DIY chairs from around the world.

- http://www.folkforms.ru

July 24, 2011

July 14, 2011

Above: DIY wooden toy car

Above: DIY scarecrow

Above: DIY sleds

Above: DIY bird feeder

Above: DIY stool

Above: DIY bench

-DIY Russia on folkforms

June 21, 2011

- http://www.njustudio.com/index.php?/project/hockenheimer/

June 15, 2011

June 11, 2011

Space saving invisible bookshelves.  Minimal and simple! Book on the bottom acts as support for every other book on top. 

May 21, 2011

Jar lamp by UpCycle.  This lamp is made from re-using Avoca glass jar. A hole is drilled in the cap and a lamp fitting is offered through.

May 11, 2011

Book shelves made of plumbing pipes:

http://www.the-brick-house.com/2009/09/shelving-unit.html

May 02, 2011

April 17, 2011

DIY Panton Chair by Peter Jakubik incites users to make their own original fake famous chair designed by Verner Panton. All what you need is a picture of Panton chair, found log, DIY tools and passion for designer classics.

April 12, 2011

Great blog from Vancouver, BC - http://www.old-chum.com/

“The project deals with giving new life to damaged, out-of-use furniture. over the past year, I practiced furniture-healing through design. The cultural and personal history of each piece of damaged furniture served as a starting point for the treatment, which attempted to preserve each one of their stories. the intention was to explore with joy, the multiple personalities, and the defects that exist in old products, and to create a human and hybrid aesthetic language[...] I started exploring a visual language that deals with imperfections, and giving objects human-like gestures.” - Noam Tabenkin

Read more about noam Tabenkin’s furniture on Visual Syntex

February 22, 2011

I love this extra shabby, homemade wardrobe. Found on http://www.kabinettandkammer.com/

February 09, 2011

“A picture of a house is taken before its demolition. A sofa is built from the building rubble of the house. The sofa is a portrait of the house in design and colours. The framed photo is hanging above the sofa” - Michael Sailstorfer

February 05, 2011

Gamper Martino has been collecting discarded old/broken chairs from London streets over a period of two years and then spending 100 days reconfiguring the design of each in an attempt to transform its character and function.

I have a bunch of dead light bulbs that are waiting to be recycled.  While they are waiting they can be turned into beautiful art!  P.S (Keep away from children)  Read about it on Family Chic: http://cfabbridesigns.com

Note from ehow: A simple household light bulb can be deceptively difficult to recycle. Some light bulbs feature filaments and other parts made of mercury, contributing to the inclusion of toxins in the environment. You should collect all of your light bulbs and recycle them.

January 24, 2011

A chest of drawers made from old suitcases.

January 15, 2011

January 04, 2011

“Vladimir” or “Pallet Mirror” by Karl Zahn is made using two partially destroyed shipping pallets. “The scars on the lumber tell a story of its travels. While the form is reminiscent of old victorian french mirrors, its origin is far from gold leaf” -Karl Zahn

December 19, 2010

Parquet Table by Bouf. Easy shipping and assembly. Good design but also great do-it-yourself idea…...

December 15, 2010

Antonello Fuse coat hangers made from old recycled chair backs.

December 06, 2010

Bags from reclaimed tractor inner tubes by Chicago based company Defy Bags. Old materials. New ideas.

http://www.defybags.com

November 19, 2010

Sewing table made from two broken chairs and I suppose, an old surfboard.  Redesigned by Robert Kalin, founder of ETSY.

November 13, 2010

Above: Ben Edwards and Juliet Moore

Made from discarded wood from various sources. Sanded and finished with linseed oil, putty and wax.

-http://edwardsmoore.com/

November 11, 2010

I found these beautiful greenhouses made from upcycled old windows on HAUTE NATURE. I recently have seen a bunch of gorgeous old windows in the garbage. ...

October 29, 2010

‘Whatever’ flower pots are a terracotta pots by brooklyn designer Jason Miller. The pots are made out of clay but are inspired by plastic bottles, metal cans or coffee cups people often use when they do not have a regular flower pot at hand.

http://www.millerstudio.us/

October 14, 2010

This LED chandelier by Yoon Bahk is made from recycled wine and champagne bottles.  Rescued bottles were hand washed and polished. A unit from single bottle can be hung by itself.  Yoon Bahk believes that green design should be an idea and not a look. 

I found this great design in a book called 1000 New Eco Designs:

October 03, 2010

Unconventional artsy birdhouses made from odd objects and milk crates.  I saw them on Reference Library and fell in love with ever since!

- View more…......

September 28, 2010

Pillows from recycled old wool sweaters, jackets or shirts. (Image from Katy Elliott)

Sofa cover from reused jeans fabric. (Image from Design Milk)

September 19, 2010

Above: Shelving/vase system displaying thistles, dried plants and exotic flowers.

Daniel Goers is a local Brooklyn designer, architect and artist who has a show right now called Scrap Ecology at Brooklyn coffee shop K-Dog in Lefferts Gardens.  All pieces are made from reclaimed materials except some lighting components. Daniel has been collecting scrap materials and remaking them into beautiful designs and sculptures for some time now. His other great project is in collaboration with artist Jennifer Wong called Birdtown. Fifty birdhouses were built from recycled materials and installed in Fort Greene:

http://myrtleavenuebirdtown.com/

Above: Daniel Goers and Jennifer Wong.

Above: Birdhouse from Birdtown.

Scrap Ecology aims to rearrange the raw materials of our urban and natural environments into objects with new meaning and purpose. These materials include abandoned shipping pallets from Red Hook, wood cutoffs from carpentry projects, recycled packaging, discarded architectural samples, donated plant stems and foraged specimens from Prospect Park and the mountains of Harriman State Park.

http://dgoers.com

Why reclaimed materials?

New York is a great place to find raw materials to build with.  every day the streets are filled with “trash” that can be so much more. But maybe the best reason is that material is free. The reclaimed material also tends to have more character.

Do you enjoy living in New York? Would you if you had an opportunity move somewhere where there are more trees and less garbage?

Of course, New York is a great place to be a designer but my sculptures do hint at the desire to be closer to nature.  I would love to live in a barn in the mountains but in the meantime I will work to bring nature to people’s homes here.

Above: Lamp made from glass jar moss terrariums.

Why do you think using reclaimed materials is popular today? 

It’s just marketing for many people. I like to believe that myself and many other designers simply see some intrinsic value and potential in the waste around us. What was once a shipping pallet can become a hundred new things, so why cut down another tree?  More people come to this realization and the ‘green’ movement will become less about marketing & more a part of the collective conscience.

September 10, 2010