Murmur ‘furniture’ to yourself, and it instantly opens up your imagination with vivid pictures of retro and modern furniture in sundry materials. Wood, fabric, steel, glass and processed materials like Methacrylate, high-density fiber—the most common being wood—are accepted the world over for their natural charms.
The world needs trees—they help with the natural balance. They hold the soil together, they cool the planet surface and they help with the food chain. We have been debating about using wood from sustainable harvested forests, sustainably harvested tree farms and reclaimed wood. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and its largest forest certifier, the Rainforest Alliance, is the most widely used standard for sustainable forestry. Relating to the theme, I found a couple of designs that appealed to this eco-friendly design mindset.
This Baltic coffee table is gorgeous, with antique features and a green theme. Crafted with harvested solid wood-durian timber, it works well for both the light-hearted and conventional decorators alike. The ring-shaped handles on the drawers add a surprising detail, and the low-slung design demands attention.
Turning away from antique looks, let’s focus on contemporary green furniture—the Loft media center, for instance. Designed diligently to store and display, it carries elements of sound architecture to make flawless furniture. Also deserving of a mention is the Loft Modern Dining Table (pictured above) with its watertight features that add a contemporary touch to the overalls.
Furniture made with reclaimed materials
A stitch in time saves nine. Wood, if taken care of, can last for a long time. Remember the legendary wood furniture passed on by grannies? I think there is great substance in preserving wood. Why shouldn’t we make good use of all the wood that’s already out there? It’s the right way and many designers are doing a wonderful job creating pieces out of reclaimed wood. Reclaimed wood is the wood that usually is retrieved from old furniture, houses and other wooden articles, and also from left over scraps in factories. Some of it even comes from the bottom of the riverbed, wooden logs that sink while being transported to the sawmill, and even from the bottom of the man-made reservoirs. Either way, furniture made from reclaimed wood is a great example of resource efficiency, but usually comes in shorter supply. The Rainforest Alliance has a Rediscovered Wood Certification label to look for.
The Spacify Azcast collection is committed to crafting furniture out of reclaimed material, crafting attractive and useful furniture and goods that are ultimately recyclable themselves; indeed, when an unfinished product is rejected, it is simply recast and used again.
Most of its designs are worth mentioning—the 5-Star Glass Dining Table, for instance. Aluminum taken from aircraft parts (among other sources) is hand-poured into casts to produce the desired moldings. The clean minimalist design hits a cord with furniture buffs, as each piece is hand-molded, hand-poured and hand-finished.
The eco-friendly entertainment unit deserves a round of applause too. Made from recycled sand-cast aluminum, it makes a great piece of furniture in living rooms. A great glass and metal combo—each piece is hand-molded, hand-poured and hand-finished to perfection.
Made from a cast aluminum frame and solid beech seat and back—the Recurve Chair comes in brushed or polished metal finish. Available wood colors are cherry and maple. The Azcast bookcase is a 3-level heavy-duty bookcase finished in recycled aluminum and glass shelves. You can opt for the frame in a polished or a satin finish.
Bamboo—great grass for furniture!
Bamboo is a highly aesthetic grass used to decorate, build and landscape. It represents a family of grasses that range in size from a blade, growing up to many feet, and varying in color from jade green to maroon stripes. It grows incredibly fast and is highly versatile. It is a favourite with environmental designers and builders.
The beauty of bamboo lies in its flexibility. It can be flattened into flooring, shaped into furniture, compressed into veneers, sliced up to make window blinds. To go to extremes, you can even build a whole house out of it. Using bamboo in buildings earns architects and builders LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Designs) points. Most organic bamboo is grown in China, sometimes grown with few or at best, no pesticides. Because it grows fast, it is much easier to maintain a healthy bamboo forest. This also means it uses a lot of water, however, and harvesting too fast can deplete soil fertility. But for the most part, bamboo is one of the greenest materials around.
In line with the concept, I recently came across Legare furniture and it resonates with all sorts of eco-friendly ideas. Made with birch-plywood, it is worth noting that producing plywood yields 8-10 times more usable wood from a log as against solid lumber. Plywood furniture has greater potential to outlast solid wood furniture, and the energy utilized in converting wood from a raw material to a finished product is minuscule as compared to any other industrial material.
Plywood furniture has been around for a little over 100 years and its manufacturing techniques have been explored by a handful of designers including Aalto, Eames, Danko, and Pfeiffer. The Enrico straight desk proves just why. The modular design allows you to lock multiple units together to form a single, rigid workspace. The assembly is easy, not requiring screws or bolts.
Recycled/recyclable metal and plastic
Metal and plastic are a couple more eco-friendly materials. Their recyclable quality makes them all the more valuable. With the green theme banging loud on our conscience, easy processing and less resources are a few added benefits. Realizing the importance of recyclable material, technologies are constantly evolving to achieve higher and better quality. Furniture crafting needs more than recycled stuff; it demands great architecture, innovation and some offbeat designing.
