living room or balcony for your outdoor. For outdoor, you need to place them under a shade or gazebo because rain will weaken the fiber, which will cause rotting while too much sunshine will dry the fibres hence breaking them.
For indoor, Mary Namukose, an interior designer at Daffur interiors, notes that adding cushions will bring more life to these chairs.
“You need to choose your colours well to avoid colour clashing in your home, a bright colour will add more beauty as compared to a dull one since banana fibers are dull in colour,” she says.

Beauty
The chairs come in natural elegant colours of banana fibres, they can be woven in different shapes and styles. Namukose notes that they give you the power to play with as much colour as you want to bring out the beauty in them. Art pieces’ blend well and will enhance their look.
Durability
If well looked after, these chairs can last even up to 20 years. Kizito makes a variety of shapes depending on what the customer wants both for indoor and outdoor.

Advantages
Being hollow on the inside, banana fibre furniture does not habour rats or any other house creatures because they have nowhere to hide.
Since the chairs carry the natural colour of fibres, Kizito says they can easily blend with all colours incorporated in the house.
The banana fiber furniture remains warm and welcoming even when it is cold because they absorb heat, which makes it unique and appealing.

Portability
Kizito notes that these chairs are extremely light since they are hollow on the inside, this give the owner a chance to easily move them while cleaning or resetting the living room.

Colour variety
The chairs come in the colour of banana fibres but look extremely beautiful, unique and elegant.
Accentuate these with earthy bright-coloured accessories as they help to lift up your spirits.

Cost
It depends on the chair design and number of seats in a set. 1 single-seater is Shs750,000. A six-seater will cost between Shs4.5m to Shs6m.

Caring for the furniture
Mary Namukose, an interior designer at Daffur interior limited notes that banana fiber furniture needs extra care to stay in shape and looking good.
• Keep it away from heat, it can easily be damaged by heat fire. Do not put hot things such as tea or food directly on the chairs.
• Keep it away from rain and direct sunlight, they both can easily damage it.
• Use a dry cloth to dust them every morning and in case of a stain, use a damp cloth to dry clean.

Fibre furniture maker
Ronald Kizito, the CEO Inspiring Interiors is one of the few Ugandans who have found fortune in banana fibers, which he uses to make great furniture.
“I got the interest for making furniture from my grandparents who started making furniture at a family level in 1938. My father picked up in the 1950’s and in 2009, I got fully involved in furniture making and selling,” he says.

Kizito operates from Kiwatule Najjera road and Kiira-Gayaza road, Bulamu village next to the Chinese Waste plastic factory.
His showroom is filled with a number of unique and locally made furniture. Among these are beautiful sets of chairs made of banana fibers.
“I first discovered banana fibres can actually make good chairs when I saw banana fiber furniture in IKEA, one of the world’s leading furniture retailer, they looked so beautiful and appealing,” he says.

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