Post by Kyle St. Romain.
I recently rediscovered my interest in furniture made with reclaimed wood. I always knew I liked it, but needed a reason to rekindle that flame. My reignited interest began when my girlfriend and I started looking for a piece of furniture for the bedroom. We needed something to keep the decorative bed pillows off the floor at night. Since we have a one-year-old Pembroke Corgi who sheds his weight in fur, every night is a challenge in trying to find space for the pillows to rest off the floor and free of dog hair. My nightstand is the usual suspect, which is fine, but it leaves little room for my phone, water, wallet, and eyeglasses. We also needed something to sit on to put our shoes on in the morning, so finding this piece of furniture quickly took top priority!
Reclaimed wood is the best of many worlds, all rolled up into a single piece of furniture. What I like about most about reclaimed furniture is its history and creative elements. Case in point is this bench I found that is made from old bowling alley floor. The bench pictured below was built by John Mihovetz, who is based out of Pomona, California, and it is definitely is one of the coolest pieces of reclaimed furniture I’ve come across yet. He has a shop on Etsy, as do many reclaimed craftsmen, where you can check out some other reclaimed works of art if you’re interested.
Besides coming with an interesting story and looking great, reclaimed furniture is often built to last. Its mere existence is already a testament to the wood having withstood the test of time, which is partly due to the fact that much of the wood used in reclaimed furniture is old growth. Old growth wood has tighter grain patterns, which apart from being strong is also quite beautiful. Also, many craftsmen use welded steel as the structural elements for their furniture, bolstering its longevity.
Furniture made from reclaimed wood is also environmentally friendly. Instead of chopping down new trees to make your new side table, the materials are salvaged from existing timber that may have otherwise been slated for the landfill. Some sellers label their reclaimed furniture as “upcycled,” and that term is often used to describe furniture made from everything other than wood.
Do you have any reclaimed furniture in your home, and if so, what’s the story behind it? Or have you seen any interesting reuses of old material? Share with us in the comments below.