[Photo: courtesy Lanoba Design]
But in a world where Americans throw out more than 12 million tons of furniture per year, it has also championed circular design by breathing new life in Danish castoffs, carving itself a cozy (dare I say hygge) niche in an oversaturated furniture market.
Source: Danes don’t want their vintage furniture. This company has upcycled 10
via The Furniture Bank
All that money I spent on rent for the storage locker could have been put to much better use, and all that furniture and stuff that I was storing is now being put to use as well, for people who really need it, and not a bit of it goes to landfill. This truly was a win-win situation.
Source: Got a locker full of stuff? Deposit it in the Furniture Bank | TreeHugger
GM has partnered with Herman Miller and Green Standards to manage tens of thousands of office surplus furniture and equipment resulting from renovations at Warren Technical Center, Milford Proving Ground, and Global Headquarters. (Courtesy of Herman Miller)
The Toronto-based environmental firm Green Standards, which will clean up the mostly used Herman Miller furniture and donate them to a 100 non-profit organizations. The project is expected to take two years.
“We view waste as just a resource out of place,” said David Tulauskas, GM’s sustainability director, in a statement. “This reuse program enables us to reduce our environmental footprint while making a positive contribution to our community.”
So far, GM has diverted 550 tons of office materials from the landfill through the rePurpose program, equal to growing nearly 46,000 tree seedlings for 10 years or offsetting electricity use from nearly 250 homes for one year.
Source: General Motors, Herman Miller team up on $1M furniture recycling project | MLive.com
“What sets us apart is we are not a thrift store, nor are we an antique store. We are more like a page out of Pinterest. We take items with good bones and repurpose them. Sometimes we have to combine pieces to make a unique accent piece. Other times we feel the piece is in need of hand-painted art to set it apart and give it that great new life it deserves. We also paint and repurpose for others who have the piece they want to keep in the family, but do not have the vision we have. Or, they may just not have the ability or location to do the work on their own.”
via Just Repurposed: Furniture Offered a Second Life | CullmanSense.
“In many major cities, they had stores selling repurposed vintage furniture,” says Cardoso. “I have very eclectic taste in home decorating, and I try to be very green. I don’t want the landfill getting full.”
Located in a historic building on Bridge Street, the former site of the well-known Julia’s Lunch, Cardoso has set up a place that offers all kinds of eclectic home furnishings, including her specialty of repurposed furniture. Cardoso goes once a week to look for vintage furniture that she can use.
via New Padanaram business repurposes furniture | SouthCoastToday.com.
TreeHugger article on furniture & textile reuse. We’ve been waiting a long time to see design reuse using reclaimed furniture. Inspiring.
Furniture is more often than not made to blend into the background, resulting in pieces that are functional, but not particularly remarkable. These extraordinarily colourful upholstered chair from Beirut, Lebanon-based Bokja Design take a different tack though — by reusing vibrant fabrics and salvaged vintage chairs, designers Hoda Baroudi and Maria Hibri have created an homage to ancient cultures, doused liberally with plenty of flair.
via Technicolor Furniture Collection Reuses Textiles of the Silk Road : TreeHugger.
This is the year of “re” — renew, redo, recycle. Home furnishings in 2013 will repurpose, reclaim, revamp and reimagine.
A whole new generation of antique lovers has emerged. They’re young, energetic, not hampered by tradition. They don’t worry that a piece of furniture is antique — they change it, saw it, paint it. They update the hardware. They change its use from a record cabinet to a bar or a French hamper to a chandelier.
Take, for example, Susan Van Huss, who has a design studio in an old commercial building on Winthrop Avenue in the trendy area near 54th Street and the Monon Trail.
“As a furniture painting teacher, it tickles me that more and more women (and men) are jumping on the bandwagon to reuse what they already have in their attics, basements and closets — or are finding at fabulous stores.”
via Inspired interiors: A renewed interest in what was old for 2013 | Indianapolis Star | indystar.com.
Furniture accounted for 8.8 million tons, or 3.6 percent, of our overall waste stream in 2005 (quadruple the tonnage in 1960), according to the EPA. One man’s trash may be another thrift store-lover’s treasure, but let’s get serious: That $2 coffee table isn’t doing anyone any good sitting in the garage. Dust off that stash of thrifted furniture and check out these 10 creative ways to give it a second life in style. Not a thrift store enthusiast? Don’t worry. One look at these projects may change your mind.
See all 12 projects via PHOTOS: 12 Ways to Upcycle Thrifted Furniture – Earth911.com.
Check out this wonderful post by Dumped and Discovered!
I HAD to have her and was out of the car before Mr. Dump came to a complete stop. I have been looking for a piece like this since we started this crazy hobby. The man running the sale was clearly ready to get out of the heat, open a cold beverage, and get his junk my treasures off his yard. After some brief haggling, we carted this around all week at the beach and brought her home. I decided to tackle this piece while Mr. Dump was at work. This is how you manage a heavy piece of furniture by yourself… and now we all know why muscle relaxers stay in the front of my medicine cabinet!
See the whole thing via Dumped and Discovered: Caribbean Upcycle.