Maria Yee to Unveil Unprecedented Innovation in Solid Bamboo Furniture Making

Trend-setter Maria Yee is taking home furnishings design to the next level with her latest assortment of handcrafted BambooTimbre(TM) furniture, showcasing an array of intricate forms never before possible in bamboo furniture making.

Yee’s patent-pending BambooTimbre is one of the fastest growing renewable materials made from the finest timber bamboo species — which is simultaneously harder than red oak yet remarkably pliant, enabling the material to be shaped into beautiful forms while promising long-lasting structural integrity. The company’s newest products feature Yee’s signature hand joinery — where not a single nail or screw is used — and detailed lattice work, patterns and structural design that can only be created using BambooTimbre.

“Unlike any other bamboo product, our eco-friendly BambooTimbre is specially developed for producing luxury home furnishings,” said Maria Yee, the company’s namesake founder. “It has many resounding qualities that enable us to accomplish truly innovative designs.”

Yee’s latest “lattice window” design entails flattening strips of bamboo, layering and weaving them in distinct patterns to create a subtle crisscross effect. Another technique — a first in bamboo home products — is Yee’s “striated” design, whereby bamboo pieces of varying color and
thickness are arranged on their side. This strategy changes the “classic” look of bamboo, as the “nodes” or joints of the bamboo become less visible.

This type of arrangement can also create myriad color variations.

Yee added, “We afford the discerning customer an exclusive piece that is as much about comfort as it is a work of art. Our home furnishings embody EcoLuxury(TM) — beautiful products that tout both high-quality hand craftsmanship and a level of environmental responsibility unrivaled in the industry. It’s eco-friendly luxury at its finest.”

Until Maria Yee, bamboo furniture was typically made with whole bamboo culms — which makes the piece prone to insect infestation, rattling and cracking — or fabricated with bamboo laminates, which serves merely as a decorative adjunct. Only Maria Yee has created a complete process guided by environmental principles to produce luxurious, handcrafted bamboo furniture
on a production scale. Moreover, the company uses only adhesives that meet the highest industry standards for indoor air quality, and recycles bamboo chips and sawdust to fuel low-emission boilers.

Maria Yee will be showcasing its latest BambooTimbre designs during the Spring High Point Market show in North Carolina from March 26-April 1, and at the 2007 HD Expo in Las Vegas from May 10-12. Featured products include the Ojai Lattice Window Table, the Carmel Media Cabinet and the Metro Circular Stool.

About Maria Yee Inc.

Maria Yee Inc. is a lifestyle design company, offering uniquely crafted California contemporary home furnishings through the use of pure joinery and inventive materials such as BambooTimbre(TM). Acclaimed for her clean line design, Maria Yee’s creative bamboo furniture, handcrafted in her patent-pending BambooTimbre and BambooJoinery(TM) system, is one of the most innovative, renewable new products. Headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA with manufacturing campuses in China, Maria Yee distributes bamboo, solid hardwood and leather furniture and home accessories to retailers and design showrooms nationwide. For more information, please visit
http://www.mariayee.com or call (831) 457-2900.

SOURCE Maria Yee Inc.