Second hand furniture, reused furniture, recycled furniture, vintage furniture, rustic furniture, antique furniture or reclaimed wood furniture are a selection of names given to wood furniture that has been used before and is having a second go at its sole life purpose. Whether it be a table who desires to bear cups of coffee for yet another owner, or a shelving unit that is desperate to be the home for a new range of glorious books, most furniture that still has the capability, definitely wants a second or third shot at the furniture job.
The different attitudes towards the concept of reusing furniture or wood that has been used for something else is interesting. Antique furniture has always been considered a luxury and something that is incredibly special and interesting. However, second hand furniture such as buying a wardrobe off eBay isn’t so indulgent and in fact may be considered by some to cheap and tasteless (who bothers wasting energy thinking and judging like this when there’s a ruddy good value and beautiful wardrobe involved). Why? Who knows. It’s the same bizarre concept that makes eating gooey and gross fish eggs acceptable and ‘classy’ whereas eating frogspawn would be considered down right weird.
Reclaimed wood furniture is somewhere in-between these two extremes – it is neither insanely expensive and aristocratic nor cheap and cheerful. Reclaimed wood furniture is crafted from wood that has been used for something else previously such as beams in old abandoned buildings or old barns that have been torn down. This wood is often a product of older, majestic trees that have had time to mature before being chopped down rather than new wood which is most of the time pulled from young trees that have been grown for the purpose of being made into furniture and made into furniture alone.
In the past, reclaimed wood furniture has been seen to be a possession of the typically more ‘hippy’ crowd of people; those who are concerned about environmental wellbeing and wastefulness. Reclaimed wood furniture also has an incredibly distinctive, rustic look about it which oozes character, personality and charm. The people who owned the first few generations were obviously drawn to it because of its stunning and somewhat rural appearance which reflects its impressive heritage and environmental benefit.
These days, it is not only the comically labelled ‘hippies’ amongst us who choose to adorn their homes with reclaimed wood furniture. No, no no – reclaimed wood furniture is taking the interior design industry by storm and has been predicted by The 2016 Home Décor Trends to be one of the biggest new styles for the coming years. More people than ever are concerned about the wellbeing of the environment and by using reclaimed wood for furniture, it drastically decreases the demand for trees to be cut down and as a direct result, reduces air pollution and fumes from factories that create wood furniture and planks from trees.
It’s not just the environmental appeal that attracts buyers to the reclaimed tables, cupboards, beds and wardrobes – not by a long shot. Reclaimed wood furniture is b-e-a-utiful, absolutely stunning. Coming in a huge range of finishes, colours, textures and shapes, reclaimed wood furniture entices a huge demographic of consumers to buy and bring these unique pieces into their homes.
So, reclaimed wood furniture has unsurprisingly (and rather inevitably I think) made its way from hippy to hip. The environment is awesome and rustic wood appearance is spectacular – what more really needs to be said? Now we just need to wait for Woodstock to make a comeback and the world will fully be hippy to hip.
