Recycled Furniture – Add A Robust, Practical And Chic Touch To Your Home
When I first heard that environmentalists were touting recycled furniture as a green alternative for the home, I wondered about how it would probably look. I mean, these individuals are talking reclaimed timber from old barns and recycled pallets. I suspected these objects would leave my home looking like a warehouse.
So, I went on the Internet and began searching for websites offering recycled furniture. I have to remark that I was well amazed with what I discovered. I discovered companies using superior quality reclaimed wood, which it turns out, is much desired by a lot of homebuilders, and methods of refinishing that are health aware and environmentally gentle.
I discovered that a number of the business owners are high-caliber designers who took their passion for the planet to the next practical level, creating the furniture and decorations they have a passion for in a green, sustainable manner. Recycled furniture isn’t like recycled aluminum cans. You don’t start out with junk, and end up with something that is only practical. You start out with quality reclaimed wood that had been used as part of something else. You take the best of that reclaimed material and design it into a choice piece of furniture. It’s that simple and, like all simple things, it can be most magnificent. Some recycled furniture manufacturers using reclaimed wood intentionally seek to maintain some of the wood’s imperfections such as warps, cracks, nail holes, and worm holes in the furniture so as to capture and highlight the antique wood’s character, warmth, and patina.
Recycled furniture comes in all sorts of shapes, designs and sizes, just like brand new furniture. In truth, it is new furniture; it’s just that it was part of something different, previously. The point is that the act of shopping for recycled furniture is going to pretty much resemble the act of searching for any furniture. You will discover pieces you like and pieces you don’t like. Some styles will appeal to you, and some styles won’t appeal to you. If you initially spot furniture that you don’t care for, it isn’t because it’s recycled furniture. It’s just because you haven’t found what you like so far.
Just keep searching and you’ll find what you want. I don’t know about you, but I’m choosy about the furniture in my home. Maybe that’s why I didn’t give recycled furniture much of an opportunity at first. I believed recycled signified inferior quality and that just isn’t correct. When you pinpoint the genuinely good manufacturers, you realize why recycled furniture is actually preferred above new furniture.
Recycled furniture has a character that just can’t be duplicated in the factory. For example, one manufacturer makes tables by using the heads from genuine Kentucky Bourbon barrels. Some use reclaimed timber from old barns and covered bridges. Further sources of recycled wood and reclaimed lumber include old barns that have been condemned or are destined to be torn down, homes and vintage buildings or premises marked for demolition, waste or scrap from building sites or torn down and demolished sites … you can also discover wood in rivers that once upon a time transported old-growth logs dating from way back. The history of the furniture is part of the elation of owning it.
Examples of some of the kinds of woods that have been reclaimed for use include American Chestnut, White Oak, Heart Pine and Red Oak. Some of this lumber can be hundreds of years old, and harvested from virgin forests containing species that are now scarce or perhaps even protected. I have also found during the course of my research that some hardwood logs have not only been recovered from the bottom of old logging waterways, but remain uniquely preserved after having spent over a century submersed in water. These woods can be used for floorboards, paneling, art or custom furniture.
So, what I suppose I most wanted to share with you is exactly what the title of this little piece says. Recycled furniture looks great. Beyond that, it can be enduring, practical and classy. It just depends upon who designs it. So, don’t dismiss recycled furniture as an option for your home, since you might be delightfully astounded by how much you love it.
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