Rattan & Cane Furniture

Handwoven rattan and cane furniture for calm, natural rooms. Malawi-style sofas and benches, armchairs and dining chairs, a hanging egg chair, counter seating, a long woven ottoman, coffee and side tables, plus a few pieces in raffia, palm and banana rope. Every piece is shown in a room so you can see its scale and colour before you order.

Each one is woven by hand, so no two are exactly alike, and all of them sit easily beside linen, pale oak and limewashed walls.

Rattan, cane and wicker: what the words mean

Rattan is the material: the stems of a climbing palm, strong enough to bend into frames. Cane usually means the thin strips pared from the outer layers of the rattan stem, used for binding joints and weaving seats. Wicker is the technique, the weaving itself, and it can be done in rattan, cane, willow or other fibres. So a rattan chair can also be a wicker chair; the first word tells you what it is made of, the second how it was made.

Where rattan furniture works best

Natural rattan is happiest indoors or under a covered veranda or stoep, out of rain and harsh direct sun. It suits sunrooms, living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms, where its open weave keeps a room feeling light even when the piece itself is large. A rattan sofa or bench takes loose linen cushions well, and a woven armchair makes an easy reading chair beside a window.

Styling rattan with art

Woven furniture brings pattern at floor level, so give the wall above it room to breathe. A single large print, or a pair, from our line art prints keeps the corner calm and lets the weave do the talking.

Questions about rattan and cane furniture

What's the difference between wicker and rattan?

Rattan is a material, the stem of a climbing palm. Wicker is a weaving technique that can use rattan or other fibres. Most of the pieces here are rattan woven in the wicker way.

Is rattan furniture out of style?

Rattan comes in and out of fashion, and the simple, natural-coloured shapes are the ones that last. Pieces with clean lines and an undyed finish sit as easily in a modern room as a traditional one.

Does cane furniture last outside?

Natural cane and rattan last best under cover. Keep them on a covered veranda or indoors, away from standing water and all-day sun.

What is another name for cane furniture?

Cane furniture is often called rattan or wicker furniture. Strictly, cane means strips pared from the rattan stem, but the names are used almost interchangeably when people shop for woven chairs and sofas.