DIY 1 source Jul 13, 1:14 PM EDT Updated 2h ago 0 views

Modular furniture made with grass panels

Article excerpt

Modular furniture made with grass panels July 13, 2026 | 12:14 pm CDT googletag.cmd.push(function() { // Start by defining breakpoints for this ad. var mapping = googletag.sizeMapping() .addSize([768, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([480, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([1366, 0], [970, 90]) .addSize([992,…

Modular furniture made with grass panels July 13, 2026 | 12:14 pm CDT

googletag.cmd.push(function() {

// Start by defining breakpoints for this ad. var mapping = googletag.sizeMapping() .addSize([768, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([480, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([1366, 0], [970, 90]) .addSize([992, 0], [728, 90]) .addSize([400, 0], [320, 50]) .addSize([360, 0], [320, 50]) .build();

googletag.slots["js-dfp-tag-wwn-970x90-"] = googletag.defineSlot("//83945039/WWN_970x90", [[970, 90], [320, 50]], "js-dfp-tag-wwn-970x90-")

.addService(googletag.pubads())

// Apply size mapping when there are breakpoints. .defineSizeMapping(mapping) ;

googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-wwn-970x90-'); });

Woodworking Industry News

Modular furniture made with grass panels

Larry Adams

July 13, 2026 | 12:14 pm CDT

Studio TK's Clique Luxe bench, designed by Mario Ruiz, features Plantd's grass-based structural panels as primary structural components, marking Plantd's first partnership in the commercial furniture industry.

OXFORD, N.C., Plantd is a climate-tech and building materials company that manufactures carbon-negative structural panels for homebuilding and furniture by processing fast-growing perennial grasses. 

Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the Oxford, North Carolina-based startup uses vertically integrated operations to farm the grass and process it into durable, drop-in replacements for traditional wood products like plywood and oriented strand board (OSB).

Plantd's manufacturing process transforms the grass into high-performance structural panels that are certified to be nearly one-and-a-half times stronger and twice as moisture-resistant as standard OSB materials. The defining innovation is that these materials sequester the carbon dioxide absorbed by the grass while it grew, making the end products carbon-negative. 

The company is scaling its manufacturing capabilities, including collaborations with major builders like D.R. Horton and commercial furniture brands like Studio TK, to lock atmospheric carbon away within the walls and roofs of new homes and buildings.

Plantd's expansion into the commercial furniture market with its agreement with Studio TK, a contract furniture company based in North Carolina. Studio TK is Plantd's first furniture industry partner, incorporating the company’s panels into Studio TK’s new Clique Luxe bench collection.

The move, announced in April, marks Plantd's first step into a new category beyond homebuilding, where the company says it has already established itself as a high-performance drop-in replacement for traditional OSB. The partnership with Studio TK signals broader potential for Plantd's grass-based panels to serve the furniture industry, where design precision, sourcing efficiency, and sustainability are increasingly baseline requirements.

"We started with homebuilding because it's one of the largest sources of carbon emissions on the planet, and we built a material that outperforms what's already there," said Nathan Silvernail, CEO and co-founder of Plantd. "Furniture is a natural next step. The same properties that make our panels better for builders make them compelling for furniture makers. This is how we grow the mission category by category."

The Clique Luxe collection, Studio TK's newest addition to its Clique Bench series, features enhanced seat and back cushioning with tailored tufting details designed for greater comfort and visual warmth. Designed by Mario Ruiz, the collection is suited for meeting rooms, cafés, lobbies, and collaborative spaces, and is available in a range of upholstery options and leg configurations. Plantd panels are now being used as primary structural components.

"What excites us about furniture is the breadth of the opportunity," said Nate Brown, Head of Business Development at Plantd. "Furniture manufacturers typically juggle multiple engineered wood products like plywood for structural applications, OSB for lower-cost structural uses, MDF or HDF where clean edges and fine detailing matter. A single Plantd panel can potentially deliver performance across all those use cases. That simplifies sourcing, reduces supply chain complexity, and does it all with a material that's innovative, American-made, and designed for carbon negativity."

"Partnering with companies like Plantd lets us push the boundaries of innovation in a practical way by blending high performance materials with truly sustainable, thoughtful design," said Koorosh Sharghi, President at Studio TK. "It’s through this kind of collaboration that we can support designers in creating spaces that not only function beautifully, but also reflect a deeper commitment to people and the planet.”

Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

About the author

Larry Adams

| Editor

Larry Adams is a Chicago-based writer and editor who writes about how things get done. A former wire service and community newspaper reporter, Larry is an award-winning writer with more than three decades of experience. In addition to writing about woodworking, he has covered science, metrology, metalworking, industrial design, quality control, imaging, Swiss and micromanufacturing . He was previously a Tabbie Award winner for his coverage of nano-based coatings technology for the automotive industry. Larry volunteers for the historic preservation group, the Kalo Foundation/Ianelli Studios, and the science-based group, Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST).

`j`	Next card
`k`	Previous card
`r`	Read more on focused card
`?`	Show this help