Recyclable metal and plastic kinder a special interest, owing to their long-term benefits. Realizing environmental issues are gaining momentum; recent Nobel prize winner Al Gore underscored the urgency of climate conditions and the impact of global warming. Weighing choices becomes easier when we understand the implications of deforestation. It propels everything from furniture, future generations to everyday living. Inspire eco-friendly habits in your young ones by adopting eco-friendly furniture. A few practical examples. I recently saw:
Legare’s Siena Children's Bookcase made from birch plywood makes ‘‘anthropomorphic" designs ideal for children’s playrooms, nurseries or learning rooms. The modular design and adjustable shelving allows great possibilities.
The Ugo Attractable Children's Desk is made with durable MDF in baked-enamel finish. The tool-free assembly is fun for children, and the units can be repeatedly assembled/disassembled without damage, unlike other RTA (ready to assemble) furniture.
The Raul Kids Multi-Pack Workstation is modular with plenty of shelving storage. The intelligent furniture allows you to lock multiple units together to form a single workspace. The durable baked enamel finish looks great in all the three colors. And the best part? It is non-toxic and the panels are asymmetric and reversible, so the desk can be assembled with the shelves on the left or right. Sounds fun to assemble with kids.
Pino Modern Kids Bookcase looks like happening furniture for kids’ room. The design is such that the shelves can be adjusted in increments. The shelves are equipped with cable management systems and the unit is intuitive and easy to assemble without screws and bolts.
Recyclable and disassemblable
The world would look so much better, and we would feel a little more at ease with green furniture speaking the universal language of eco-friendliness. As the concept gains popularity for its equanimity and practicality, FSC-certified furniture showcases the obvious beneficial effects on Mother Earth. This international organization established guidelines and certification processes for ecologically sustainable forestry, and hopefully more designers will follow its example and create pieces with these in mind.
Some examples of these products would be ones that can be easily disassembled, arranged, and recycled once they have lived their lives. Concrete furniture is out of fashion, in this context, and it means furniture that can’t be separated and may not be very inspiring. If it can’t be easily disassembled, it’s probably a sign it can’t be repaired easily.
For obvious reasons, we need to take a close look at the recyclable furniture we wish to buy. Is it robust, easy to assemble and most importantly—is it certified? Spacify’s Legare collection looks smart and I would like to highlight a few models:
The norms being set, I like the Lucia Designer Extension Desk for its easy looks, easy assembly, practicality and robustness. Made with 3-Ply Baltic Birch Plywood, the panels are asymmetric and reversible and the bridges are designed to pull two desks together to make larger workspaces for two or more users. And yes, its really easy to put together.
Lia Office Corner Desk deserves a mention too. The corner desk is available in two dimensions, and holds it there. Adjustable shelving holds up to three 12" shelves and three 24" shelves. Great design, less fuss, and an FSC certification as well.
Low-toxicity furniture
Have you ever noticed the peculiar odor of new furniture or cars? That’s what is called off-gassing, an emanation of volatile matter of any kind from materials into habitable areas. It’s not new; when you buy a piece of furniture and set it down, it tends to off-gas, which is fine if the materials used are non-synthetic. However, some synthetic materials are toxic and can be linked to birth defects, and even cancer.
If your house is well insulated, toxins tend to circulate in the air and can be harmful. If you have children around and even pets that lick as a habit, it can be dangerous. One good idea while buying furniture is to check for “Green guard certification’’. It will ensure that you bring home low-toxicity furniture.
Also, try to explore naturally treated furniture with natural wood finishes, or biologically tanned leather and organic cotton. Here are some fine examples of green grade furniture:
Lectern Table Mobile Base boasts indoor air quality certified® by the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute under the GREENGUARD Standard for Low Emitting Products. The metal mobile base is a well-structured creation, while its top is made from smooth wood and is noteworthy for its unusual shape and fine edges all around. This meets or exceeds ANSI/BIFMA standards, and soft-edge options protect the user (as well as the furniture) from damage.
Team Table X-Base with metal pedestal and a wood veneer top makes a style statement, available in four Surface/Edge colors. It is designed to meet ANSI/BIFMA standards; soft edge options protect the user (as well as the furniture) from damage. Wood fiber core and veneer surface are composed of 100% post-industrial recycle content.
Jack Solo Office Table is right for tight spaces. The standard design with black modesty panel is intuitive to use and comes with four braking casters for mobility and control. The ADA compatible design has a single activation lever for flip-flop motion located under work surface.
For more information about Spacify, visit their website at www.spacify.com.
Spacify is one of the premier online resources for home furnishings and home decor. We source our products directly from the manufacturers to pass the savings directly to our customers. Since we don’t have a retail showroom, we can offer discount furniture to our customers. We have an excellent selection on bedrooms and dining room furniture.
